Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: A breath of fresh air – a definite watch recommendation for everyone who loves non-supernatural horror.

Bear (Michael Johnston) has been crushing on his classmate Nikki (Inde Navarrette) since high school, and is looking for a way to ask her out, discussing this with is best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson). Bear is not having the best time in life, since he lost his cat and his grandmother and pining after a girl he cannot confess his feelings to. One night the friends (including Sarah played by Megan Lawless) go for their regular trivia nights and when Bear is dropping Nikki off, she asks him if he likes her, and he just couldn’t say yes. In frustration, he breaks a One Wish Willow stick and wishes that Nikki loves him “More Than Anything In The Whole World” and guess what? That’s what he got. Well, after a fashion. The rest of the movie is about Nikki being crazy, and how Bear deals with the situation.

Believe it or not, this movie is directed by a 25 year old Curry Barker, who with his long time collaborator Cooper Tomlinson, would make YouTube sketches. It is really fun, specially the sketch about a friend who didn’t like Dune 2.
Anyway, this movie is holistic, how much a horror movie can be holistic. It comes from a deep rooted trope of Nice Guy with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and spins it on its head, leading to devastating consequences to everyone, even those not involved. It is 500 Days of Summer reimagined. It will leave you chuckling and points and screaming with terror, at the end of your seats. It is basically a story told about good intentions leading to hell, and the emotions it generates are a consequence of the storytelling, rather than going for shock-value, and weaving a story around that goal, and that’s a significant difference.

It is refreshing to see new-gen film-makers coming out with their stuff, which are original ideas. The success of Obsession and Backrooms are a proof that movies are not dying, they were just not good enough. These new movies are getting the industry out of a slump, and everyone was complaining about Netflix and AI and what-not. They might have been a 100% wrong, but their solution of going with the path of least effort was also not the correct answer. Take Rian Johnson for example – he is the epitome of a filmmaker who listened to feedback and did the right thing to solve the problem, not once, but twice.
Obsession is not only well written and directed, it is also well acted by everyone involved, most notably by Inde Navarette as Nikki. It does a good job with being right, sending a message to the masses. Chef’s kiss. A must watch.