Is “Obsession” (2025) the best horror movie of the year? Can a relatively unknown actor in a horror movie, Inde Navarrette, become eligible to win an Oscar for her performance? Does this movie count as writer and director Curry Barker’s first or second feature? Either way, way to go, my guy! Baron, nicknamed Bear (Michael Johnston), has a huge crush on Nikki (Navarrette), so he breaks a $6.99 without tax “One Wish Willow” so she would love him more than anyone in the entire world. Well, be careful what you wish for. It works, but initially Bear thinks it is coincidence until Nikki keeps acting strange. Is her love real? “Obsession” will actually make you feel scared in your body even if you are a hard-core horror fan.
Bear is a sad sack, but “Obsession” resolutely refuses to let anyone feel bad for him. He inherited his grandmother’s house. He has a core group of friends from high school, which include Nikki, Ian (Cooper Tomlinson, who is part of Barker’s social media comedy duo known as “that’s a bad idea,” which I am a fan of, but did not make the connection until after watching the movie) and Sarah (Megan Lawless), who may have a crush on him and is the only one with a parent who cares about her. The film opens in a diner with him practicing his lines with an agreeable waitress wearing a pink shirt and headband as her uniform, a look that Nikki will sport later after the wish while sitting on his couch. Visually this scene sets the tone. Bear likes the idea of Nikki but is not too clear on who she is as a person. Costume designer Blair James uses the fashion choices to show how a real woman dresses versus how a woman dresses for the man’s gaze, which is sexualized and hyperfeminine.
There is a running note among friends debunking a lie that Nikki tells Bear to be near him. Bear is a man determined to live his fantasy and only when the spell affects Nikki’s face does he begin to rethink the bonus. Johnston has an almost constant, consistent look of self-loathing and mortification projected on to his face other than during an early montage of their brief good time together. Barker pulls no punches, and in one scene, shows unequivocally that Bear does not care about Nikki.
Navarrette steals the entire movie. She takes every image of the jealous or crazy girlfriend, cranks it up to ten without chewing the scenery or overacting then just when you feel comfortable, she seems demonic based on her physical movements, which are unsettling and genuinely, deeply disturbing. As a horror fan and a film critic, I hardly ever feel fear. Occasionally a jump scare may get me. I felt the fear in my body. It felt as if anything could happen. Even when I correctly anticipated what was going to happen, I practically jumped out of my skin. Many scenes are shown in the trailers, but they are still chilling. More importantly, it is possible to tell when Navarette is playing the real Nikki or the wish Nikki.
Cinematographer Taylor Clemons and the entire lighting crew also played pivotal roles in sculpting an eerie Nikki. The use of shadows and light are crucial to Navarrette. As wish Nikki, she often seems like a shadow or a monster mimicking a woman. The way that the light glints off her pupils and her necklace make her seem even more terrifying as if her eyes have a tapetum lucidum, a reflective layer like cats. As one scene progresses, the light shines on her skin and makes her seem paler and supernatural. Also in the daytime scenes, Nikki is blurred, but the direction of her head reflects the attention that she is devoting to Bear. It would be interesting to find out if the sound department did anything to enhance Navarrette’s screams, which are piercing. Rock Burwell’s use of music, especially early in “Obsession,” as if the supernatural is roaring into a place, but also underscores when Bear is full of malarkey then abandons him with an abrupt stop
The mythology is simple and evocative. It feels complete without being detailed. The magic in “Obsession” feels related or adjacent to the magic in “Weapons” (2025). Gladys probably knows where that tree comes from. Barker mixes the quotidian with the consequential supernatural then takes it to absurd and hilarious levels at the end. The idea that some company or someone decided to give so much power for such a low price without any vetting process feels accurate. Also, many people believe in the magic. The best scene is when Bear calls the hotline, and there is no level of professionalism before it turns horrifying again. It is so casual, unregulated and dangerous. Also, the wishes do not always turn bad, but when they do, oof. In the restaurant, when Bear takes a call that bursts his bubble, he is standing under a carved wooden divider that looks like a tree.
Barker’s mind thinks about the furthest corners and consequences of his story. What happens if someone buys another “One Wish Willow?” Will it work or is there truth in advertising? He cares what is happening to Nikki as a person throughout this entire ideal. While he never prose dumps answers to spell it out for the audience, it is obvious that the experience is a nightmare for her. There is also the idea of wish Nikki fundamentally not understanding how to be human, especially eating or appropriate memorializing of dead loved ones. She acts like a child, which makes Bear even a sicker jerk. Also is there a way to get out of this mess? There is, and Barker pulls no punches. He explores all the options and really puts the screws to Bear. Bear is not getting off the hook for ruining live(s), but it never feels bleak.
“Obsession” would make a terrific double feature with “Companion” (2025). Unlike the friends in that movie, the friends here are judging Bear and Nikki for the state of their relationship. There is this idea that Nikki is the bad guy, and Bear needs to be protected from her, which is rich considering that even when Bear gets what he wants, he is (understandably) still not satisfied and looking around (not understandably) for his next victim though he would never see it like that. He would see it as something organically happening. Instead, Barker takes the movie to extremes so Bear can get the message that it is his fault. Barker also shows how women also fall for these misogynistic narratives and endanger themselves in the mix. It is heavily implied that Nikki was bullied as a kid in a sexual manner, and how the men who are her alleged friends use negging or her sexuality to manipulate her instead of just being normal. Best of all, it never feels like a sermon or pedantic. It feels gut wrenchingly real. If you love horror, “Obsession” is a must see movie.
