This assessment relies on a screening which came about on the 2025 Improbable Fest Movie Pageant.
Should you’re a TikTok scroller, you most likely know Curry Barker from his sketch comedy channel, That is a Dangerous Thought, or perhaps you have seen his horror movies on YouTube, just like the extensively acclaimed full-length function, Milk & Serial. However for a lot of, Obsession will likely be their first style of the maverick actor and filmmaker’s darkish sense of storytelling…and what an introduction. Barker’s mainstream debut lately bought for over $15 million to Focus Options for a purpose, showcasing a twisted artistic able to take the horror style by storm.
Michael Johnston stars as Baron, aka Bear, an worker at Cassell’s Music. Upon introductions, all the things appears harmless sufficient; Bear has a crush on his bubbly and cute co-worker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), and nervously prepares to lastly ask her out. He fumbles the message, the chance passes, and that is when Bear turns to increased powers, opening a field labeled “One Want Willow” which supposedly grants a single want to the consumer. Bear holds the $6.99 Willow stick, says he needs Nikki beloved him greater than anybody on this planet, and snaps the enchanted object. Nikki reappears out of nowhere, and from then on – with no boundaries – Bear’s want comes true.
It is the last word anti-romantic comedy setup that turns into nothing in need of a psychotic Hallmark particular inversion. The monkey’s paw impact is in full pressure as Bear lastly will get consideration from Nikki, however the penalties snowball right into a catastrophic scenario he can not management. Obsession unravels from dangerous to worse time and again, all the best way till a gut-punch of an ending that is like Stephen King doing a Shakespearean tragedy. Barker’s imaginative and prescient is aware of no limitations, making me consider different current and completely bonkers horror debuts like It is What’s Inside or Barbarian.
Obsession is a extra contained beast than these movies, nonetheless. The movie’s success rests on Johnston’s and Navarrette’s shoulders, the latter of whom delivers my favourite efficiency from this 12 months’s Improbable Fest. Johnston’s function because the soft-spoken, timid “good boy” is the doormat he must be, whereas Navarrette is a revelation. Her function as Nikki is the woman subsequent door who’s glitching out, like this uncanny valley tackle Nicholas Sparks novels. One minute, Nikki’s a fantasy housewife, glued to Bear’s facet; the opposite, she’s a sleep paralysis demon, watching him snooze from a shadowy bed room nook, slinking about with unnatural actions. The best way Navarrette comes out and in of consciousness, very similar to break up personalities, is eerily seamless. She additionally emotes hilariously whereas scream-crying like a sitcom spouse or unleashing violent furies to get Bear’s consideration.
Obsession can also be a improbable tackle poisonous relationships from the skin in, due to Cooper Tomlinson’s Ian and Megan Lawless’ Sarah. They’re colleagues and buddies of Bear and Nikki, who watch the unusual shift in conduct as the 2 lead characters change into an instantaneous storybook couple. The place Bear sees nothing fallacious as a result of Nikki lastly worships his existence, Ian and Sarah see an unhealthy connection. They make essential acknowledgments about Nikki’s lack of self as she turns into simply an extension of Bear. Barker’s intentions could also be to shock and repulse, however his erratic satire of one-sided partnerships speaks loudly in regards to the distinction between love and lust, and the way desperation can rework us into jealous, ugly monsters.
That mentioned, Obsession is not solely a personality dissection. It could depend on conversational stress and wealthy performances, taking a minute to essentially hit its full stride, however the nastier parts flash sharp fangs. What begins with unusual choices, like Nikki making a kitchen memorial for Bear’s lifeless pet, kicks right into a breakneck style climax that mounts with crushing stress. All Bear can do is plaster a thousand-yard stare on his face and watch as his want ruins numerous lives. Threats flip to violence, snuggles flip to captivity, and Bear has to swallow the tough actuality that his selfishness is liable for all of the chaos that ensues. It is an immeasurably grim cautionary story, however in probably the most rewarding and entertaining of the way.
