Obsession
- Jun 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 26
OBSESSION is a massive hit and a grisly, clever debut by Curry Barker. He keeps you on the edge of your seat from the minute that damn One Wish Willow stick is snapped until the absolute mad finale.
However, the entire movie was nearly derailed for me by our young male lead character, Bear. This isn't to cast any ill will toward actor Michael Johnston, who plays him. Johnston is excellent.
But Bear is so soft, so emotionally immobile with a spine made of feathers, that he's nearly impossible to cheer for until things get really out of hand around him. Is this the new model for a modern male protagonist? Barf. If he had any balls, the movie would be over in 5 minutes and he'd have a date. I wanted to scream " come on Man!!!" at the screen ten times in the first 20 minutes. What a........
But I digress.
The film opens with Bear practicing how to tell his co-worker Nikki how he feels about her. His best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) has him share his feelings and then tells Bear how horrific he sounds speaking them. It's a hilarious start. Bear and Ian work at a music store with Nikki and Sarah (Megan Lawless), that's owned by Sarah's dad, Carter (Andy Richter). The four banter at work and out in clubs, where Bear is committed to finally telling Nikki how he feels.
Big screen newcomer and Tucson native Inde Navarrette is a revelation as Nikki. She serves up a no-holds-barred, WILD performance that elevates the film around her. Barker has written her one hell of a role, and she runs with it, HARD.
When Bear fails once again to have the courage (or common sense, balls, chutzpa or backbone) to ask Nikki out (how will this generation ever procreate?) he goes to a new-agey shop and finds a boxed novelty item that promises to grant ONE wish to any user.
He wishes that Nikki would "love him more than anyone else in the entire world".
OOPS.
Barker takes this clever hook and spins it into an ever escalating roller coaster of madness. Attraction becomes Love, Love becomes Obsession and Obsession begets madness in some very, very horrifically entertaining ways.
Barker surprised me again and again. The screenplay he's written serves up true originality, while paying stunning homage to everything from Ari Aster's "Hereditary" to Hitchcock's "Vertigo". He also edited the film. This kid is a triple threat to watch.
Barker uses a lot of long takes that create a true sense of unease.
Where did Nikki go? She as just in bed a minute ago....
Pieces of the story are slowly locked into place as real emotions and the true dynamics between these characters peel back.
At one point, Bear says "this is everything I've ever wished for", but Barker has Bear deliver the line in a sequence perfectly timed to the audience's growing concern on how any of this can possibly end.
Johnston is terrific as Bear, taking a very unsympathetic character to unexpected (and yet consistent) places in the final act. His responses to the madness feel authentic in every moment, no matter how off the rails his crush goes.
Barker uses darkness and his sound mix to great effect, proving that jump scares can be created through sound alone. Navarette's voice as Nikki is the scariest thing in the movie. Her ability to bounce back and forth from a loving coo to a death scream that chills your blood is startling.
I loved the scenes in which Nikki seems to be just out of the light, her eyes giving off some sort of creepy glow that I couldn't ever grasp. It works incredibly well.
Rock Burwell provides a score that's as diverse as Nikki's voice, creepy as hell and occasionally romantic with an undertone of danger around every dark corner.
Shot for about $750,000 and just surpassing $300 million at the box office, the film delivers bold new talent to Hollywood, with Barker, Navarette and Johnston about to rocket into the stratosphere. Barker just signed a massive next picture deal with Universal. I can't wait to see what he does next.
I'm hoping he proves to be another Jordan Peele, serving up bold, fresh takes on genres with plenty of messaging buried within each journey. He's off to one HELL of a start here.
OBSESSION gets a B+.
WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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