the real villain in ‘obsession‘

when my sister and i got tickets to scream unseen at our local cinema, i spent weeks hoping the mystery screening would turn out to be ‘obsession’. among the recent wave of horror releases, it and backrooms were the films i’d been anticipating most.
so when ‘obsession’ finally appeared on the screen, the entire theatre erupted.

directed by curry barker, ‘obsession’ follows bear, a painfully awkward man hopelessly infatuated with his friend nikki. alongside their coworkers ian and sarah, the group spend their days working at a music store and drinking together at trivia nights. hoping to confess his feelings, bear visits an antique shop searching for a meaningful gift for nikki and instead leaves with a “one wish willow” - a tree branch said to grant one wish when snapped. after a failed attempt at confessing his feelings during a late-night drive home, bear’s awkwardness gets the better of him. frustrated by nikki’s lack of romantic interest, he breaks the branch and wishes for her to “love him more than anyone else in the world.”

what follows is not at all what he expects.

what makes ‘obsession’ so effective is that it disguises itself as a supernatural horror while slowly revealing itself to be something far uglier and far more human. yes, the film delivers the classic genre pleasures: violent jump scares, unnerving paranormal imagery, gore, and moments of genuine tension. but underneath all of that is a psychological horror story about entitlement, ego, and control.

and that is where bear becomes the film’s true villain.

the obvious source of fear is nikki. post-wish nikki stalks through shadows, screams in the middle of the night, mutilates herself, and becomes increasingly uncanny in ways designed to terrify the audience. every scene involving her feels unpredictable and deeply unsettling. but curry barker does not shy away from the fact that nikki is not the monster here - she is the victim.

bear’s wish strips her of her autonomy entirely. in one selfish moment, he chooses to override the free will of someone he supposedly cares about simply because he cannot handle rejection. even before the horror escalates, the wish itself is disturbing. he does not wish for nikki to be happy. he does not wish for mutual love. he wishes for ownership.

what makes the film especially disturbing is that bear gradually realises this.

the horror of ‘obsession’ is not that bear accidentally ruins nikki’s life. it’s that, once he understands something is terribly wrong, he continues anyway.

again and again, the film gives him opportunities to confront reality, and every time he chooses comfort over accountability. when his friends question the relationship, he becomes defensive. when the mysterious number attached to the willow reveals nikki’s real screams of despair, he hangs up and tries to move on. even after nikki stabs herself in the face during a brief moment of lucidity - screaming “it’s not me” in front of everyone - bear’s response is not concern for her suffering, but irritation at her inability to behave “normally.”

“no more weird stuff,” he tells her repeatedly, as though her trauma is merely inconveniencing him. that line told me everything i need to know about his character.

one of the film’s most revealing moments comes when bear sneaks out to spend time with sarah, despite fully understanding the danger nikki poses in her unstable state. not only does he knowingly put sarah at risk, but the interaction exposes how shallow his obsession really was. after destroying nikki’s life to force her affection, he almost immediately seeks validation elsewhere.

the film understands that bear’s “love” was never really about nikki as a person. it was about gratification and possession.

that idea culminates in one of the most uncomfortable scenes in the film: the sex scene. the camera lingers on nikki’s face as she emits hollow, mechanical sounds with absolutely no emotion behind them. she looks lifeless - like a puppet forced to perform intimacy. the scene is intentionally difficult to watch, and it should be. ‘obsession’ refuses to romanticise what bear has done. the relationship is fundamentally non-consensual, and the film makes sure the audience feels the weight of that violation.

what impressed me most is that the film never allows bear an easy redemption.

in an interview, curry barker explained that the original ending had bear accept his fate after swallowing the pills, finally acknowledging that the only way to restore nikki’s autonomy was through his own death. however, actor michael johnston suggested a darker alternative: at the last second, bear forces himself to vomit up the pills in a desperate attempt to survive. it is the perfect ending for his character.

even at the very end - even after witnessing unimaginable suffering - bear still chooses himself.

that final act of cowardice directly leads to nikki making her own wish: for bear to love her more than anyone else in the world. the irony is devastating. only once the curse is reversed, and bear’s attempt to survive fails, does nikki finally regain her autonomy, awakening amidst the destruction and death bear caused.

her final moments are heartbreaking. you can see the exact second the performance shifts from supernatural possession back into genuine humanity. nikki’s grief is layered: mourning her friends, processing betrayal, surviving trauma, and finally experiencing relief all at once. her cries continue as the credits roll and we are forced to sit with the devastation that nikki has experienced for the entirety of the movie.

inde navarrette is extraordinary here. her performance is easily one of the film’s greatest strengths. pre-wish nikki is composed, charismatic, witty, and grounded; post-wish nikki becomes terrifyingly fragmented, oscillating between aggression, emptiness, panic, and despair. there were multiple moments where i genuinely thought the film had exhausted every emotional place her character could go, only for navarrette to reveal another layer entirely. she manages to be horrifying and heartbreaking simultaneously - which is exactly why the film works.

visually, ‘obsession’ is equally impressive. barker’s direction feels meticulous, particularly in his use of framing and shadow. post-wish nikki often appears swallowed by darkness, half-hidden within rooms or lurking in corners of the frame, creating a constant sense of unease even during quieter scenes. the lighting makes her feel less like a person and more like something trapped between states.

beyond its themes, ‘obsession’ succeeds simply as a horror film. it is consistently tense, visually inventive, and genuinely unsettling in ways that feel both modern and deeply inspired by classic supernatural horror. the pacing slowly tightens around the audience, beginning with familiar relationship drama and awkward comedy before descending into complete emotional and physical chaos.

what impressed me most was how confident the film felt tonally. it balances disturbing violence, sharp humour, emotional devastation, and psychological tension without ever losing control of itself.

the sound design and score amplify the film’s unease brilliantly - every scream, silence, and creak feels intentional. i especially loved the “one wish willow” jingle, which somehow manages to be both catchy and deeply unsettling; it genuinely made me want to plug my ears whenever it played. one detail i found particularly clever is that the jingle subtly changes after the first wish is made, signifying that the willow can no longer be broken again. it’s a small touch, but one that reflects just how much thought and care went into the film’s atmosphere and storytelling.

even in its most shocking moments, the film never feels exploitative for the sake of shock alone. everything serves the central tragedy at the heart of the story. it’s rare to find a horror film that is this entertaining while also feeling so emotionally intelligent and purposeful.

this was my first ever 5/5 i’ve given to a horror film and i cannot wait for round 2

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