As Bonnie Raitt famously sings, “I can’t make you love me if you don’t.” The consequences of forcing someone to do just that prove horrifying in Obsession. Writer-director Curry Barker, in his directorial debut, explores what the fantasy of wanting your crush to love looks like in reality when that love is not given freely. It’s a deeply unsettling and eerie watch, balanced by its levity. In some scenes you won’t know whether to laugh with disturbing discomfort or be horrified. It’s usually the latter, but the humor reveals the absurdity of forced love itself.
Bear (Michael Johnston) really likes Nikki (Inde Navarrette) and hasn’t worked up the courage to tell her, despite being given the opportunity at one point when she asks him directly. When he wishes on an object he found at a store and breaks it, his wish that Nikki will love him the most comes true. Of course, it has terrible consequences that Bear has to contend with, as Nikki begins to exhibit obsessive and disconcerting behavior.
Obsession Maintains Its Tension Throughout
Be careful what you wish for is an understatement in Obsession, which sees Nikki acting like a completely different person. She now lives only to love Bear, who welcomes it at first before things start getting really weird. When Bear leaves her alone, she doesn’t do anything but wait for him. If he wants to go to a boys night with his friends, she gets angry. At the same time, we see the internal struggle for the real Nikki to get out, and it’s painful to watch these forced behaviors.
Inde Navarrette is especially fantastic here, shifting between genuinely creepy horror moments and sickly sweet adoration. Her performance is wonderfully layered, blending off-putting line delivery with the warped physicality this kind of role requires. The actress is a highlight. Michael Johnston is also great, especially as his puppy dog heart eyes shift from surprise and horror the longer the film goes on.
It’s a deeply unsettling and eerie watch, balanced by its levity.
The film becomes increasingly dark; it’s a great escalation towards a very grim final act that finally motivates Bear to actually change things. The entire film speaks to the absurdity of forced love. It leans into the sexist stereotype of the “crazy girlfriend” while subverting our expectations. Here, it’s Bear’s obsession with wanting to be with Nikki that leads to his situation, even as she’s blamed and judged for acting strangely and wildly jealous. We’re meant to see Nikki’s actions as extreme while understanding she isn’t acting freely.
The movie starts off like a rom-com before getting to the bloody horror of it all. It’s a fun movie that thoroughly examines certain learned behaviors regarding romance and the expectations men may have when they want to be with a woman. The horror itself is excellent; it’s not overdone, and Barker weaves it in naturally and effectively, adding in unsettling, tense moments at what would usually be average events — like a sandwich surprise for Bear that turns disturbing or a party that gets just a bit too uncomfortable.
With good pacing, writing, and a stellar cast, Barker has crafted a directorial horror debut that is deliciously dark, absurd, and eerie. I look forward to what he does next.
Obsession premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
