Obsession

this is one of the most uncomfortable and brutal movies i've ever seen and i'm so glad i got to see it in theatres (finally). and in its entirety (deserved shade towards lsf). i was already pretty sure that i was going to like this movie before i saw it, but this movie is genuinely so good from start to finish for me. the first act sets the scene, and the rest of the movie escalates the situation far beyond expectations and predictability. constantly increasing the stakes and horror, and never relenting for a single moment. from the beginning, nikki is already stripped of all her agency and behaves in totally erratic and terrifying ways and the movie conveys that explicitly, causing the rest of the movie to be so distressing to watch and have so much tension. and i know its been repeated ad nauseam, but i am a huge fan of how this movie lets the audience know that bear is a fucking terrible person while also keeping it in the realm of plausibility. he is realistically evil enough that he is not comically so. like how he expresses concern for nikki in the beginning of the movie, but still ends up not following through with it because of his own selfish desires. and again i really like how the movie very clearly tells you that real nikki has zero control of what she is doing and is very much terrified and disgusted of the situation she is being put in by bear. and obviously nikki's character wouldn't be so tragic and horrifying without inde's absolutely generational performance in this film. she is so fucking good here despite the role's increasingly physical and emotional demands as well as the range. everybody else in the cast also does a great job at portraying each of their morally questionable characters, while still making them feel like real believable people with nuance to them. and also this movie looks really fucking good for it's tiny budget. it's shot extremely well and utilizes the space, the point of view of the characters, and obstructed lighting so frequently and effectively to amplify the horror and tension throughout the whole movie. and like in better horror movies, the horror sequences here are drawn out and uses the viewer's imagination to fuel the tension, rather than just strictly using imagery or audio. before it eventually escalates in the climax in an extremely violent manner. the movie also has some well timed and unexpected jumpscares thoughout which definitely kept me on even higher alert the entire time as well. all that in combination, creates what i think is the most uncomfortable watch of my life. no notes. this movie is just so disturbing and i'm so fucking scared.