Obsession

I like to think that some of the greatest movies ever made started as a joke scribbled on a napkin in the middle of a conversation. This film feels like one of them. And yes, I know there’s obviously more to it than that, but it’s a silly thought I enjoy entertaining. Not many great movies feel like they could have been born from such a premise. But come on... the loser gets the Latina (using dark magic)... On a more serious note, starting with the obvious, the performance delivered by Inde Navarrette alone is worth the price of admission. Everyone portrays ordinary human ugliness so convincingly that it's almost uncomfortable to watch. And jokes aside about the loser getting the Latina — which I'll get back to in a minute — the characters are all deeply flawed in the most painfully human way possible. Bear's best friend literally sleeps with the girl Bear has an obsessive crush on, says nothing about it, and never even prepares him for the inevitable rejection. Or just to not go for it, because, you know... bro code. (Bear could've simply ignored him anyway, which would've paved the way for his true self to emerge.) Sasha, who clearly has feelings for Bear herself, only decides to make a move after watching her own friend — arguably one of her best friend — smash a beer bottle over her own head. These aren't good people. They're deeply flawed, and it's refreshing to see the everyday ugliness of human nature portrayed so honestly. And finally, there's Bear himself. He begins as nothing more than a pathetic loser (happens you know, no harsh judgment here) but one who still feels redeemable with a little help. This is a movie, though. Help never comes... or does it? Even when he's thinking with his libido instead of his heart, there's still something recognizably human inside him. Awkward. Broken. But human. For a while, the relationship "almost" feels genuine. Then comes the point where any reasonable person should choose to walk away, no matter how painful it may be. From that choice onward we're no longer looking at an awkward young man. We're looking at a sociopath. The film quietly plants the warning signs long before that moment. Small decisions. Tiny compromises. Red flags that slowly pile up until they reveal the monster he was capable of becoming. Nikki isn't perfect either but... There isn't enough freedom left to know just how bad one can become. Her soul is quite literally trapped in hell. This isn't even my own theory but honestly, no one should really care. If you want to know how it works for me: You file it under "pagan god magic" and it fits surprisingly well. "Be careful with words—a soul trapped between two worlds, while her body becomes little more than the materialization of the granted wish." Fun times, you know. The film keeps escalating every moral choice after another until the point where there is simply no coming back from. Technically speaking, I absolutely loved the filmmaking. The camera work embraces a "less is more" philosophy. Nothing flashy, just excellent fundamentals. The compositions remain remarkably symmetrical throughout the film, making every frame incredibly satisfying to look at. The lighting surrounding Nikki is particularly impressive. It constantly reflects who is actually in control of the situation without ever drawing attention to itself. I especially have to highlight the work done on Inde Navarrette's eyes. Whether she's standing in complete darkness and her eye sockets almost disappear, or whether you only catch a faint reflection of her eyes through the lighting, the effect is astonishing. It's such a tiny detail, yet it completely changes her presence on screen. The overall atmosphere feels like a love letter to gritty 80s genre cinema thanks to its textured film look. Another detail I absolutely loved is how the ending quietly begins long before the actual ending itself. It's woven into the film in a way that's neither fully diegetic nor completely outside of it. It sits in that fascinating gray area. Behind what sounds like the foolishest joke imaginable lies one of the most sincere portrayals of ordinary human ugliness I've seen in recent horror. This is exactly the kind of indie picture you should experience at least once. It's unsettling, refreshing, and I genuinely believe it belongs to the emerging Gen Z wave of horror cinema. Maybe it's the beginning of something new.