Obsession

i watched this 4 times in 5 days. that probably tells you everything. Inde Navarrette gives one of the most dynamic performances i've ever seen. if she'd played Wish Nikki too hyperbolic, the audience might not have been able to see her as a victim. her party monologue and the argument that follows are Oscar-worthy. Michael Johnston makes you feel for Bear early, then slowly has you going "c'mon man" as the decisions pile up. that shift is the whole engine of the film. what the film really understands is that Bear was never in love with Nikki, he was in love with the idea of her. Wish Nikki exists solely to be with him and love him, and he still finds ways to manipulate and reshape her. he asks her to change and she tries to become human for him, even changing the way she dresses, and getting so desperate towards the end of the film she tries to essentially become Sarah if it means she'll have a better chance to be with Bear. she finally breaks, screaming that she can't be Nikki, because the Nikki he wants her to be is the one whose autonomy he erased. and when he's talking to real Nikki while Wish Nikki sleeps and says "what would be so bad about being with me?" — brother. the tragedy is that Bear could've just told her how he felt, but his fear of potential rejection or being "friend zoned," instead led to the death of his friends, himself, and left Nikki with a total mess. he could've gone to therapy for the grief he was carrying instead of placing it all on someone who showed him kindness at the right moment. he didn't know the wish would be real — but what follows shows he never really cared about her, he just wanted a solution to his loneliness. and i think that's most visible in the quiet moment where he turns Wish Nikki's face away from him and towards the television. the avalanche of poor decisions is what makes Bear the real monster. this film did such a good job making me hold both things at once — i felt for him as a quiet “nice guy,” towards the beginning but became increasingly frustrated by him. the post-party argument gets me because all he wanted was to feel less alone, and all Wish Nikki wanted was to be with him. even though on paper they solve each others’ problems, it wasn’t meant to work, because they never should’ve been in this situation in the first place. this is a horror film that made me feel more empathy than most dramas. there were jump scares, and i lost sleep after the first night watching this, but this is an impactful story with real things to say about grief, entitlement, agency, and what it actually means to love someone versus needing them. this is one of the best movies i’ve seen.