20+ Hidden Details Everyone Missed in Obsession

[00:00:00]I know I'm a little late to this, but I just watched Obsession and I was blown away by how good it was. I haven't felt that constant sense of unease during a movie in a very long time. It's also been a long time since I've watched a movie where even halfway through I had no idea how it was going to end. If you haven't seen this movie yet and it's still playing in your local theater, I highly recommend watching it there.

[00:00:23]Seeing Obsession in a cinema is an experience that simply can't be compared to watching it on a streaming service.

[00:00:29]And if you haven't seen the movie, then this video will be pretty pointless because I'll be discussing all the details you might have missed throughout Obsession. Trust me, there are a lot of subtle clues and Easter eggs. Honestly, I don't even know if Curry Baker intentionally included all of them or if we're just theorizing and connecting things that happen to look like hidden hints. I'll start with some of the more obvious ones before gradually moving into the most unsettling details. So, let's get started. Did you catch that Nikki's full name is Nikki Freeman? This is such a twisted choice by Curry Baker.

[00:01:00]Nikki is the one person who was completely stripped of her free will.

[00:01:04]She was replaced by another entity that took control of her body while her soul was trapped in purgatory.

[00:01:11]Even at the end of the movie, after Bear dies and she regains control of her body, she still isn't truly free because she'll most likely be charged with murdering her friends. Speaking of the scene where she comes back to normal, there's a very subtle detail that very few people notice even after rewatching the movie. I'll play the sequence and see if you can catch it, too.

[00:01:37]Did you notice anything about the audio?

[00:01:40]If you listen very closely, right as Nikki is about to pull the trigger, a voice tells her to wake up.

[00:01:46]I think it's safe to assume that's the same voice that answered when Bear called customer support. A fun fact here, that voice actually belongs to Curry Baker, the writer and director of the movie. And here's another fun detail. When Wish Nikki tells Bear that she can't live without him, she's technically telling the truth because if Bear dies, she disappears as well. The final 5 minutes of this movie are packed with subtle clues and most of them go unnoticed because everyone's attention is focused on how the story is going to end.

[00:02:18]During the final scene, while Wish Nikki and Wish Bear are kissing, there's a TV playing in the background. If you pay attention, you'll notice it's showing a recording of Bear sleeping. Most likely, Wish Nikki recorded it herself as a romantic gesture.

[00:02:33]Here's another subtle detail involving the characters' eye glints. It's much easier to notice if we compare the scenes side by side. If we look closely, we can see that Wish Nikki and Wish Bear share the exact same eye glint. There's also something I completely missed on my first watch. When Bear's in the bathroom trying to kill himself, we see him swallow the pills and moments later, he tries to throw them back up. The reason he suddenly stops and the reason we hear the jingle from the One Wish Willow is because Wish Nikki had wished that Bear would love her as much as she loved him.

[00:03:06]In a way, that's ultimately the reason he dies. If Wish Nikki hadn't made that wish, Bear's cowardice probably would have made him throw up the pills.

[00:03:15]There's one thing I'm still curious about and maybe you can help me settle this debate. Wish Nikki is the one who breaks the popsicle stick. We know each person only gets one wish, but now that the real Nikki is back, could she still use that wish to undo everything? Maybe she could wish that Bear had never made his wish or make another wish that prevents everything she went through.

[00:03:36]There's another subtle detail involving the One Wish Willow that Curry Baker himself said nobody had noticed before.

[00:03:43]When Bear tries to make his second wish, the song is different. It's almost like the machine is warning him that he's already used his wish, so it won't work again. But when Ian or Wish Nikki make their wishes, we hear the original song.

[00:03:57]That's such a nice little touch. Since we've talked about the ending, I think it's only fair to go back to the beginning as well. Although, in hindsight, it probably would have made more sense to start there.

[00:04:09]During the opening credits, we might actually get a bit of foreshadowing that Nikki hooked up with Ian. Just look at this Polaroid photo and compare how she poses with Ian versus Bear. That said, I don't think this confirms that Nikki only saw Bear as a brother. In fact, I think Bear genuinely had a chance if he'd simply been honest about his feelings.

[00:04:28]Curry Baker has hinted at this as well, and based on what little we see of the real Nikki, I think she would have given Bear a chance, but that's a discussion for another video if you're interested.

[00:04:38]One detail from the opening minutes that almost everyone misses is when Bear scrolls through Nikki's Instagram. If you pause the frame, you'll notice that one of her likes comes from Cooper Tomlinson, which is actually the real name of the actor who plays Ian. One very subtle analogy that I don't see many people talking about is the connection between Bear's cat and the company that created the One Wish Willow. The company is called Tabby Cat, which is the exact same breed as Sandy.

