Movie Review by William Anthony: "Obsession"

Want to watch a scary movie for Halloween? Check out Obsession

By William Anthony, Librarian I, Citizens Services- Birmingham Public Library

As a part of the INside Cinema series at Birmingham Public Library, we decided to screen Obsession  for the month of October. It is the latest scary film that everyone has been talking about this past summer. So, why not watch it again during the Halloween season?

Click below to view a trailer for one of the most terrifying films that I’ve watched in a while:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMC8kkwbIQQ

I don't remember the last time a horror movie felt so heavy, not since Hereditary came out in 2018. Obsession is a star-crossed lovers’ story that reeks of a rot that makes you want to figure out what caused the stench in the first place. This is where a dinky but diabolical, branch-like trinket called One Wish Willow comes into play when a desperate guy, Bear, snaps it in half, anticipating the most passionate romance ever with his crush, Nikki. That One Wish Willow holds so much power that you will want to learn more about its surprise wrath inflicted upon naïve customers like Bear.

The premise is upsetting and makes you feel uneasy. Of course, the most obvious takeaway is to be careful what you wish for. Yet, Obsession casually builds upon this lesson without turning the eerie consequences into a TED Talk about dating. Some relationships stay messy, no matter how much time is spent trying to salvage them. You never really know what someone else truly wants from you. A sincere, healthy relationship is never ever forced. Relationships don’t just entail champagne and fireworks. Not even a cute montage of Bear and Nikki laughing, cooking, and watching TV together glosses over the hard responsibilities required for a couple to mature. All these revelations bolted through my mind during the course of Obsession.

Now, I’m not an accredited expert on relationships, but I’m glad this movie gave me such concepts to chew on towards the hopeless finale. Obsession bluntly reminds us that are no guarantees in committed relationships regardless of how long a couple has been together. The One Wish Willow captures and reveals that inner void that many people try to fill with whatever they think will solve all of their problems and heartbreaks.   

Inde Navarrette has an innocent demeanor and an infectious, wide smile that could melt a thousand hearts. She has truly become a celebrity overnight as Nikki. Her small roles in 13 Reasons Why and Superman & Lois prepared her for this well-earned success. Although her costars bring the right amount of gravitas as a part of Nikki’s friend group, she is the spark that sets off the dynamite. Obsession highlights how pleasant her character, Nikki, seems before that one fateful wish changes her behavior immediately. Her million-dollar grin and warm eyes do come with a price, whether she is on a nice date with Bear or waiting for him to come home from work all day in his living room. She had no trouble jumping back and forth between regret and sadism; romance and manipulation. Her outbursts make you squirm because you can’t escape it, just like Bear.

The longer Bear allows this relationship to drag on the more deranged Nikki’s behavior becomes. At work, he eats a lunch that Nikki prepared for him, but a cryptic note shocks him into realizing he is not eating a typical sandwich. She gets dressed up for a fun house party only to bash her face senselessly with a beer bottle in front of everyone. Hearing her wounded howl, “Why don’t you love me!” will make you look around a room to make sure that a monster won’t lunge at you from underneath the bed or inside the closet. It is already a recognizable quote for horror fans. She not only steals the spotlight in this era of 2020s horror; she snatches it from other scream queens such as Mia Goth and Jenna Ortega. Be on the lookout for any Freaky Nikki costumes at the next Halloween party, including a brick. 

Bear’s role right here is guaranteed to spark several debates about the nice guy role in this kind of movie. I will give you a hint. Bear is not the relaxed, confident type of nice guy. Sure, he seems cordial when he is around the opposite sex, but his yearning for a relationship becomes apparent during his stilted conversations with girls like Nikki. You do feel pain for him at first with his flimsy attempts at being fun around women. The opening sequence in a diner where Bear practices flirting with a waitress confirms how and why he struggles with dating. One of his few friends, Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), even bluntly coaches him on his tone and body language during this practice run. He wants to fall in love, but he tries too hard because of his shallow desperation just to be with someone. Bear is willing to do anything just to have a girlfriend, no matter the cost.

He buries his lack of game so deeply that he chooses oblivion over understanding why acting too sweet and eagerly polite all the time can cause irreversible harm. Your initial pity for him will gradually fade away, especially when it is apparent that the real Nikki is trapped inside Bear’s idea of whom he wants her to be. Nikki’s increasingly disturbing behavior proves how Bear wished for something that he never thought would come with his fantasy romance. 

That burning lust only digs a deeper hole that gets harder and harder to climb out. When he fights the fact that it might be too late to right a wrong, that is when you realize that he unintentionally becomes an antagonist too. Bear is clearly at fault here over how he handles this jarring relationship he was not anticipating at all. Michael Johnston portrays Bear with the right amount of indignation and eventually defeat. Even when Nikki’s unhinged behavior continues terrifying Bear, he still panics about himself and why no one wants him as a boyfriend. Not only does he lose at least a solid friendship with Nikki, but he loses two other close friends: Ian and Sarah (Megan Lawless), who is the most innocent character in the whole movie. Our glaringly flawed main character burns down everything in his path, including himself, because he refused to acknowledge his main problem: a fragile, insecure ego stemming from nice guy syndrome.    

Obsession captures one of the most carnal and toxic relationships unleashed in recent memory. It captures how dating norms nowadays can dictate how we think true love must be without any compromises. Curry Barker, you just saved yourself several therapy sessions because you unpacked a lot of dark stuff right here. He took a monkey’s paw tale and turned it on its head. That jaw-dropping, ambiguous ending has been seared into my head.

Barker’s theatrical debut was made on a shoestring budget of $750,000, and it has grossed over $520 million dollars worldwide.

Obsession is available to borrow on DVD from the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, including all Birmingham Public Library locations.

As a cool bonus, below is the flyer created for Obsession. It was designed by Tim Quarshie, who started the INside Cinema series at Birmingham Public Library.