Just like getting things off the website Wish, the new horror obsession shows that wishing may not give you everything in the way you intended. After breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crushes heart, a hopelessly shy man finds himself getting exactly what he asked for, but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark sinister price. This is going to be spoiler free because I only watched the teaser trailer and I went in relatively blind, so I want to give you that same type of courtesy. Following in the footsteps of many stories centered around the theme of what you wish for, Obsession takes the sentiment and then goes way darker and visceral. We follow a group of four friends, Bear, Nikki, Ian, and Sarah.
Bear secretly longs after Nikki and he kind of impulsively makes a wish on a toy. And from there, the series of events spirals evermore into the mire of creepy discomfort. Now, typically, I’m very leery of a film where the same person is the writer, director, and editor. But here, relative newcomer Curry Barker demonstrates that he has the skill to see his idea all the way through to the end and then do it competently. What makes this story work and then stand out as something fresh despite a well-used plot premise is how the performances capture the necessary intensity that conveys exactly what the film title wants.
Indie Naverette, who plays Nikki, becomes a demented doll at times, freezing in place with her creepy smile and this strained expression. Now, Nikki is the love interest of Bear and through the body movements and contortions that she does, along with some eerily focused, yet pained stares, she elicits all sorts of emotions from the audience, ranging from distress, horror, sympathy, and revulsion. Now, I’m highly impressed by Naverette’s ability to hold an uneasy smile for an uncomfortable amount of time. It’s almost like she’s channeling Jack Torrance after he goes a bit sideways from being cooped up for far too long. Naverette pulls the corners of her mouth to the extreme as she struggles to show Bear how happy and sincere she is in her desire for him. But, what it looks like to all of us watching is that this is a tormented soul who’s having some sort of vicious internal conflict. The actress is a commanding force when she’s on screen. Her piercing expressions and guttural primal screams are shocking at all the right times, sometimes making us jump and then other times just making us chuckle incredulously. Then, to compliment Navarette’s performance, Michael Johnston, who portrays Bear, be secretly in love with his friend and wants to express that love to her, but can’t get out of his own head to do so, instead becoming a stammering bucket of mush who has his own internal battle over when and how, even if, he’s going to profess his feelings. And Johnston, thankfully, doesn’t craft Bear to be some predatory skeezer who makes his wish with nefarious intent or even with the desire to control Nikki.
He haphazardly wishes on something that he doesn’t believe is going to work and then is horrified by the results. What adds to the dynamic, creating this powerfully disturbing sequence, is that Bear begins to buy into the truthful lie, that Nikki really does love it. The moral, emotional, even philosophical dilemmas this builds are surprisingly intelligent and deep. And the story, it doesn’t cheapen out on the themes. Instead, though, pushes harder into them to bring about just some complications that may not be able to be resolved in the way that we want. And the story is meant to bring about conflicting emotions in the audience. Now, on one hand, Bear is selfish because he even contemplates making a wish and then carelessly wishes. Instead of verbalizing his own feelings, even when presented with opportunities to do so, he shies away, perhaps showing the truth of his feelings despite how he has convinced himself that he feels. But, then we see the buyer’s remorse at making such a rash decision. Thankfully, the story presents Bear as uneasy, even freaked out because of the immediate shift in Nikki’s behavior.
That demonstrates, at least in part, that he didn’t have malicious intent, even though the wish itself was designed to strip Nikki of autonomy. This could veer off into some misogynistic wet dream, but because of the actions and attitudes Bear demonstrates, that sentiment it’s greatly minimized. The story doesn’t absolve Bear of what he did, which adds even more weight to the tragedy of the plot. But it also doesn’t paint him as some heroic persona swooping in to right the wrong and ignoring the fact that he created it in the first place. What we’re left with is this massively flawed dude who made a hasty and terrible choice that led to harrowing consequences from which few may escape unscathed.
While the movie isn’t a scary one, it’s certainly creepy and ominous. There are movements that characters make that can make you jump, even squirm. And while technically there are a few sequences that contain jump scares, they’re not the cheap or typical kind. These are earned moments that aren’t telegraphed or even set up with musical crescendos. Instead, just well-placed characters bringing about natural jumpiness simply because they’re unexpected something that definitely adds to the uneasiness of the storytelling is the use of extreme loudness and brief but sudden instances. These are designed to freak you out, and while a few times they made the audience laugh a little bit, for the most part, they sent chills down the spine and then made hair stand on end. So much of the narrative is presented as a psychological horror, creating dread and provoking unsettled thrills. But this also doesn’t skimp on the bloody horror elements that make for squirmy watching. When the violence occurs, it is fierce and gruesome.
So while there’s not an abundance of gore, when it does come, they don’t hold back. So much of the time, too, the onset it is startling, making the scenes even more powerful in their effect. And the practical effects, they nailed the ick, building wounds and other nastiness that can make you wince, maybe even gag a bit. Now, despite this being the director’s feature-length debut, he demonstrates amazing patience and restraint when it comes to placing the camera and then fighting against the desire to move it. So many of the uncomfortable or creepy scenes are accentuated because we’re forced to look at something way longer than we want, allowing both the actor and the camera to unsettle us in an effort to see who blinks first. And several times, it was me who squirmed before the frame broke and then changed perspectives. I didn’t know what to expect going into this and I’m happily surprised at how much I enjoyed the entire experience. The plot itself isn’t novel and the lore is kept to a simple and basic premise, but the performances, especially from standout Indie Nevarrez, and then the unhurried but still intense pacing works seamlessly with the chilling aesthetics and deliberate camera placements to deliver a fresh and satisfying horror tragedy. The gore is on point, the lighting builds needed ominous shadowing, the musical score haunts, and the editing maximizes suspense without sacrificing restraint. All culminating in a presentation that will get under your skin, make you ponder the moral questions, and then perhaps make you rethink your next birthday wish.
I give The Obsession four and a half out of five couches. This is an excellent time at the cinema and it paid off in all the right ways and then stuck with me for the night. Okay, what would you wish for if you could only have one wish? Now, be careful, you may get what you want, just not in the way you’d expect.
Seriously though, I would love to know what you’d wish for in the comments below.
