(Welcome To A New Edition of “The Review Vault”, where you get the opinion on the latest media in storytelling and entertainment. This is one I really wanted to use to get back into long form reviews. What better way than a stellar film that has a lot to cover and really explore positively with some insights from one that understands and loves the craft of filmmaking. Enjoy this review and hopefully this will give me the push to get back into this, consistently).
We all have that one love that we wanted to convey to, with how much we care for and want more, but leave those emotions and thoughts unsaid. That lies at the heart of a choice to wish for that to come true, only for that wish to take on a sinister blowback for our unlucky and somewhat selfish lead character in a proper mainstream effort from YouTuber to Filmmaker Curry Barker in the horror dramedy, Obsession. In what can be seen as a renaissance in horror tales in cinema today, we have the latest release that has united critics and audiences in praise for the film’s terrifying execution of such a simple premise and the stellar star making performances from the leads as well as the reliably strong supporting roles in it too. Coupled with stellar direction and a clever script from a rising talent in Barker, we got something that might be considered a memorable mainstream push that will be remembered come time for awards consideration. Let’s dive into this wish making tale and how it goes from a dream into a nightmare.
This story begins with a hapless romantic named Bear (Michael Johnston) as he practices how to approach his crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) about how he feels and wanting to date her to a waitress with his friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) coaching him on his approach. Oddly enough, Ian advises on being direct and just asking, but also slyly suggests to Bear to be playful towards Nikki with calling her Freaky Nikki, which could have ill intent behind that advice for Bear. This is compounded by the sudden death of his cat, Sandy via pill poisoning and finding out that Nikki intends to quit at the music shop they work in and move away, with her trying to get him to game night at the local pub. The best way he finds to likely build up to the ask, is to go to a local thrift store to find a gift, where he happens upon an interesting item called a One Wish Willow and gets one to surprise Nikki with it after hearing her lose her necklace.
Despite his grief, Bear goes to game night and is unable to get a moment to ask Nikki out, being literally blocked by Ian in one instance, but also confessing to his best friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) that his cat Sandy died, with her immediately comforting him. The moment arises as Bear offers to take Nikki home as the two decide to call it a night while Ian and Sarah go bar hopping to dull the pain of losing game night once again. Bear catches up with Nikki and she expresses her sympathy for what he is going through with Sandy’s death. It seems the night is going well until they arrive at Nikki’s place where Nikki lowkey throws a bit of a hint to Bear about Sarah possibly crushing on him, despite Bear deflecting with being just good friends with her. Bear clumsily tries to make his big gesture speech as she’s heading in and calls her Freaky Nikki, escalating to her asking Bear point blank if he likes her or not.
This leads to Bear blowing it hard by calling her a good friend and Nikki frustrated, heading into the house confused by his response. In frustration of how it went, he decides in the moment to give the One Wish Willow a shot and makes the wish he longs for in making Nikki unconditionally love him solely. What happens next is Nikki immediately heading back to Bear about the gift he wanted to give her, and then it becomes clear that something has changed in her, as she hangs on his words and senses for his love for her. What becomes a wish come true, eventually escalates into a creepy and violent nightmare that reflects the greatest flaw in making a wish that robs one person of free will for both Bear and Nikki. As the saying goes from the very beginning to the end of this tale, “Be Careful What You Wish For…”.
This is quite the spin on a familiar horror scenario, from the Monkey’s paw (heard inspired by the episode from The Simpsons regarding that story in a Treehouse Of Horror tale) to another take on it via TV from the horror show, Tales From The Crypt with the episode “Loved To Death”, where the absence of free will with cult devotion to a person’s love goes horribly wrong. Here it is not only modernized well but smartly to be impactful for today’s audience as the actions of the characters make sense, Bear gets rightly criticized and chastised for letting this situation get worse with each day, and the escalating danger as the film shifts tones subtly and in a very risky matter between comedy and sheer horror. It starts out one way, like a traditional romance dramedy but veers between that and pure body/supernatural horror as it gets progressively worse for our main POV being Bear. That’s just the tip of what this story covers and ultimately where it leads as it develops a unique wrinkle to the wish fulfillment as the inciting incident here.
That being, the way Nikki flips out or even moves unnaturally, giving the impression that something else is acting as a vessel for her and the real Nikki is literally locked away in oblivion. This makes the moments of tonal shifts even more important in handling and the film is effective at making those scenes work both comedically and horrifically in surprising ways. There is also a steady build of dread and tension that remains constant due in part to the restraint on not giving any form of answer and it works in its favor keeping things focused. It also explores the dynamics of relationships shifting from one having control and the other being trapped, where this gets flipped from one to another halfway through the film. As for how it all shakes, it is brutal, disturbingly violent, and downright darkly funny how it wraps with the complete reversal taking place that not only makes sense but ties it up rather well in a bloody fashion that just revels in the sheer chaos that just unfolded. Barker found a new and inventive way to explore this scenario to its entertainingly dangerous heights.