[00:05:06]Even the company's logo features a cat.

[00:05:09]Now, let's talk about the camera work and character placement, because this next detail is absolutely insane.

[00:05:15]Did you realize that in almost every scene, Nikki is on Bear's right while Sarah is on his left? Maybe you noticed that already, but did you think about the symbolism behind it? If we pay close attention, we'll also notice that Nikki is always injured on the right side of her body.

[00:05:31]I believe this is symbolic and represents the fact that there are two people trapped inside her, that she quite literally has two faces.

[00:05:39]This symbolism might even extend to the party game with the bricks.

[00:05:43]When Bear draws the brick that tells him to kiss the person on your left. It could be foreshadowing that Sarah was always the right choice for him. Here's another detail that completely blew my mind. I think Curry subtly foreshadowed both Ian's and Sarah's deaths. Ian is the one who mentions that Sarah's dad keeps a gun in the safe.

[00:06:03]And he brings it up at the exact moment Bear's trying to confess his feelings to Nikki. Sarah, meanwhile, is killed right before it seems like she's finally about to share a moment with Bear. And Nikki kills her by smashing her head into a brick. Both characters die because they stand between Nikki and Bear while she's desperately trying to make him love her again.

[00:06:24]What's fascinating is that Nikki ends up killing each of them using the very objects they had previously used indirectly to interfere with Bear's relationship with her. Let's take a break from those darker details and look at something a little funnier. After that creepy night, Bear realizes someone has cut his hair. When he goes to confront Nikki, she's calmly reading a book. But did you notice that she's holding it upside down? This next one is more of an Easter egg than a hidden clue. But did you know that the music store where they work, Cassell's Music, was actually a real store in San Fernando?

[00:06:58]It closed its doors last year after 78 years in business. There's also another homage Curry Baker included in the movie. The scene where Nikki suddenly stops on her front porch and we only see her silhouette is a clear reference to the iconic shot from Halloween.

[00:07:13]Now, I've saved the most unsettling details for the end. After Bear comes back from Ian's house and discovers Sarah's body, we can also notice that Nikki has started making herself look like Sarah. She wears Sarah's clothes, gets the same tattoos, styles her hair the same way, and even starts smoking.

[00:07:30]She transforms herself because she believes that's the kind of girl Bear truly wants. I'm not going to analyze Nikki's poem in depth because the entire thing is packed with clues and symbolism. Instead, I just want to focus on the final line.

[00:07:46]A love only the branch of a willow tree could conjure.

[00:07:50]As I've said before, the poem is full of metaphors. I believe it's a combination of real Nikki's thoughts and wish Nikki's thoughts.

[00:07:58]But despite being two different personalities, they both understand that this love isn't real. It's only possible because of the branch of a willow tree.

[00:08:06]If you're interested, I could make a separate video breaking down the entire poem because there's a lot to unpack.

[00:08:13]Early in the movie, real Nikki clearly sees Bear as nothing more than a brother. Yet, by the end, wish Nikki is essentially telling an incestuous love story.

[00:08:22]One of the most disturbing scenes in the movie is when Bear comes home and finds Nikki standing completely still filled with her own body fluids. This scene tells us a lot about wish Nikki. Her entire existence revolves around Bear.

[00:08:36]She was created for one purpose, to fulfill his wish of being loved.

[00:08:41]She doesn't know how to do anything beyond that. That's why she simply stands there waiting for Bear to come home. She doesn't care about cleaning herself up or doing anything else.

[00:08:50]All she cares about is seeing Bear's reaction.

[00:08:53]I think that's also why she behaves so strangely whenever Bear is asleep. I also think there's another reason wish Nikki refuses to sleep next to Bear.

[00:09:01]That's when the real Nikki is able to break through.

[00:09:04]I believe that's exactly what she means when she says, "I don't like my dreams."

[00:09:09]The two versions of Nikki share the same consciousness, and dreams are where the real Nikki has the greatest chance of resurfacing. Here's another incredibly unsettling detail that's easy to miss if you aren't paying close attention to the background.

[00:09:23]Before Nikki knocks on Bear's door, we see him talking to Ian on the phone.

[00:09:27]If you look closely at the window behind him, you can actually see Nikki's silhouette standing there waiting for him to finish the call.

[00:09:35]Only after he hangs up does she knock on the door.

[00:09:38]The final detail I want to point out is the eye glint when Nikki tells Bear, "I know you have a crush on me." To me, that glint symbolizes that both versions of Nikki are aware of Bear's feelings in that moment. And with that, we've reached the end of our list. I tried to focus on details that I haven't really seen anyone else talking about. Now, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie.

[00:10:00]And if you noticed any other subtle clues that I missed, be sure to let me know in the comments.