Obsession

“you wished for this.” i cannot remember the last time where i saw two new films back to back that are five star bangers. obsession is everything i had hoped while simultaneously being nothing what i could have expected. rather than just following the “monkey’s paw” narrative to the point of cliché, obsession is a darkly comedic and traumatizing experience that highlights the sheer inconsideration men have towards women while claiming there is a male loneliness epidemic. bear, played by michael johnston, is hopelessly crushing on his coworker, nikki, played by inde navarrette, and his inability to be open with his feelings leaves him frustrated. he clearly has this perfect vision of a life with him and nikki and he frames her not as a person in his mind, but rather as something he feels he deserves. from the opening scene, he cannot even fake ask out a stranger as practice because he cannot even think of reasons as to why he likes nikki. objectification and entitlement fill his headspace and his lack of emotional honesty eventually lead him to making his stupid “one wish willow” wish to make nikki love him. or rather obsessed with him. what fascinated me so much about this film is that writer/director curry barker plays around with michael’s character in an interesting way. he is designed as a sympathetic protagonist facing a manic demon yet his actions are deplorable and every consequence in the film is sourced from himself. take the possessed nikki out of the equation and he is just an anxious and manipulative “nice guy”. the wish in itself is so interesting because it is used as a means of him getting the girl the easy way as he couldn’t find the agency and courage to actually share his feelings. it is horrifying to watch a man destroy everything all because he couldn’t let a relationship develop over time or accept that it wasn’t real and move on. i haven’t even mentioned the performances at all. inde navarrette genuinely gives a performance worthy of an oscar nom. like i genuinely have no idea how she did the face acting of a woman not in control of her being yet still showing glimpses of the “real” nikki. i was constantly on edge and normal conversations would turn on a dime to terrifying confrontations and violence. there is a sequence involving a car’s steering wheel that had everyone in the theater jumping and screaming. absolutely incredible. michael johnston is terrific as well as he nails the timid yet entitled nature of bear and he really sells his conflicted morals about everything. i talked about this film a ton with my friend on the drive back from los angeles and i lowkey wish i recorded some of our conversation because i am struggling to reiterate my exact thoughts. i guess for now, this is an excellent horror film that has so much to say about relationships and how you cannot manufacture or force love onto others. what a debut for curry barker and i am stoked for his texas chainsaw massacre reboot.