Obsession
"Be careful what you wish for" was never more ghastly ...
In Curry Barker’s Obsession the old saying “be careful what you wish for” comes to horrific life. Mopey sad bastard Baron (Michael Johnston), whom everyone calls “Bear,” casts an inadvertent spell when the girl of his dreams isn’t dreaming about him. Nikki (Inde Navarrette) has been his co-worker and friend for years, and she considers him a close friend, but she shows no romantic or sexual attraction to him. He’s like a brother.
He, on the other hand, has harbored a crush on her for a long time, and is upset that she has “friendzoned” him. His buddy Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) encourages him to be cool, and more aloof with her. The three of them, along with another friend, Sarah (Megan Lawless) work together in a music store owned by Sarah’s father (Andy Richter).
Baron, of course, in his blind fixation for Nikki, misses the signals from Sarah that she is interested in him. Each person here harbors a secret they should communicate.
On an extraordinarily bad day, Baron agrees to come to trivia with the gang after Nikki coaxes him out of the house. While stopping to buy a necklace for her at a boutique karma crystal shop, he instead decides on a vintage relic called a “One Wish Willow.” At the end of the night, after he once again fails to summon the courage to tell Nikki how he feels, he breaks the willow twig while wishing that Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world.
To his amazement, the wish works, but in the most horrifying way possible. Cool girl, best friend Nikki instantly becomes besotted with Baron and viciously jealous. She focuses all of her attention on him. He is grateful, but confused and suspicious, because her transformation is so fast and so unlike her. Baron wants to believe so hard that he initally ignores Nikki’s bizarre behavior.
He soon discovers that having a person who insists on being with you at all times, who won’t allow you any external contact or relationships, and who melts down forcefully if you resist, is not the life he’d dreamed of with Nikki. The limerence he carried for her for all those years vanishes into panic and fear when he realizes that it was his wish that changed her.
It’s a fairytale trope that a wish will always be granted with a devastating, unforeseen twist, and that is demonstrated in appalling, blood red technicolor. This is The Monkey’s Paw turned up to 11 with the volume knob ripped off. As everyone knows, if your crush feels the same way, is available, and in good emotional working order, you’ll know. If you have to wonder, then they don’t or they aren’t.
All of the performances are solid, but Inde Navarrette absolutely kills (no pun) as Nikki. She goes from being the cool, self-assured woman with a great group of friends to a creature of pure id, with a singular need to own and be owned by Baron, with no guardrails or boundaries. If you have been in a relationship with this kind of imbalance, seeing it played out with these violent ends is even more nightmarish.
Taylor Clemons’ cinematography cranks the tension up to terror levels. Nikki is often in shadow, with her slightly visible face overlaid with something feral and demonic. Straining to see her, you may think you’re eyes are playing tricks.
Obsession is more than a wild ride horror flick, it’s also a parable about the malice inherent in the toxic blend of male fragility, selfishness, and crippling self-doubt. Barker makes a sharp point that the homicidal psycho in the film is the person we feel sympathy for, while the introverted protagonist is actually the evil one. Making the wish was an act of violence by someone who then played the victim.
This mode is a striking reference to incel culture, which is built around male entitlement in the firm conviction that every man is owed a woman, and she must be built to certain specifications like a supercar. She’s the princess you win with the highest score after beating the boss level in a video game. The sad fact is that if the roles were reversed and it was the man violently controlling the woman, it would not seem supernatural at all. That story is in the news daily.
Even in his darkest moments Baron doesn’t regret making the wish. He regrets that it’s not following the script in his head. At no point does he ever consider anyone but himself, ensconced firmly in solipsistic narcissism. It is Baron’s obsession that kicks this nightmare off. The title is about him.
This story works on multiple levels, resonating in a guilty shock of recognition for everyone who’s had an unrequited crush (which is everyone), full of the shameful cringing worthlessness one feels when the object of your desire doesn’t reciprocate. The film starts with a Weapons-esque vibe, but quickly goes darker. Barker also borrowed the magic element used by Aunt Gladys where breaking a stick invokes the wish.
Obsession is Barker’s official debut film, but he and Cooper Tomlinson previously released a highly regarded no-budget movie Milk and Serial on YouTube. Barker enthusiastically digs into the most vulnerable places in our psyche, upending our most trusted situations, and hits with a full-on blast of terror. This reviewer doesn’t scare easily, but Obsession shook me. The art and genius of the film is in how willing Barker is to go there. No punches are pulled. We should be fearful of whatever he comes up with next (but still look forward to it.)
Spock summed this experience up in the Star Trek original series episode Amok Time when he noted that “After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing after all as ‘wanting’. It is not logical, but it is often true.”
