Obsession- Movie Review
Following the recent string of YouTubers-turned-horror-filmmakers, including The Phillipou Brothers and Talk to Me, or Michael Shanks and Together, writer-director Curry Barker, who along with friend and actor Cooper Tomlinson made their online breakthrough with a series of hilarious sketches, always had a horror itch in need of a scratch. And it was Barker’s viral horror video, Milk & Serial, that led to the development of his first feature film, Obsession, a horror about obsessive love and being careful what you wish for.
Bear (Michael Johnstone), a timid music store employee, has strong feelings for his childhood friend, the authentically friendly and lovely Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but has never had the courage to ask her out. Bear’s heart is broken when he finally discovers that Nikki doesn’t share the same romantic feelings for him, but at the persistence of his more confident and abrasive friend Ian (Tomlinson), Bear decides to purchase a gift for Nikki. Instead, he comes across a “One Wish Willow”, a Ouija board style toy that will grant its user one wish. Bear’s wish? For Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world – a wish that soon becomes a terrifying and confronting reality where Nikki’s erratic behaviours lead down dangerous paths.
Launching off of horror foundations like Get Out and Hereditary, Barker leans into a slower burn type of thrill to set up the characters and premise of Obsession. For the film’s first 30 minutes, Barker is more interested in spending time developing the sense that Bear’s love for Nikki and her generally friendly demeanour are more so at odds with each other. And it’s here where the nature of the film’s title skews into Bear’s court. The endless scrolling on her social media profiles, his longing infatuation with her presence at their workplace or the bar where all their friends hang out, and the insistence on taking her home each night never feel like gross or unsettling behaviours from Bear, but they are a little bit much. And that is only exacerbated when he buys this One Wish Willow, using his wish to have Nikki fall madly in love with him – something he denies couldn’t happen naturally between them.
This is when Barker turns up the intensity and terror bit by bit as the story continues. At first, Nikki’s behaviour gives off the “girl of your dreams” sentiment that Bear has longed for. He’s getting all of the attention he feels like he deserves, and probably even a little bit more than that. But the cost of that attention slowly unravels into more psychopathic tendencies, in which Navarrette brings this all consuming, possessed nature to the screen in one of the greatest horror film performances since Toni Collette in Hereditary or Florence Pugh in Midsommar. Barker drips feeds the terror with so many unsettling moments – dead pets being dug up, hiding in the dark corners of bedrooms in the middle of the night, public outbursts of jealousy – and the variations of horror used make for an exciting and disturbing viewing experience that gets crazier and crazier, serving as a wonderfully deranged pay off for the audiences who embraced the film’s earlier slow burn. Barker also has a fantastic visual flair for horror, utilising shadows and sharp cinematography that really immerses the audience into the horror, which is also edited (by Barker himself) to have audiences uncomfortably and effectively stay in scenes much longer than they would want to.
As aforementioned, Navarrette gives a performance that will be talked about in film this year. Nikki is one of the most exciting and erratic characters to go on this insane journey with, and Navarrette’s dedication to the physical and psychological elements of the performance are phenomenal. The delusion and insanity of “possessed” Nikki is harrowing, but there are glimpses of “normal” Nikki that come out occasionally, in which the pain and anguish that Navarrette brings in those moments is difficult to watch as it reminds the audience that this awful existence was brought upon her by a guy who puts his own love ahead of her existence. Johnstone is also fantastic in the film, balancing the “nice guy” ignorance and completely terrified rollercoaster that Bear goes on very well. The antagonistic chemistry that arises between Bear and Nikki showcases two actors who understand where their characters are at each moment of the story.
Obsession is a phenomenal film from Curry Barker, where the amalgamation of his writing, directing, and editing create a horror experience that isn’t afraid to have the audience sit in the uncomfortable tension for longer than most films would, all while ramping up to a brutal and intense finale that is truly shocking, fuelled by Inde Navarrette’s career defining performance.
Obsession is in Australian cinemas May 14
