Movie Review: Obsession

By John Corrado

Would you want your crush to love you more than anyone in the world? That’s the question at the centre of writer-director Curry Barker’s new horror movie Obsession, one of the big breakout films from last year’s Midnight Madness section at TIFF.

Bear (Michael Johnston) is a love-lorn young adult who wishes that his co-worker and childhood friend Nikki Freeman (Inde Navarrette) would reciprocate his feelings. Mutual friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) ribs him about it, encouraging him to just ask her out. But Bear freezes every time he gets close to it.

So he buys a “One Wish Willow,” a novelty item that grants him one wish if he breaks it in half. Lo and behold, Bear’s wish that Nikki would love him “more than anyone in the world” is instantly granted, and she begins to profess her love for him. But it spirals out of control when Nikki becomes obsessed with him, and increasingly possessive (and possessed) when it comes to her love.

Like any good fairy tale built around the moral of “be careful what you wish for,” Obsession takes this premise to its natural conclusion, with Bear’s dream relationship spiralling into a nightmare. The film works thanks to Barker’s careful control of tone, mixing cringe comedy, slow-burn horror, and some moments of extreme gore (it nearly got an NC-17 rating due to one particularly grisly scene that had to trimmed down to secure an R rating for theatrical release).

Barker’s film is one built largely around atmosphere. This is a dark movie in a lot of ways, right down to the moody aesthetic crafted by Barker and cinematographer Taylor Clemons. But it’s one laced with pitch black humour, prompting uncomfortable laughter in between the jump moments and gross-out gags (I regret not seeing this one with the Midnight Madness audience, but it will be a blast with any locked-in crowd).

It’s equally impressive what Barker manages to do on a limited budget of around a million dollars, making the most of only a few locations and a handful of characters, and unfolding mostly through static shots and long takes. The film is grounded by Johnston’s believable portrayal of the shy and awkward Bear, as well as an impressive breakout performance from Navarrette as Nikki.

Navarrette keeps us glued to watching her, turning Nikki’s shrieking and unpredictable actions into an unsettling showcase in what appears to those around her to be untreated mental illness or drug addiction. It’s an entertainingly dark horror film that feels like it has the potential to become a big hit with audiences.