Let’s get into the cast as there are a handful worth exploring, including the big standout of the entire cast but let’s start with the first lead and supporting cast members. Michael Johnston as Bear feels like Peter Parker but even more clueless and introverted to a fault, played exceptionally well by him. He clearly goes along for the ride and his choices to enhance the pathetic nature of Bear just works very well with the escalating tension where he goes along with the wish but eventually ignores how much worse it is getting with the wish amplifying that love to a dangerous level. The other cast members are also solid in this, playing real and nuanced characters that are well, human as they are never right or wrong about their actions. Starting with Cooper Tomlinson as Ian, his best friend and he really does a great job conveying his confidant at times but also in expressing his concerns with him and Nikki (a subtle hint that he was jealous of not being in a relationship with her from what is hinted at in the film). Finally, the last prominent cast member is Megan Lawless as Sarah, Bear’s best friend who is clueless to how much she cares about him and in that regard, does a solid job in the three scenes we see, showing how much Bear’s wish made it worse for everyone that knows him. They are great overall in reacting and being shaped by the way the film ratchets the tensions and dynamics between each of them.
For the standout though, Inde Navarrette as Nikki Freeman deserves her own section as she takes this role and runs with it as the major breakout performance that one will be thinking of as well as being disturbed by, whenever people think of this film. The number of micro expressions and shifts she pulls with her performance is truly otherworldly and shows just how talented she is, conveying the shift in Nikki well between her normal self at the start to the obsessed violent being that inhabits her. There are also instances where the camera work/editing really enhances her performance by the way they show how unnatural her movements are, via ramp up or playback of her scenes. This is all made possible from her stellar screen presence and always being on edge with how she might act or react to what the other characters are doing, especially with Bear. She basically does most of the heavy lifting here via in acting and will be one to watch going forward as she delivers a star making performance that one can only hope will be considered down the road for awards consideration for how memorable, haunting, and creepy Navarrette made Nikki out to be, along with grounding her character well in the beginning to truly make us care and ultimately, empathize with what she deals with from start to finish.
Now, let’s get into the folks behind the camera, starting with the look of the film via cinematography and production design. The lead DP on this one is Taylor Clemons, relying on a dark and gloomy look that conveys the desolate, small town that the characters inhabit for this film. The use of shadows and light are very deliberately handled without being too obscure or unviewable that has been apparent in other films that go for this style. Otherwise, it is very clearly set during present day but the gloomy slightly warm look of the shots really convey how supposedly quaint this place is until the madness begins, relying more on the flicker of light glows in the dark when focusing on Nikki in the shadows constantly to the lingering shots that hold on an expression awkwardly to reveal impactfully a creepy moment taking place (this is definitely evident with Nikki’s shift in character) and even the subtle background placement of Nikki lurking outside or in a corner unassuming. The look of this film is truly dark but still visually pleasing and comprehensible to see at least, that further conveys the horror elements of this story exceptionally well with the way it was shot and shaped for the camera.
Next up, the sound design in this is exceptionally handled by this team and it hits harder than most films coming out right now. They emphasize the sounds sharply with the amplified dialogue levels as well as the reactive score by Rock Burwell that does an excellent job really conveying the clashing two tones the film walks the fine line in capturing all at once. This was also coming in hard via Dolby Atmos via Dolby Cinema, literally shaking the speakers slightly, showcasing how much this genre of stories relies so much on sound being handled with care. It is coupled by the eclectic soundtrack that really conveys that illusion of a teen drama before shifting hard into horror mode that feels effective here. In many of the technical areas, these two stood out and hit the hardest in elevating a good film into a great one overall.
To wrap this up, doing long form reviews tend to be for anything that gives a strong reaction or sense of something special to explore in media. That is the case with Obsession by Curry Barker, a very exciting creative voice within the horror space that is hard working (got another film coming out later this year) and truly knows how to pull the most out of the conventional horror troupes/ideas that have been explored in numerous ways. From the exceptional performances in the cast with a star making one with Inde Navarrette, to the gorgeously gloomy look of the film, sharp direction in conveying the shift in tones, and finally the remarkably reactive synth score from Burwell. This cautionary horror tale on wish fulfillment and the dangers of co-dependence/free will in a relationship is gonna haunt many folks for the foreseeable future. In a renaissance of fresh and young horror tales, this is one that will linger onward as a classic down the road.
SCORE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Obsession is a clever and passionately crafted horror romance dramedy that tows the line between comedic and horror well with its exceptionally game cast as well as the exquisite work of the crew in shaping the gloomy look of the film as well as capturing in synergy the moments that will standout as memorable. It also puts a unique spin on the traditional wish fulfillment story seen in other media, while making it fresh with the way the characters are written and directed throughout this film. The star making performance n Inde Navarette is going to be the one everyone will remember from this film, who is not only talented in shaping her character to the extreme transformations but also has a beautiful screen presence that still shines in all the violent madness. That is also made possible by the rest of the cast as well, with Michael Johnston doing well in matching Navarette’s character shifts, along with the way he handles the increasing destructive nature of Bear letting this charade get to violent levels. With the very exceptional ambient score from Burwell amplified by the strong sound design in this, it’s amazing this was made for $755K (Under a million) and had to be mentioned as it reinforces how much a good script, cast, and direction can go far, no matter the hurdles and undoubtedly long nights and rough days it took to get this made. This is one horror tale you might want to pay attention to, as it could be one, we will be thinking of, for the following awards season.
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