Obsession by Curry Barker has been drifting in and out of my thoughts since seeing it. On the ride home, my horror movie buddy and I were talking over its strengths and weaknesses, both impressed by the film and yet wanting a bit more in areas like motivation and some worldbuilding.
As the day went on, I kept thinking about the film and why I felt slightly unsatisfied with the world building while suddenly realizing I didn’t care about that. I didn’t care about the broader world and the implications of a gag gift that actually works. What I cared about was the narrow window of Bear, Nikki, Sarah and Ian’s world and the dynamics that lead to this film.
Obsession is presented entirely from Bear’s point of view and doesn’t expose what lead to the film’s events other than casual hints in conversation. He’s a man in his 20s, living in the home he inherited from his deceased grandmother, working at a music store with his three friends: Ian the best friend and bro-ish guy who lives for parties and trivia night, Sarah the owner’s daughter who wants to go to art school, and Nikki the compassionate one who wants to be a writer. Bear’s life is thrown for a loop as his cat passes away from getting into his grandmother’s old pills and on the same day he finds out his love interest is quitting the music store (for reasons never revealed) to focus on love and writing. When he is unable to admit his feelings to her, despite having the perfect moment to, he, on a whim, makes a wish on a One Wish Willow, a gag gift from a new age store, that Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world.
From there, things escalate as the audience knows what this means: the wish is real. She will love him more than anyone else. But he doesn’t know what. It’s a wish, much like any teenager or young adult has made before. Whether it is plucky petals off of flowers, playing with those hand held fortune tellers or wishing on a star, most everyone has wished for someone to love them, but if it came true we never really thought that the wish worked.
So Bear doesn’t know the One Wish Willow worked. He only knows they are together… and what does that mean? What does it mean to learn about someone’s oddities? What does it mean to have what you want but wish ramifications? What does it mean to move in with someone and find out who that person really is?
Yes, we the audience know something is wrong. We know some magic happened, some spell, some possession, something took over Nikki. But at what point does he have to accept that this relationship is wrong but also that it is the wish and the woman he is with is not the ‘love of his life’ but something else in her form? At what point does Ian and Sarah know? We the audience are screaming that this is wrong. Beware, flee, change, revoke the wish. But when you seemingly have the love, you always wanted do you really think it was because of magic? Can you love this person despite their flaws?
As a friend, when do you step in? When must you force your friends to realize their relationship is toxic?
When do you realize that your friends are not themselves? What do you do to protect them? To protect yourself?
We’ve all seen toxic relationships, many of us have been in them and ridden them out to their ugly conclusions. That is what Bear, Ian and Sarah must think is happening. But the audience knows it is more than that. There are layers that the others don’t understand at play.
Obsession is a masterclass in confidence. Every scene is deliberate and designed to evoke feelings and leave you questioning who is right, who is wrong, and what you would do. Every light choice draws the viewer in and makes you search for deeper meaning. The movie is overacted on purpose and understated with its messaging. The score is purposeful and punches when it needs to.