As Curry Barker’s Obsession arrives on OTT this week, Sreeju Sudhakaran revisits the chilling psychological horror film about the terrifying implications of a man’s desire to control a woman’s affections.
Key Points
- Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, is a psychological horror film that subverts romantic comedy tropes to explore the dark consequences of a man wishing for a woman’s love against her will.
- Inde Navarrette delivers a ‘skin-crawling’ performance as Nikki, portraying the tragic undercurrent of a woman imprisoned within her own body.
- Michael Johnston’s portrayal of Bear effectively transitions the character from a sympathetic underdog to a reprehensible figure as he grapples with the consequences of his wish.
If the coolish tone of the first act was replaced with a softer, warmer one, Obsession would have tricked you into thinking it was some Hollywood romcom from the early 2000s with a dash of fantasy.
You know the kind. The hero is an awkward geek who has a crush on the pretty girl who only sees him as a friend, and can never bring himself to confess his feelings. He has a male best friend who keeps pushing him to say what’s on his mind while also being a bit of a dick about it, and yes, a female bestie who may or may not have a crush on him.
And voila, he finds a wish-granting deus ex machina that allows him to fulfil his desire of making the girl of his dreams fall for him. Sure, there would be some complications. The boy would realise that you cannot make someone fall in love against their free will, learn his lesson, and everyone gets a happy ending.
Unfortunately for the romcom lovers out there, Obsession ain’t a date movie from the 2000s. It is a horror film that recognises the horrifying nature of what happens when a man tries to take away a woman’s autonomy, forcing him to face the consequences of the same. And no, there is no happy ending here.
It is dark, twisted, gory and utterly disturbing. If you are watching the movie on a date, you might feel like taking separate cold baths afterwards before deciding how the rest of the evening should proceed. I mean that as a compliment for the film. All the best for your date, though.
The Rise Of A New Voice In Horror Genre
Bear (Michael Johnston) and Nikki (Inde Navarrette) work at the same music store and are good friends.
Bear is in love with her but cannot bring himself to tell her, much to the annoyance of his friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), who also works at the store.
Since Nikki is obsessed with charms and trinkets, Bear visits a crystal shop to buy her a gift, where he comes across a one-time-use trinket that grants a single wish.
Although he doesn’t believe in it, after once again failing to confess his feelings, Bear casually wishes that Nikki would love him more than anything else in the world. What Bear doesn’t realise is that the trinket actually works.
Well… what happens next? Prepare yourself for a ‘love story’ that feels like something has crawled beneath your skin and is doing some deeply unpleasant things there.
Obsession Director Curry Barker belongs to the new generation of filmmakers who first make well-crafted, low-budget horror films that go viral online before Hollywood notices them and hands them a feature.
His debut horrorfilm, Milk & Serial, starring himself and Tomlinson as two YouTube pranksters, is available to watch for free on YouTube. Do check it out.
Like his first film, there are no ghosts or demons in Obsession, yet it manages to be deeply unsettling. Sure, there is a supernatural element in the mysterious one-wish trinket, but that is treated with a stoner-esque streak of black comedy.
The Year’s Creepiest Love Story?
Where Obsession really finds its horror is in the psychological nightmare born out of the manipulated relationship between Bear and Nikki.
Particularly in how Bear is written, and in Inde Navarrette’s genuinely skin-crawling performance.
On the surface, Bear is a character who feels instantly relatable. He is the supposedly sweet guy who fears he’ll forever be stuck in the friend zone and is too scared to step out of it, even when the opportunity presents itself.
The first sign of my frustration with him comes when that very opportunity arrives and he sheepishly backs away. Yet at that point, he is still the underdog you feel bad for.Even when he makes the wish, it isn’t out of malice. He doesn’t even know the trinket works. It comes from the frustration of his own inability to speak up.
It takes Bear some time to realise his wish has actually come true, but it is everything he does afterwards that transforms him from a sympathetic underdog into a genuine creep who ruins lives. The wish itself isn’t what makes him despicable.
It is his willingness to continue a relationship with someone who is clearly not in control of her own mind, even when he initially convinces himself that she is merely behaving strangely because of drugs. The grounded way the character is written makes his actions too believable, and therefore all the more reprehensible, even if he never deliberately intended any of this.
Michael Johnston is terrific in the role, and his reactions to his girlfriend’s increasingly bizarre behaviour feel completely authentic.
Inde Navarrette’s Oscar-Worthy Performance
The star of the show, of course, is Inde Navarrette, who delivers a performance that refuses to leave your mind, much like her character refuses to leave Bear’s side. The way she modulates her voice, expressions and physicality in an instant is astonishing, and within the film’s tone, absolutely horrifying.
There are moments where she simply stands perfectly still for several seconds, and I genuinely wondered if something had gone wrong with the screen. It is only when her face twitches to reflect her actual psychological unwillingness, that breaks the spell of that scene.
The restaurant sequence, the party scene, the silent wait at the doorstep, the violent climax… if the makers of Obsession are looking to campaign for a Best Actress nomination at next year’s Oscars, those are the scenes to lead with. Please do.
Even within the horrifying unpredictability of how Nikki behaves with Bear, there is a tragic undercurrent of a woman imprisoned inside her own body, and Navarrette conveys that hauntingly well.
In fact, whenever she has those brief, shocking lapses of her new existence, Obsession delivers some of its creepiest moments through her screams and her cries. They make you want to look away, but you never know when to do it. Curry Barker simply doesn’t give you that luxury.
Curry Baker’s Taut Direction
Despite its relatively minimal setup, with only four characters truly driving the plot and most of the action unfolding inside Bear’s house, Barker uses the confined setting brilliantly to create a darkly unsettling atmosphere with excellent use of the lighting (or lack of it).
He never lets you forget the deeply disturbing nature of the premise, constantly introducing moments that make your skin crawl as Nikki’s new existence grows increasingly unbearable.
Where he truly excels is in conveying the emotional and psychological horroronce Bear comes to terms with the true nature of Nikki’s ‘obsession’. The violence escalates, so does the gore, and the sound design plays a huge role in amplifying the suffocating atmosphere.
There are plenty of moments that will make you wish you hadn’t eaten a hearty dinner beforehand.
I won’t blame you if, after watching Obsession, you avoid sandwiches for a few weeks.
Rent or purchase Obsession on Apple TV.
