I used to be a Nice Guy™.
You know the type. Convinced that love and romance was some epic journey to be won, focused on the drama, driving themselves mad because the object of their affection just wanted to be friends.
I remember that. I remember the pain, I remember the sorrow, and I remember…it was self-inflicted. It was unfair. It was a misunderstanding of what a true relationship is, a diminishment of women and their agency, an idea that if you just say the right things, a heart will unlock for you and you alone.
And I say that to say this: Curry Barker’s Obsession needs to become required viewing for every Nice Guy™ out there. Because you will see the mirror turned to you, and distorted though it may be: it’s a reflection of you.
The premise is simple: Our protagonist, Bear (Michael Johnston), is in LOVE with his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Loves her. She’s everything. He hears her in every song, he longs for her. And of course, he’s never told her this. His buddy Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) gives him crap for it, and is worried about how the shift in dynamics will ruin their weekly trivia game (also attended by their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless)), so he tries to advise Bear on the right time and place.
One night out, Nikki talks to Bear on the phone — she lost her necklace, a crystal necklace. And he decides on that trivia night, not only is he going to give her a new necklace, but also admit how he feels. He goes to the local mystic/woo-woo shop to get her a necklace, and while he can’t find one he likes, he does find a One Wish Willow, a retro novelty toy, where if you crack it, your wish comes true.
Bear now gets to learn the hard way about how a wish can come alive. Deciding he wants Nikki to “love me more than any other being on the planet”, he cracks the Wish and…she becomes…Obsessed. (Hence, the title.)
What happens from there is a whirlwind of psychotic episodes, gore, and violence, and Inde Navarette’s Nikki instantly becomes one of the most iconic characters in modern horror filmmaking. She absolutely throws herself into this role, literally and figuratively, and her actions on screen will stay with me for some time. I’m talking Linda Blair in The Exorcist level.
The movie’s written, directed, and co-scored by Curry Barker, best known for his YouTube work, and it acts as the coming out party for a next-level filmmaker. Much ink will be spilled about both this movie and it’s fellow Summer horror-by-a-YouTuber release, Backrooms, and with good reason. People outside of the studio system are making films which are incredibly effective, incredibly cheap, and serve as some much needed freshness in theaters. I can say for myself — this was a Sunday afternoon Week 3 screening, and it was packed. Barker has written himself the Blank Check of all Blank Checks, and it’s through a movie he made at 26. Cleverly written, cleverly edited, with moments of fantastic dark humor matched with truly horrifying sequences, this will make Barker a name people won’t soon forget.
And maybe, just maybe, some Nice Guys will learn: the Friend Zone is a perfectly fine place to be.
Obsession is in theaters now.