Obsession

Believe the hype. Believe that its almost unprecedented performance at the box office is buoyed by the movie's quality. It is that damned good. It is not an original movie. It is a predictable movie. But this movie is about the intensity of the journey, and the performances of Inde Navarrette as Nikki (who seriously deserves an Oscar nomination) and Michael Johnston as Bear. Johnston walks a fine line, sympathetic at the start as he can't muster up the courage to ask out the co-worker he's been crushing on, and then loathsome later on as he would rather hoard the "benefits" of his wish and ignore the Vegas-bright warning signs flashing in his face. Navarrette, though, is the star of the show, a woman under a spell to be wholly committed to Bear to extremes that defy human imagination. Her performance is mesmerizing and heartbreaking, especially as there's a brief hint that maybe, just maybe, there could've been something between Bear and Nikki naturally. Curry Barker directs Obsession with the eye of a seasoned pro, despite it being his first feature. He knows how to use shadow, how to frame shots to have important things happening in the fore and background (even when the background is out of focus), and how the story should unfold for maximum tension. I can't count how many times my mouth fell open and I muttered some exclamatory word; not because of a stupid jump scare, but because Barker's direction put me in the right frame of mind to be surprised by where the story was going next. And, I think most importantly, he never paints Bear as the protagonist after he's made the wish. Bear is 100% responsible for everything that happens. He is willing to look the other way as long as he gets what he wants. He is the villain and Nikki is the victim, and the movie never lets you forget that. Obsession's reputation is earned. It is a movie of horror, both cerebral and visceral. It is tragic in the classic sense of the word. It is simple but not simplistic. It will make you uncomfortable. It will shock you. It will creep you out. And it will stick with you.