Verdict
Summary
A surprise smash hit at the box office, Obsession perplexes me because it’s no crowd pleaser. It’s a totally devastating and depressing film that hearkens back to the old wives’ tales from the dawn of time where you should be careful for what you wish for, but it has winning performances and direction by Curry Barker that isn’t so much nuanced as knowing. He knows these characters, but he doesn’t have much restraint with the material, showing too much and giving us more than the movie needed to give. Personally, the movie rubbed me the wrong way on almost every level, and because it exists in a world where overtly supernatural things happen in the open, the movie loses its credibility. I found the film to be distasteful and gross, and I didn’t like the characters, not because they’re not relatable, but perhaps because they are, but the world they inhabit is strange and alien. The fact that the movie found a huge audience is interesting, but we are living in a time where nothing is left to the imagination anymore, including sex, death, and desire. I miss the innocence of everything, and when our entertainment has lost its innocence (even our horror movies), that’s how we know we’re past the point of no return.
Plot:
A single man makes a wish that his friend would love him more than anything … which comes true, leading to disaster.
Review:
Bear (Michael Johnston) is a hopeless romantic, who is in love with his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette), who sees him as just a friend and nothing more. They have friends, and they all meet up and pal around, going to bars and trivia nights, but Bear is pining away, and when he loses his cat, his heart breaks, leading him to make an impulsive wish with a trinket novelty toy he buys at a New Age gift shop: He wishes that Nikki would love him more than anything in the world … and the wish comes true almost instantly. Nikki becomes obsessive and doesn’t hide or subvert her desire for Bear, which throws the entire balance of their social circle out of whack, but the whole thing is obviously supernatural and causes Nikki to break apart within because the wish went against her will. She crumbles and loses herself while Bear first is overjoyed at the turn of events, but it doesn’t take long at all (just a matter of a week or so) for him to fear for his life because Nikki isn’t just in love with him, she’s completely obsessed and crosses every line (and then some) that someone isn’t supposed to cross when in a relationship with someone. But this is not a relationship; this is a catastrophe leading to a total and irreversible tragedy that will destroy lives forever.
A surprise smash hit at the box office, Obsession perplexes me because it’s no crowd pleaser. It’s a totally devastating and depressing film that hearkens back to the old wives’ tales from the dawn of time where you should be careful for what you wish for, but it has winning performances and direction by Curry Barker that isn’t so much nuanced as knowing. He knows these characters, but he doesn’t have much restraint with the material, showing too much and giving us more than the movie needed to give. Personally, the movie rubbed me the wrong way on almost every level, and because it exists in a world where overtly supernatural things happen in the open, the movie loses its credibility. I found the film to be distasteful and gross, and I didn’t like the characters, not because they’re not relatable, but perhaps because they are, but the world they inhabit is strange and alien. The fact that the movie found a huge audience is interesting, but we are living in a time where nothing is left to the imagination anymore, including sex, death, and desire. I miss the innocence of everything, and when our entertainment has lost its innocence (even our horror movies), that’s how we know we’re past the point of no return.
Universal brings Obsession to 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray, and DVD this week, and the 4K Ultra HD choice comes with the Blu-ray disc as well, plus the digital code. An audio commentary by Barker is included, plus a bonus feature called Obsession Unleashed.
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