Obsession, 2025.
Directed by Curry Barker.
Starring Michael Johnson, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter.
SYNOPSIS:
After breaking the mysterious ‘One Wish Willow’ to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
The Monkey’s Paw gets re-adapted for the billionth time in former YouTuber Curry Barker’s Obsession, a movie that will hit you harder depending on where you are in life as it takes the universal theme of ‘be careful what you wish for’ and wraps it up in a very contemporary 2020s blanket, which will serve as a time capsule of social behaviour and attitudes for years to come, for better or for worse.
Bear (Michael Johnston) is a young man in love with his childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) but Bear is shy, an incurable romantic and does not want to blow his friendship with her by confessing how he really feels. However, fortune comes his way when he finds a ‘One Wish Willow’ in a new age gift shop that will grant the user one wish when you break it in half, so of course he wishes that Nikki would fall in love with him.
But these types of wishes come with a price, and after initially having a wonderful time with his new girlfriend and their insatiable lust for each other, Bear begins to regret his life choices as Nikki gets very possessive when he talks to their female friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) and insists on coming along when he goes out with his male friends. Before long, the Nikki that Bear fell in love with is no longer there and what is left looks like her but behaves like a woman possessed…
And we’ve heard about these types of women in movies before, as the spectre of Fatal Attraction can be seen in the character of Nikki and her psychopathic behaviour, although in that movie Michael Douglas was a cheating husband and not a bit of a wet blanket who just wants his crush to love him back. Inde Navarrette steals the show as Nikki, who herself is an innocent and the demon personality that comes out when Bear makes his wish is not her, and the actor delivers a fearless performance as Nikki’s free will is overridden by Bear’s wish and she becomes, for all intents and purposes, mentally unstable.
Free will is an apt phrase to use, as Obsession has a lot going on under the surface, with consent coming into the equation – as the central theme implies, be careful what you wish for – as well as the differences between love and infatuation, and even how we continue to care for someone even though they are no longer the person we thought they were. In one striking scene, Bear comes back from work to find Nikki in the same spot she was in when he left, covered in urine and sores because she dare not move, and although it is supposed to be unsettling and bizarre – which it is – it is also a bit tragic as Bear becomes Nikki’s carer for a moment, putting up with her compulsive behavior out of a sense of duty rather than because she is his lover. A comment on degenerative personality disorders and how they affect couples? There are many things to unpack here.
However, the best moments of the movie are the jump scares, as they are not cheap ones to get a quick reaction but director Curry Barker using the John Carpenter/Dean Cundy playbook when it comes to lighting and framing, such as when Bear wakes up in the night and Nikki is somewhere in the room doing something we aren’t supposed to see at that moment, and the combination of genuine jump scares and suspense are masterfully executed. This being a horror movie there are also some gruesome special effects on display that are almost cartoonish but in a good way, representing the over-the-top nature of Nikki’s attacks, with one in particular that wouldn’t look out of place in an S. Craig Zahler movie.
The 4K disc comes with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack to really pump out those jump scare cues, and with a 1.50:1 aspect ratio the movie feels tight and almost claustrophobic, those shadows and dark corners blending into the black bars down the side of the screen. The movie itself is very dark and not especially dynamic when it comes to colour schemes but everything looks crisp and clean without coming across as flat, mainly thanks to those lighting choices. There is an accompanying making-of featurette and an audio commentary by Curry Barker for extra features, so you get plenty of background to the movie and how it came about, but not a lot in the way of analysis, which isn’t really a bad thing as this is a movie that takes more than one viewing to get everything out of it
Overall, Obsession is an effective horror movie and one that will be discussed and dissected at length in the future. It isn’t perfect and there are some issues here and there, such as the overlong running time, the time it took for Bear to figure out how to get out of it and scenes that should have played out longer – such as Bear and Nikki’s first flourishes of love – are quickly rushed through with a montage and other scenes – like Bear phoning up the One Wish Willow company – are dragged out despite not really being that necessary. But despite those flaws and the niggles with the wish-making mythology (it is never really laid out how it all works), Obsession still hits the right beats and works tremendously well thanks to committed performances, solid direction and a wicked streak of black humour.
With Curry Barker having being announced as the director of the next The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie it will be interesting to see how his style will transfer to that grittier franchise, but with a movie like Obsession on his CV his name is one to watch in the horror genre regardless.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: *** / Movie: ****
Chris Ward
