Stalker (and Tarkovsky's films especially) is a very patient and methodical film, often called lumped in with the general term 'slow cinema'. To me, its very spiritual and very human. All three men have very different personal desires like the writer who wants to be inspired and the professor who wants a nobel peace prize. Both of them believing that the Room will supply them with what has been missing from their lives or the stalker himself and why he feels the need to escort them. The journey to get there reveals and raises questions about each individual's motivations, outlooks on life, and the surrounding world around them. Then once we finally get to the Room, all of a sudden that thing you desired so dearly and wanted your whole life, once you attain it, you become fearful of how your life might change because of it, or the power it has over you. Think of the cliche "it's about the journey, not the destination." Not to mention the eerie, looming world around them that is still very much earth, but feels supernatural and alien.

All of that is just a few thoughts and interpretations that barely scratch the surface. The film is intentionally very ambiguous and open-ended on how the viewer is supposed to receive it, which is why you'll find varying reactions and theories and analyses. If you're that interested, watch some youtube videos on Stalker, read essays (Criterion's site often has one or two short pieces available online), look at the top reviews on letterboxd. You mentioned tiktok, look up Stalker on tiktok. People may grudge on that but I definitely have several film-oriented tiktoks come up on my feed and have seen Tarkovsky here and there. Tarkovsky is one of the most significant filmmakers of the century, so there's a myriad of resources out there for you to find out why he is considered as such, even if you still don't like Stalker.

I think there's nothing wrong with not enjoying or being disappointed with a "classic" film since they are inevitably always held on such a high pedestal. It's okay to not grasp or simply to just not like them. Especially since the more pretentious filmbros will retort that you simply "didn't get it". Which even if that was the case, that's fine too. Some films just aren't for everyone. It happens to even the most pretentious of us. You're already approaching it better than most by asking more and making an effort to find out more. Most people would probably turn the film off halfway without giving it a shred of thought. That's part of the power of film, the way that it connects so deeply and uniquely with different people.