Warning: This article discusses spoilers for ‘Obsession.’
Unleashed into theaters on Friday, May 15, Curry Barker’s Obsession has already been making waves as a landmark horror film of the year. In my review from its world premiere at TIFF, I described the film as an unrelentingly dreadful experience, and that still rings true eight months later. Barker has made one of the most important horror films about implicit misogyny and the importance of consent in recent memory. Obsession takes what could have easily been a story about dealing with a “crazy girlfriend” and forces the audience to consider that a main character need not be an ontologically good person.
When we meet Bear (Michael Johnston), it’s clear he isn’t an outright misogynist or incel, but that he is genuinely nervous to express his feelings to Nikki (Inde Navarrette). He’s a textbook yearner. His friend and coworker Ian (Cooper Tomlinson, a longtime collaborator of Barker’s) tells him to be “playfully mean” to Nikki — that’s what girls like, apparently. This rhetoric ultimately works against Bear; when he tries to tell Nikki how he feels, he uses a nickname he knows Nikki doesn’t like. When Nikki rejects his advances, he gets upset and uses the One Wish Willow — a seemingly innocent novelty toy he purchased for her as a present — impulsively.
Now, there was no way Bear could have known the toy would work, but it displays the impulsive nature of many men when rejected by women. In the real world, this can result in far worse actions — there is a subtext evident in Bear’s actions. He is a nice guy, but clearly still has a sense of entitlement towards Nikki’s love.
Post-wish, Bear gets what he thinks he wants. Nikki instantly becomes closer to him, spends the night with him, and kisses him. Ian and their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) are confused and worried by the sudden change in Nikki’s behavior, and Bear begins to get concerned himself. At times, Nikki briefly switches between her real self and what I will call “Wish Nikki,” her real self being confused and scared before Wish Nikki regains control of her body.
Navarrette’s work as an actress is crucial to this dichotomy, and she effortlessly switches between the two personalities. Her performance took my breath away. It’s pretty clear that Nikki has essentially had her body hijacked against her will, bringing the theme of consent to the forefront. When Bear witnesses the switches, he is forced to reconcile with his own actions and what exactly he has done as a result of his impulses. Despite these instances, he continues his relationship with Nikki while attempting to fix the actions that scare him — because he did, after all,get what he wanted. He can’t pass up the opportunity to be with the girl of his dreams, even if he can visibly see the effect it’s having on her.
Things get upsetting and violent fairly quickly, with Nikki going as far as to feed Bear’s deceased cat to him without his knowledge. After this scene, he calls the customer service line for the One Wish Willow on the back of the box. He is told that there is no way to cancel the wish “as long as he lives.” The person on the other end of the phone then asks Bear if he wants to speak to Nikki. On the other end of the phone, believed to be Nikki’s real self, is viscerally screaming. It’s clear that the real Nikki is in deep suffering because of Bear’s actions. Despite Bear’s terrified reaction, he still does nothing to try to help the real Nikki.
At another point, when Bear is leaving to speak with Sarah before the most violent scene of the film, Nikki’s real self tries to beg Bear to kill her in her sleep before Wish Nikki wakes up. Bear asks: What is so bad about being in a relationship with him? At this point, it’s clear that Bear ultimately will not give up his relationship with Nikki to help the girl he “fell in love with” originally. His happiness with Nikki is more important than hers. Despite the multiple instances showing that Nikki herself is not truly happy, he will not give up what he has wished for.
In the end, Bear ultimately commits suicide by taking sleeping pills, as Nikki has killed people and harmed herself in the name of her love for Bear. As Bear dies in Nikki’s arms, Nikki initially reaches for a gun to kill herself in a Romeo and Juliet-style act of ultimate love, but the second Bear dies, the wish goes away. The real Nikki awakes covered in blood, unaware of where she is, holding Bear’s body in her arms. The film ends with her crying and screaming, continuing into the credits. Ultimately, Nikki has been freed but taken advantage of in the cruelest way possible. This ending is the best outcome for Nikki, but it reveals just how mentally and spiritually painful the ordeal was for her. It reads as a serious implication of rape; no matter Bear’s fate, the victim (in this case, Nikki) will be forced to live with the reality of what happened and has had her free will and autonomy eternally compromised.
Obsession is, unexpectedly, one of the most important feminist horror films of the decade. Horror is known for unreliable narrators and protagonists who are not entirely good people, but this film’s specific angle on consent in relationships makes it especially timely. While on one hand, we are watching a man get exactly what he wished for with dire consequences for him, we are also watching the consequences of what happens when women are taken advantage of for male pleasure. Barker was able to make an exceptionally uncomfortable film, but also one with equally exceptional subtext and themes beneath the surface.
Analysis Courtesy of Nadia Arain
Feature Image Credit to Focus Features