This review contains spoilers.
In the days following its May 15 release, “Obsession” seemed to be the only thing I was hearing about. My friends were asking if I had seen it, and my TikTok For You page was filled with edits and behind-the-scenes content from the movie. On Letterboxd, reviews praised the film as one of the best horror movies of the decade and one of the best movies of the year.
This past Friday, I finally went to see for myself what all the hype was about. And I now understand why everyone’s obsessed with “Obsession.”
The film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), an insecure loser who is infatuated with his best friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but afraid to express his feelings for her. While looking for a necklace in a crystal shop as a gift for Nikki, he stumbles upon the One Wish Willow, a toy charm that grants one wish to whoever breaks it.
Soon after being friendzoned, Bear breaks the willow and wishes for Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world. The effect is nearly immediate — just moments later, Nikki is all over him, asking to stay the night at his place and telling him she changed her mind. Bear, though initially skeptical, quickly folds. A few days later, they’re dating, making out in the music shop where they both work and are inseparable.
This opening 15 minutes lulls the audience into a sense of false security. As the complete opposite of a horror movie buff, I admittedly relaxed a bit during the exposition, thinking to myself that maybe “Obsession” wasn’t as scary as everyone claimed.
Then, the movie takes off and never looks back.
Nikki begins acting erratically. She cooks Bear’s recently deceased cat and packs it in his lunchbox to help him get over its death. She stands in the corner of his room in the middle of the night, watching him sleep. She duct tapes the front door to his house shut to try and get him to spend more time with her.
The fear in these moments is accentuated by a combination of Navarrette’s incredible facial expressiveness and the use of backlight by director Curry Barker to shroud most of Nikki’s face in darkness. In the scene where Nikki is standing in the corner of Bear’s room, the only visible features are the creases in her face while she speaks, creating an utterly uncanny outline of a human face. This uncanniness is carried over to her movement, which is simultaneously smooth and unnatural — there’s multiple scenes of Nikki’s “reverse walk” which have gone viral on TikTok — in which she walks toward something backwards.
Even scarier is the concept behind Nikki’s change in personality. Throughout the film, the “real” Nikki bursts through the possession of Bear’s wish and begs him to kill her, even attempting to kill herself, for she has lost all autonomy of her body and mind.
Despite its horror, “Obsession” is extremely funny. Barker started his filmmaking career making comedy skits on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and he balances fear with laugh out loud moments.
That isn’t to say the movie isn’t scary. Whereas the second act slowly built on Nikki’s odd behavior, the third act is exceptionally gory and uncomfortable. Horror fans will be satisfied with the movie’s fear factor.
More than just jump scares and violent kills, “Obsession” is about the fragility of male ego. Bear is a despicable protagonist, allowing his own insecurities to ruin the lives of those around him. His cowardice is the reason for everything that happens in this movie, and from his low self-worth comes the devastation seen in the third act. In the bones of this film is a simple truth: Nikki was never the obsessive one — Bear was.
Barker has struck gold with “Obsession” and created a movie that must be seen in theaters. Not only is it an absolute thrill to watch, it is one of the best films of the year.
Email: [email protected]
X: @peng54829
Related Stories:
— Reel Thoughts: ‘In the Grey’ is as bland as its name claims to be
— Reel Thoughts: ‘Is God Is’ shines as a layered directorial debut
