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As Bonnie Raitt famously sings, “I can’t make you like me if you happen to don’t.” The implications of forcing somebody to just do that show horrifying in Obsession. Author-director Curry Barker, in his directorial debut, explores what the fantasy of wanting your crush to like appears like in actuality when that love just isn’t given freely. It’s a deeply unsettling and eerie watch, balanced by its levity. In some scenes you gained’t know whether or not to chuckle with disturbing discomfort or be horrified. It’s normally the latter, however the humor reveals the absurdity of pressured love itself.
Bear (Michael Johnston) actually likes Nikki (Inde Navarrette) and hasn’t labored up the braveness to inform her, regardless of being given the chance at one level when she asks him instantly. When he needs on an object he discovered at a retailer and breaks it, his want that Nikki will love him essentially the most comes true. After all, it has horrible penalties that Bear has to cope with, as Nikki begins to exhibit obsessive and disconcerting habits.
Obsession Maintains Its Pressure All through
Watch out what you want for is an understatement in Obsession, which sees Nikki appearing like a very totally different individual. She now lives solely to like Bear, who welcomes it at first earlier than issues begin getting actually bizarre. When Bear leaves her alone, she doesn’t do something however look forward to him. If he desires to go to a boys night time together with his buddies, she will get offended. On the identical time, we see the inner battle for the true Nikki to get out, and it’s painful to look at these pressured behaviors.
Inde Navarrette is very incredible right here, shifting between genuinely creepy horror moments and sickly candy adoration. Her efficiency is splendidly layered, mixing off-putting line supply with the warped physicality this type of function requires. The actress is a spotlight. Michael Johnston can be nice, particularly as his pet canine coronary heart eyes shift from shock and horror the longer the movie goes on.
It’s a deeply unsettling and eerie watch, balanced by its levity.
The movie turns into more and more darkish; it’s an important escalation in the direction of a really grim remaining act that lastly motivates Bear to really change issues. Your complete movie speaks to the absurdity of pressured love. It leans into the sexist stereotype of the “loopy girlfriend” whereas subverting our expectations. Right here, it’s Bear’s obsession with desirous to be with Nikki that results in his state of affairs, whilst she’s blamed and judged for appearing surprisingly and wildly jealous. We’re meant to see Nikki’s actions as excessive whereas understanding she is not appearing freely.
The film begins off like a rom-com earlier than attending to the bloody horror of all of it. It’s a enjoyable film that completely examines sure discovered behaviors relating to romance and the expectations males might have once they need to be with a lady. The horror itself is superb; it’s not overdone, and Barker weaves it in naturally and successfully, including in unsettling, tense moments at what would normally be common occasions — like a sandwich shock for Bear that turns disturbing or a celebration that will get only a bit too uncomfortable.
With good pacing, writing, and a stellar solid, Barker has crafted a directorial horror debut that’s deliciously darkish, absurd, and eerie. I look ahead to what he does subsequent.
Obsession premiered on the 2025 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition.
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