Something’s not right, for better or worse, with writer/director Curry Barker’s creepy tale of courtship Obsession.
I’ve tried coming up with multiple different ways to open this review by making a simple remark about love. What I’ve found is that, what starts as a simple romantic gesture can turn into something much more complex and stressful. How much should you love someone? How should you show that love? Does your version of love differ from someone else’s? More importantly, when does that love turn into something else? Better yet, how does that love look through someone else’s eyes?
Writer/director Curry Barker may not have answers to all of those questions, but he’s got some ideas. His latest, Obsession, follows hopeless romantic Bear (Michael Johnston) who desperately wants to tell best friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) that he loves her. Unfortunately, Bear is more nervous than a cat over a bathtub and can’t bring himself to tell her his true feelings. One night, he finds a One Wish Willow toy in a novelty store and throws caution to the wind by wishing Nikki loved him more than anyone else in the world.
Then in the blink of an eye, Nikki wants to spend all of her time cuddling with Bear, cooking with Bear, adorably giggling with Bear, and absolutely nothing else. It’s so sickly sweet that their best friends Ian and Sarah (Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless) start to wonder why this is even happening. Then Nikki starts acting strange…not lovesick strange, but deeply disturbed-type strange. Bear tries to block it out, but can’t deny that something might’ve gone wrong with his wish.
Standing in the shadows of love.
Photo Credit: Focus Features
Obsession is Barker’s second feature film, but you wouldn’t know it given what he knows about building tension. The two keys are in the blocking and the lighting: Barker knows when to place Nikki in just the right background spots to make her Bear’s boogeyman, while cinematographer Taylor Clemons shrouds Nikki in darkness to the point where her figure becomes hauntingly anonymous. There are points where all you can see is her unblinking eyes with piercing glimmers of light that make her seem otherworldly. Clemons and Barker also color every set with faded palettes that make everything look dilapidated and rotting. That look clashes with Rock Burwell’s hazy 80s synth score, making you wish the movie was a bit more stylized like a glossy B-movie thriller rather than an imitation Ari Aster flick.
As well-constructed as Obsession is in front of the camera, its script feels surprisingly incomplete. Barker shows the obligatory montage of Bear and Nikki fawning over each other after the wish, but Barker doesn’t make it clear how many days or weeks that montage covers and confusing how long it takes for Bear’s wish to go sour. It also hurts Ian and Sarah’s motivations for being instantly skeptical of the sudden relationship. Barker does write-in the reason for that tension, but it’s brought up at such random times that it makes you think he should’ve slotted them earlier in the screenplay.
Don’t look hard to find reasoning in Obsession. Barker either can’t decide or won’t say what Bear’s wish has truly done to Nikki: One minute it seems like magic has made her unhinged, the next it’s as if she’s possessed by an evil spirit that’s trapping the real Nikki. Not that Barker needs a boring scene of exposition like in other Blumhouse films, but it feels like he can’t make up his mind on his villain’s motivations. That vagueness also hurts said villain’s scare tactics, which jump back-and-forth from unhinged lover to underworld demon. There are plenty of unsettling moments from Nikki, but some of them are so random that it borders on comedic. The way Nikki goes from scream-crying in Bear’s face when he dares to pull away to how she moves around their home like the Babadook makes the movie seem like a farce at times.
Fatal attraction.
Photo Credit: Focus Features
For all of its faults, Obsession has one incredible performance carrying the movie on its back. Navarette gives it everything she’s got, from longing stares of deep romance to guttural screams of horrifying anger. She has a face that can show whimsy, psychopathy, fear, and a frown so deep it might as well come with the world’s smallest violin. The physicality of Navarette’s performance is impressive enough, but the way she snaps back and forth between sweet and sinister is something horror legends are made from. It’s a performance you can’t look away from, even if she stares and smiles and laughs a bit too long for your liking.
Kudos to Johnston too for creating new lows for the “boyfriend in a horror movie” archetype to hit. Not only does he commit to making Bear’s adorkable qualities (stammering, cozy sweaters, meek demeanor) grating from the start, but he also reveals the sinister nature behind the intended wish the more the movie goes on. One scene where he’s given a solution to the problem shows Johnston turn Bear’s stressed face from sympathetic to pathetic in one shot. You can feel sorry for the typical lonely loser Johnston puts on at the start, but the way Bear keeps excusing his wish in front of Ian and Sarah (both played well by Tomlinson and Lawless) makes you truly hate him.
The bottom line.
Whether by its creepy setups or confusing story structure, Obsession is genuinely unsettling. The performances from Navarette and Johnston are terrific, and Barker shows a knack for building tension and covering deeper themes within the standard “be careful what you wish for” structure. What he needs to work on are the little details that keep his story flowing smoothly (or at least sensibly) for a full runtime and a trust that his audience will enjoy the ride without blatant reminders that they’re watching a horror movie. Still, it’s admirable how much Obsession wants to make you uncomfortable in such a simple way. What’s more terrifying than long-term commitment?
Obsession is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer below.
Images courtesy of Focus Features. Read more reviews by Jon Winkler here.
REVIEW RATING
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Obsession - 6/10
6/10
