Obsession is Worth the Hype

     It is safe to assume that most of us have been infatuated with someone who does not feel the same way about us. With luck, most of us probably get through the worst of that in our teens-early twenties – learning from our mistakes, gaining confidence, and trying again sometime later. Obsession, written and directed by Curry Barker, tackles this subject head-on in a film that proved to be a breakaway hit and audience favorite of 2025. A plot that easily could have come off as silly turns out to be a genuinely creepy and frightening horror film.

            Young, awkward Baron “Bear” Bailey (Michael Johnston) is enamored with friend and coworker Nikki (Inde Navarrette), and after a brutally failed attempt to tell her how he truly feels, he ends up buying a One Wish Willow, a novelty item at a New Age shop, breaking it and wishing she loved him more than anything. In a dramatic escalation of the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for,” that’s exactly what happens. But the adoration Nikki feels for Bear is a form of obsession (hence the title) gone nuclear. She not only loves him, but she is also possessive, stalkerish, and violent in her pursuit of her lover. In a quasi-mythic/folkloric take on the old trope of tampering with forces you do not understand and trying to manipulate nature, Bear goes from euphoric at having his wish come true to desperate to get out of it.

            Many of us, when younger, possibly wished on shooting stars, snapped wishbones, or did any number of superstitious acts to attract the object of our affection, and Obsession deftly portrays why that was never a good idea. What makes the story work is precisely that relatability. Bear, Nikki, and their friends seem to live the idyllic 20-something life. They work together at a job they don’t have to take too seriously, spend their evenings at Game Nights and Happy Hours, and the future is bright ahead. In the way that these things happen, Bear has fallen in love with Nikki, who would much rather keep him as a friend. I know I’ve been there, and I’m sure you have too.

            Nikki’s transformation from compassionate Friend Zone girl to homicidally, dangerously obsessed and protective Ride or Die works on multiple levels. At times, her freak-outs, her behavior in public, are funny, but not funny because they are humorous, but in fact are extremely awkward, and the tension between Navarette and Johnston and their friends is palpable in these scenes. As I said before, the plot, which easily could have dissolved into a Young Adult melodrama, gradually heats up to a genuinely creepy, uncomfortable horror film, which in many ways is the best kind. Outside of the novelty toy that made his wish true, the plot has a great deal of realism to it, and realism is always the scariest type of horror.

            There’s definitely blood and gore in this one, folks, and a cat, that, well … there’s a cat. You’ve been warned.