Obsession

Obsession should be in the conversations for the greatest horror movie in the last few years. A regular person going into this movie with no prior knowledge would not notice that it was made within such a small budget. Curry Barker makes up for the low budget with amazing sound design, clever cinematography and making use of great acting. Obsession almost has its own soundscape with beautiful synth melodies that contrast the violence and tension on the screen. Countless amounts of times does a cresendo eventually lead up to nothing and leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat for a jumpscare only for it to come back when you least expect it. The movie also finds its solace in sounds that are almost similar to white noise. Obsession is probably the only movie which had me covering my ears in fear rather than peeking through the cracks of my fingers. For almost the entire movie the camera stays still and only occasionally does it zoom in or follow the character. Curry Barker also tends to frame the characters with closeups that kind of reminded me of talking heads from The Office. The yellowish hue of the film and silhouette style lighting on the face of "Freaky Nikki" are used incredibly to set the audience up for a sudden jumpscare. Barker has the special talent of making you feel uneasy with the least scary things, like the awkward conversations between Bear and Nikki or the entire trivia night portion. Inde Navarette and Michael Johnston are excellent in their respective roles of acting as a person completely out of their senses. The screams and shrill voice of Navarette shouting "NO" is etched into my eardrums. 10/10, a great film with a great ending and would love to watch again.