Obsession

★★★⯪

Obsession (2025)

Runtime: 108 minutes

MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity.

Obsession may be one of the only films that I desperately wished for it to end because of how deeply distressing it was. I'm not exaggerating when I put this on the table.

Almost everyone would be familiar with the wish-granting Genie in Aladdin, who states that (other than not being able to grant more than 3 wishes) there are three restrictions: he cannot kill anyone, cannot make anyone fall in love and cannot bring anyone back from the dead. Obsession, written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker, precisely shows you why granting a love wish is anything but a good idea in the most gritty and horrifying way possible. Tackling an emotionally prickly premise, he explores psychological possession and violation of free will in unsettling fashion. I don't normally consider this the fundamental component of a film, but Obsession works so well because of a powerful performance by Inde Navarrette, who captures the instability of her character and instills not only genuine fear but unpredictability. Before diving in, I should warn the faint of heart, and even the composed ones, that it is anything but comfortable. Check yourself out if you're anything below high-tolerance.

Bear (Michael Johnston) works in a music store with friends Nikki (Inde Navarrette), Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Bear has romantic feelings for Nikki, but is afraid of asking her out. Despite practising with his friends, and even to a point where Nikki directly asks him about this question, he's afraid of answering honestly, unwilling to risk an unfavourable outcome. Earlier that day, Bear was shopping at a crystal shop and came across a supernatural product called the One Wish Willow, which could grant anything the person desired. True to its name, the One Wish Willow can only be used once, and its effects are irreversible.

After a rather mundane start, Bear wishes for Nikki to love him more than anything else in the world, and it works. So, why did the Genie in Aladdin restrict this specific type of wish? As shown in the film, Nikki becomes a puppet to Bear's wish. Her real subconscious is trapped in a metaphorical cage, letting out bloodcurdling screams and desperately fighting to escape from the prison. When she does, Nikki's behaviour becomes erratic, in which we're left to question whether the real or possessed Nikki is in autonomy of her body. Her personality becomes overwritten, and consent is effectively completely stripped, enslaved to a husk that serves only to satisfy Bear's desires. In another way, Obsession also deconstructs the nice guy trope, revealing that Bear's selfishness never led him to care about Nikki as a person, something he eventually learns later.

All of these wouldn't work without the engine, this time being performance. Navarette pulls off what is essentially a balancing act, alternating between alarming devotion to sudden, loud and sometimes violent breakdowns, interrupted by moments of confusion and realisation when her real soul temporarily regains control of herself. Bear isn't the only one terrified; I am too. And Barker doesn't want you to escape from the scene. He keeps the camera running, holding the tension in seemingly uneventful moments like Bear sleeping or walking out of the room, ending it with a punctuating noise or eerie positioning of Nikki in the frame.

Hokum was suspenseful enough, but Obsession takes it a step further by being more emotionally cruel and incredibly gruesome when needed. Instead of boiling it down into a tale where lessons were learned or framing anyone as clearly good or evil, it's surprisingly disciplined and focused, tracking the relationship's downward spiral and Bear's mental degradation from the psychological torture he's endured throughout the film. There are a few events which I won't spoil, but they definitely were startling. Being constrained to Bear's perspective does make the film slightly overlook Nikki's perspective and how her real subconscious is handling the possession, which would have given it more thematic heft. Strangely enough, Navarette's performance overpowers this to the point where some viewers may mistake Johnston and/or his character as lacking in depth.

Despite this small misstep, Barker has shown undeniable talent in starting from a somewhat simple premise and twisting it in the most deliriously bleak way possible. His unflinching eye for physical, emotional and psychological violence as he navigates through complicated terrain strengthens the thesis he makes, making Obsession a highly effective ride. It might be ridiculous to suggest this, but what if he tries exploring why resurrection isn't a good idea in his next project? Until then.