Obsession

by Mike McGranaghan

I walked out of Obsession feeling shook and exhilarated - shook because writer/director Curry Barker’s horror film is legitimately disturbing, and exhilarated because it’s brilliantly executed. Every few years, a horror movie comes along - like David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows or Ari Aster’s Hereditary - that’s so original and so fresh in its voice that it can’t be ignored. This is one of those occasions.

Bear (Michael Johnston) works in a music store and is in a friend group with coworkers Nikki (Inde Navarrette), Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), and Sarah (Megan Lawless). He is very much in love with Nikki and plans to confess his feelings as soon as he musters up the courage. While looking for a present at a New Age store, he discovers a “One Wish Willow” that will grant a single wish to the person who opens the package and snaps the branch inside. Afraid that Nikki is going to friend-zone him, Bear wishes that she will “love me more than anyone in the fucking world.” He gets his way. Nikki’s behavior instantly grows erratic, as she alternates between amorousness, clinginess, jealousy, and rage.

Everything goes downhill from there.

Perhaps what most distinguishes the experience of watching Obsession is that if you looked at it from a slightly different angle, it could be a comedy. I have no trouble envisioning this premise as a Judd Apatow-directed rom-com with somebody like Jason Segel in the lead. Curry isn’t looking at it from that angle, though. He’s imagining the worst, most dreadful outcomes possible. That quality of instinctively wanting to laugh when what you’re seeing is terrifying creates the type of vibe that leaves a pit in your stomach. The horror seems even more horrible.

That’s quite an accomplishment considering what transpires. The movie has several quality jump scares; one of them is among the best I’ve ever endured. Other things are scarier by what they imply, notably the final scene, which contains implications that leave you rattled once you begin pondering them. And while this is far from the goriest fright flick you’ll ever see, there is a doozy of a death sequence, made gut-wrenching not just by the brutality of it but also by how long it lasts.

Curry proves exceptionally gifted at plotting. Each of the various types of scares fits organically into the story. Nikki’s behavior change might have become repetitive had the director not taken care to continually discover new ways to present it. Whenever you think the scenario couldn’t possibly be worse for those involved, Curry proves you wrong. Each added development layers the themes of romantic longing, infatuation, and the threat of losing one’s identity in a relationship. Those are ideas we can all relate to, allowing for an enormous ability to generate chills.

Johnston is likeable and charismatic as Bear, creating a character who becomes believably, heartbreakingly distraught over the chaos he causes the woman he loves. Navarrette, meanwhile, gives a spectacular star-making performance. She is to this movie what Amy Madigan was to Weapons. Nikki’s mood swings are massive, meaning that there was potential for them to play as silly rather than unhinged. The young actress manages to startle the hell out of you and still earn empathy for how lost Nikki becomes, through no fault of her own.

Obsession is a special kind of horror movie, in that it’s very human centered. We’re asked to contemplate the thought of a loved one becoming distinctly not themselves. That’s far easier to relate to than a monster or a ghost. Curry Barker has assembled a top-tier work of terror destined to leave audiences reeling.