Obsession
Obsession
Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless
Directed by Curry Baker
Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy, timid man who's had a crush on his longtime friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for awhile, but doesn't have the gall to actually ask her out, to the chagrin of his best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson). Meanwhile, fellow friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) has the hots for Bear, but also can't fully express her feelings. One night Bear buys a One Wish Willow at a local magic shop that's supposed to grant the owner who breaks the toy one wish, and Bear wishes for Nikki to “love him more than anything in the world." Immediately, Nikki becomes Bear's girlfriend and obsesses over him, wanting to spend every waking moment with him and grows increasingly insecure and volatile at her preconceived feeling that Bear isn't reciprocating her all-encompassing love. As Bear realizes this isn't the real Nikki, he tries to find a way to reverse his wish - and learns the only way to get the original Nikki back is by having him literally out of the equation.
YouTube stars have had an amazing trek in the horror cinematic realm as of late. The Phillipou brothers (known as "Racka Racka") have released two of the best horror films of the 2020s in "Talk to Me" and "Bring Her Back." Film reviewer Chris Stuckmann delivered the creepy-if-flawed "Shelby Oaks." Mark Fishbach (Markiplier) funded, directed, starred and wrote a film based on a game he loves called "Iron Lung." Kane Parsons (Kane Pixels) is coming out with a big-screen version of his iconic YouTube series "Backrooms" (directing the film at just 20 years old). Curry Baker (That's a Bad Idea) released his short film "Milk & Cereal" on YouTube before now hitting the big screen with "Obsession." It's been a fantastic time for YouTube stars to emerge as horror auteurs, and "Obsession" continues that list of successes.
We've all seen this type of movie before. Someone makes a wish for someone else to fall in love with them, and either hilarity or heartache ensue. Baker actually blends the hilarity and heartache here, leaving audiences laughing out loud before gasping in terror at the visuals they see on-screen (a bit of a trigger warning: a cat dies and anyone who's a cat lover will be affected by it), thanks to his duel YouTube role of comedian and horror director. The film centers on four core characters who are fantastically written and deeply layered, performed with perfection by a relative group of unknowns. The cinematography is assured and precise, eliminating the need for needless jump scares in favor of tension that hovers over the entire film like a dense fog (that's not to say there's no jump scares, but they feel totally earned as opposed to being thrown in to jolt audiences awake). The theme is darker than you see on the surface, once you see the events through different lenses you see the true nature of the movie and the possibly unintended consequences that audiences can pick up from it.
At the heart of the film is Bear, played by "Teen Wolf" star Michael Johnston. Bear is a shy, timid man who constantly looks like he's been in a sauna - always sweaty and wearing heavy sweaters in what seems like spring or summer. He's had a crush on Nikki for years, but can't bring himself to break the friendzone and actually ask her out, so he resorts to a more manipulative method: making a wish and seeing it come true. At first he's in bliss with Nikki, but she becomes more and more unhinged as the film progresses, but he can't bring himself to tell anyone what's really happening or really end the relationship - either out of fear for his own life or hers - and comes off as a real creeper...again, depending on who's lens you see his story through.
His best friend Ian, played by Cooper Tomlinson, is probably the most thinly written character in the film. He pushes for Bear to ask Nikki out, but also has a secret of his own. He comes off as annoying, arrogant, and abrasive, and not really given more than that. Sarah, played by Megan Lawless, has more to do with her story. She's not-so-secretly in love with Bear (although Bear doesn't seem to notice) and is looking forward to a future at an art school - if she can get into one of them. She's best friends with Nikki and seemingly is involved with Ian, but that's not fully expressed.
Then there's the true star of the show, relative newcomer Inde Navarrette, who plays Nikki. This actress is a revelation, a woman who's not at all afraid to not just dip her toe into the deep end of insanity but do a cannonball into it. As the "possessed" Nikki, she's unhinged, uninhibited and unashamed to do anything to keep Bear's undivided attention, and Navarrette fully envelops herself in the role. Whether she's creepily staring at Bear (in one of the best shots of the film where Bear is talking to Ian about what happened with her unfocused in the background just staring at him) or reading a completely unhinged poem at a party, Navarrette proves herself a more-than-capable actress who's performance will go down in modern horror history as one of the best, along with the likes of Toni Collette in "Hereditary," Florence Pugh in "Midsommar," Lupita Nyong'o in "Us," Mia Goth in "Pearl" and Oscar-winner Amy Madigan in "Weapons."
What makes "Obsession" unique is the overall nature of the story. Generally, when someone makes a wish like Bear did in movies like this, the person who's the victim of the wish is brainwashed into falling in love with the person who made this wish. This movie flips that by making Nikki possessed, an entirely different entity in which the original Nikki is still inside who comes out at certain times to freak out over what's happening before the possessed Nikki takes over again. Again, this allows Navarrette to stretch her acting chops all the more, and makes for an intriguing tale.
What else sets it apart is the modern take on the issue. Ian and Sarah notice Nikki isn't acting normal anymore, and Bear keeps trying to make up excuses for her, but depending on who's side they're on tells more about their character. Ian thinks Bear is taking advantage of Nikki, while Sarah feels Nikki is taking advantage of Bear, which shows who both characters really like. Also, when Bear tries to reverse the wish (in one of the film's most darkly hilarious scenes), he learns the only way to end it is if he's not alive anymore, which - like the "Smile" movies - gives off an uneasy theme that in order to escape a toxic relationship you have to kill yourself.
By offering a unique spin on a tired trope, Curry Baker delivers one of the greats of horror in the 2020s with "Obsession," featuring a career-making role for Inde Navarrette.
The Score: A+
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