Obsession

I had high expectations for this movie. The first time I watched Obsession, I felt heavily disappointed, both in the film and in myself. Though I have to admit I watched it digitally that first time, and that way, nothing really hit hard enough. Luckily for me, walking out of the theater was a relief, knowing that the experience was actually a lot better. It felt longer in a great way, since it actually gave me some time to sink into the story. Some of the biggest problems with the film are how it tells you everything within the first 15 minutes, leaving you just kind of expecting how far it will go. That's not necessarily bad, but it did feel like something was missing. We have this asshole who makes a selfish wish and stupidly selfish decisions at the expense of Nikki's free will... and there isn't much more to it than that. On top of that, the characters seem so simple in a stereotypical way, which makes the film almost too self-conscious about the fact that you already know what's going on, yet it won't actually do anything with that awareness. It's like it's trying so hard to avoid redundancy but ironically keeps reminding you, quite constantly, that Nikki isn't really Nikki and that Bear is a bad person. It's also a little unsatisfying how heavily the film leans on shock value and loud screams to carry it. Still, not everything about it is bad. As I mentioned, my second watch was much more enjoyable. Yes, I went in with higher expectations, and it's not as introspective as I'd hoped, but as a fan of horror films, just watch the blood coming out everywhere, expect death, and either act surprised or feel content when it actually happens.