Obsession
Directed by Curry Barker · Age 27 · Feature DebutWhat if I told you this game can grant you any wish you want? All you have to do is make a wish and snap the branch inside it. But wait. Are you sure about what you're doing?
Obsession is exactly the kind of film I love to see succeed. A first-time director, 27 years old, a budget of under a million dollars, 20 days of shooting, and the result is a film that crossed 300 million dollars at the box office and sparked a major bidding war between A24 and Neon before Focus Features won it for 15 million.
Bear has had a crush on his friend Nikki for a long time and cannot bring himself to tell her he loves her. She is not even thinking about him. By coincidence he finds a game, makes a wish, and the wish comes true. His wish is that Nikki loves him more than anyone in the world.
What happens next is that Nikki does not just start loving him the way he wished. She becomes obsessively, sickeningly fixated on him. And that is where the film becomes something genuinely difficult to watch in the best possible way.
Inde Navarrette
What is incredible about this film is the performance of Inde Navarrette in the role of Nikki. I think people will keep talking about it for years to come. The way she effortlessly and all at once transforms from a sweet, innocent, quiet, laughing girl into a screaming, threatening girl who humiliates you in public is stunning and terrifying in equal measure.
There are scenes that were genuinely difficult to watch, scenes where you will feel truly uncomfortable. You will feel tense and anxious for most of the film. That is not a warning. That is a recommendation.
I would not be surprised at all if Inde Navarrette gets an Oscar nomination by the end of the year. The performance is that good.
Curry Barker at 27
Curry Barker came from YouTube. He is 27 years old. This is his first feature film. And what he does here, building sustained psychological dread on a budget of under a million dollars in just 20 days of shooting, is genuinely impressive. The film never relies on jump scares or CGI or big directorial tricks. It relies on performance, screenplay, dialogue, and atmosphere.
The film sits comfortably alongside Talk to Me and Midsommar in the psychological horror conversation. If you like films that make you ask yourself whether you would have done what Bear did at the end, whether you would have thought twice, this film is for you.
Why This Film Matters
This is exactly the kind of film I love to see succeed because its success will encourage production companies to bet on original ideas, far away from sequels and prequels and franchises and the never-ending Marvel and DC universes. The logic here is the logic of innovation, fresh ideas, and films built on the performance of the actors, the screenplay, the dialogue, and the direction. And it works. Spectacularly.
The Verdict
Obsession is not just a few jump scares, a weak story, and bad acting. It is bigger than that. It is a film about desire and consequence and the terrifying distance between what we want and what we are prepared to live with once we get it.
Inde Navarrette gives one of the performances of the year. Curry Barker announces himself as a director to watch for a very long time. And the film's success at the box office is the best possible argument for original cinema over franchise comfort food.
See it.