'Obsession' Review: Wholly engrossing despite its surface-level simplicity

For the casual film fan, Obsession has certainly been a hit. And it’s warranted. What it lacks in structure, it makes up for twofold in its relatability for many, pulse-pounding scares, and ever-escalating bonkers moments the whole way through, while also being a performance-driven film that ties all of these elements together. Despite the overwhelming audience reaction, it’s far from one of the best horror films ever made–the story is too simple for it to be. However, it could prove to be one of the most influential due to its reach and potential impact on the industry in its showcase of what low-budget indie horror can do.

I’ll get the bad out of the way first, and that’s that I think director Curry Barker got a little ahead of himself in the writing process. It seems that he had a vision for many of the startling, intense, and gross scenes that occur in the film, so he just spliced them into the script without giving them a sound narrative pipeline to their occurrences. The scenes do wonders for the actual narrative; the problem is they occur with no proper reasoning. This isn’t the case for the whole movie, but at several points events happen at the right moment to heighten the chaos and surprise as much as possible. Barker needed such and such characters to be somewhere at a certain time, so he placed them there. He needed such and such characters to act in such a way over here, so he amended their lines without justification. Fortunately, these issues are not large hindrances since they result in superb scenes, but they are still fundamental screenwriting sins.

Obsession also requires a little bit of suspension of disbelief, excluding the functionality of the One Wish Willow, which is obviously the crux of the movie. Bear has too many instances where he just decides to pretty much ignore some big red flags. Now, this can be explained away through feelings of denial or just his obsession with Nikki, but it feels point-blank stupid and irrational to continue putting himself in vulnerable and frightening positions. This extends to the logic behind the One Wish Willow, which comes into doubt late in the film. It’s both ambiguous and not in terms of its rules and what the movie explains, which puts some questions forward regarding how the One Wish Willow is seemingly going under the radar in this society.

With all that said, what Obsession does with the rest of its runtime is extremely engaging and wild, in the most complementary way. It all starts with the performances, though, which really just means Inde Navarrette. Her role as Nikki is one of the best I’ve seen in a movie. Between her facial expressions, bodily movements, and range of vocal pitches, she completely creeps you out in such a psychotic way. The rest of the performances were great, too, but this one is so exceptional it blows everyone else out of the water.

This fuels Obsession through its whole story that only intensifies throughout. Nikki’s actions get more bizarre. Bear quickly loses grip on his chaotic reality. And when each confrontation and spark of gore lights up the screen, the shocks come one after another. It never lets up, and the third act lands the story, so long as you don’t think too hard about what comes next after the credits roll. The best part is that while there are layers of complexities to be found in the characters when examined with a close lens, none of that analysis is necessary to enjoy the experience. It’s a treat to just watch a supernatural wish gone wrong, which is what this is.

For a standalone, low-budget independent horror film, Obsession does what it needed to do right. The script issues are much easier to look past given the rest of its quality, especially if you aren’t a stickler like me. It’s one of those roller coaster-esque movies, like Companion from last year–only more extreme and the better for it. It’s a win for everyone: the theaters, the audience, and hopefully Hollywood as a whole.