As Bonnie Raitt famously sings, “I can’t make you like me should you don’t.” The results of forcing somebody to do exactly that show horrifying in Obsession. Author-director Curry Barker, in his directorial debut, explores what the fantasy of wanting your crush to like seems like in actuality when that love is just not given freely. It’s a deeply unsettling and eerie watch, balanced by its levity. In some scenes you received’t know whether or not to giggle with disturbing discomfort or be horrified. It’s normally the latter, however the humor reveals the absurdity of compelled 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 straight. 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 deal with, as Nikki begins to exhibit obsessive and disconcerting conduct.
Obsession Maintains Its Pressure All through
Watch out what you would like for is an understatement in Obsession, which sees Nikki appearing like a totally totally different particular person. 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 anticipate him. If he desires to go to a boys evening together with his pals, she will get indignant. On the identical time, we see the interior wrestle for the true Nikki to get out, and it’s painful to observe these compelled behaviors.
Inde Navarrette is very unbelievable 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 position 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 a fantastic escalation in the direction of a really grim closing act that lastly motivates Bear to truly change issues. The complete movie speaks to the absurdity of compelled 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 scenario, at the same time as 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 totally examines sure discovered behaviors relating to romance and the expectations males could have after they wish to be with a girl. 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 sit up for what he does subsequent.
Obsession premiered on the 2025 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition.