Obsession Movie Review

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]All right, you guys. The time has come.

[00:00:02]What did I think of Obsession? Hey, it's Brian. Welcome to the awards contender.

[00:00:08]So, I have finally seen Obsession, which many of you have wanted me to review.

[00:00:13]I've been at the Can Film Festival for the last 12 or so days, and there I am at my very first Cany excited seeing all of these great international movies, and I'm sharing my reviews on the channel and talking about them. And most of you were like, "Oh, oh, that's great. When are you reviewing Obsession?" I'm just like, "Okay, guys, calm down. I will get to it as soon as I get home. I will watch it," which I did. The very first screening the next day after my flight landed, I checked out Obsession. Boy, has this been a smash word of mouth hit the last week and a half, and it's been interesting to me. Like, this movie played at the Toronto Film Festival last September. I attended. I didn't hear one word about Obsession. Nobody told me to check it out before I left in like October, November, December, early 2026.

[00:01:07]I mean, I hadn't heard anything about it. I saw it was coming out in miday and I was like, "Oh, I would love to see that." I did not expect it was going to do this well, that all of you would be demanding a review from me while I'm in France. So, now that I have finally seen Obsession, I understand why so many of you love this movie. I thought it was absolutely fantastic, so compelling, so fun. Some great kill scenes, some big surprises in the narrative, wonderful performances, especially from the two leads. We've had some really good genre movies so far this year. Send Help and The Bone Temple at the beginning of 2026. We had Hokum a few weeks ago, which I was pleasantly surprised by. I took a chance on it and I should have reviewed it here. I never did, but I really enjoyed that one as well. We have Back Rooms coming here in a few days, which I will also review for you. And then we have Obsession, another huge horror hit at the box office. It made more money in its second weekend than the first. that like never happens these days. So, that was really cool to see, especially for a movie that reportedly had a $750,000 budget. That is crazy. And watching the movie finally, I'm like, this does not appear to be a film that costs less than a million. It has a very professional, slick, beautiful look to it.

[00:02:32]Cinematography, the way the camera moves. It's a beautifully photographed movie. I would guess cost like 5 to 10 million. Like under one. Wow. So, they're definitely getting their money back on this one. Now, is the movie good? Is it great? Is it one of the year's best? We're going to talk about it. I will have like light spoilers in the review. I won't give away what happens at the end. The movie's been out long enough most of you have probably seen it by now. So, I'm just going to say a few key things about the plot and the two main characters. And I will touch on a few things that happen around the middle of the movie. I will still try to be vague in my comments. I'm not going to sit here and just give away everything, but I will touch on a couple things. Some that are very good, some I had some questions about. So, yeah, let's get into it. Obsession, which has a very simple plot. Basically, the main character, Bear, played by a fantastic Michael Johnston. He has a severe crush on this girl he works with named Nikki played by an absolutely astonishing actress Indie Navareti. She doesn't really give him the time of day. He is desperate. He is trying to figure out like how do I get through to her and he goes to this shop and buys an item, a one-wish Willow, which apparently makes one wish come true in an instance. And in a moment of total frustration, he wishes for her to love him more than anyone in the world. And she turns around and starts acting difference. And from then on, she is absolutely obsessed with him. Starting in a good way, and then it gets really dark and dreary and batshit crazy. This movie all the way through reminded me of like a modern-day Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt.

[00:04:18]It even has a storyline I feel like was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at some point like with Xander where all the girls at the high school suddenly fell in love with him because they were under a spell. Like we've seen the main concept of obsession done in other films, other TV projects. This is not new, but there is a freshness from beginning to end. Like the vision of this particular film from the director Curry Barker. the way he allows the story to play out with two characters you come to know deeply that you care about, a relationship that gets under your skin very quickly. I think one of the best things about the movie is the bear character played by Michael Johnston. Even though he does this bad thing, trying to manipulate this girl into loving him, he is a likable person.

[00:05:07]He could have been written very flatly, very one note. We might have been rooting for Nikki to kill him off like before the third act. We might have been like like get rid of this guy. He never comes across that way. He is caring. He is sympathetic. We really feel for him as all of the insanity starts to play out in the second half. For the most part, he is our eyes and ears to the story. And I think it was a master stroke getting this young actor to play the role. I guess he was on Teen Wolf.

[00:05:37]He's been in some other things. I haven't really seen him in a project before. I was really taken with this actor. He was fantastic. But the obvious greatest get for this movie was Indie Navareti, who I've also never seen in a project before, and who completely blew me away. Everything she has to play with this character. This is not an easy performance to get across, to do well, to do as phenomenal of a job as she manages to do in this movie. I was so struck by this actress, by her look, by all the choices she makes, the movie lives or dies by her performance. If she doesn't give this 100%. There is no movie. There is a level of intensity this actress needed to achieve in the second half. And boy, does she. Wow, what a performance. Obsession is elevated big time, I think, by the two central performances in this. They make the movie as good as it is. They are two actors we enjoy following for an hour and 45 minutes. Whether this was obsession or a different style of movie, if this was just a normal relationship romance drama with these two actors, like I would see that too. It would also probably be pretty good. They have a natural chemistry together when they're in love and when she's scaring the living out of him, too.

[00:06:56]They're just really fun to watch in scenes together and most of the movie is them. There are other actors in this.

[00:07:03]You have Andy Richtor show up for a few scenes. He was like the only person in this I had seen in other projects. You have Cooper Tomlinson who's very good as Bear's friend Ian. Megan Lawless makes an impression as Sarah. But this is really the story of Bear and Nikki. Be careful what you wish for. I mean, this is one of those concepts that goes back to like the beginning of storytelling to fairy tales and stuff. Like, if you make the wrong wish, it can backfire on you.

[00:07:32]And it's a great source for a horror film like this made on a low budget.

[00:07:37]There's not enough money for big visual effects. We have to just do the bare minimum, have the audience invested in the story and the characters, and let this creepy, inventive narrative play out. I mean, I understand why Obsession is so popular. Going beyond the performances, like just the main ideas of the story, it's very relatable.

[00:08:00]Everybody can relate to a couple things about this story, right? We've all had a circumstance in our lives where we had a crush on someone who didn't reciprocate the feelings, who just wanted to be friends, and there's nothing we can do about it. So the idea that you could make a wish, please fall in love with me and it happens. We can all relate to that feeling, that frustration when we fall for someone who doesn't like us back. And many of us can also relate to being in a situation where you start dating somebody. It's going well at first, but then you start to see signs something is wrong with that person.

[00:08:38]Like I lived in Los Angeles for 10 years. I dated a lot of guys in my 20s.

[00:08:43]There was one I still remember to this day after three or four dates got very clingy, very possessive, was texting me, calling me all the time. Got really scary actually and I had to break it off and hope for the best. Like hope he wouldn't try to kill me. Like like we've been there, right? We've been in situations where we kind of want to walk back and not see that person again. So, what Bear goes through in the second half of this movie, it's like, "Oh my god, you brought this on yourself, dude.

[00:09:15]You put yourself in a situation that didn't need to happen. You robbed this young woman of the ability to think for herself, to feel what she wants to feel, and so now you are going to go through hell. He deserves what he gets in a way in the second half. He has to be put through the ringer and it's just so deliciously entertaining every step of the way. On a technical level, Obsession is done very well. I really enjoyed the cinematography in this, the use of darkness in certain scenes. That moment early on when he wakes up in the bed and he doesn't know where Nikki is. And then we see just a little bit of her shadow on the right side of the frame before she reveals herself. Like, that's a great moment. There's at least two scenes in the movie where he is talking to Nikki and he is lit pretty basically, but then she's just drenched in shadow.

[00:10:05]We can barely see her face, but then you see her glowing eyes. I thought that was fantastic. There's nothing extraordinary about the cinematography, but there are some nice touches along the way.

[00:10:17]Clearly, there was a lot of thought put into how do we make a movie that only costs $750,000?

[00:10:23]How do we make it look like a $10 million film? And I think they did their job. It looks great. I also enjoyed the editing. The pacing of this movie is very strong. It never sags. I was never bored. I was never like, "All right, let's get to the next scene." It moves along at a nice clip. It never moves too fast. I'm not like, "Slow down movie."

[00:10:43]There's moments of quiet, of two people talking, of scenes that play out maybe a little bit longer than they should because they're creepier. Like that scene at work at the music shop when Bear is talking to his friend and the scene goes on a little while and then you see Nikki like out of focus on the left side of the frame just staring in his direction and she does not move her head. Like that was a scene that wouldn't have been as dramatically effective if it was 20 seconds. That needed to play out for a little while so you can look to the left side of the frame and say, "Holy shit." Obsession also has a very good score to it. It never draws too much attention to itself, but it creates a terrific atmospheric mood to the piece I thought worked well. Technically, the movie is strong. The performances are great. I understand why everybody is gravitating to this. It's a big spectacle horror film where you get to see your worst fears when it comes to a relationship with another person play out on screen for nearly 2 hours. This is definitely a must-see film that gets a high recommendation from me. Now, do I think it's one of the 10 best films of 2026?

[00:11:53]No. There's a couple things to do with the story. I had some issues with some questions about. I think the film has one giant flaw. And I can't be the only person who thinks this. I think Nikki goes crazy too early in the movie. It robs the movie of some tension it would have otherwise had in the second half if we had had another 10 to 20 minutes at least where she's vaguely normal in their relationship. It's not just a quick montage passage of time. They do some loveydovey fun stuff together. They are dating. They are getting serious that lasts like 3 minutes before she starts doing crazy ass stuff. I think Obsession would be creepier, more effective, and maybe one of the 10 best films of the year, if she was just a little off throughout the second part of the movie, the second act. Despite her quirks, Bear is falling deeper and deeper in love with Nikki. And then once she goes completely psychotic, it's too late for him. He loves her so much. You can buy into this idea. Oh, he's going to take a bite of his dead cat in a sandwich and then go home a few minutes later and have a talk with her in the kitchen. You know, I didn't appreciate that. I don't want you to serve me my cat in my sandwich at work. I don't want you to stare at me from across the room at 3:00 a.m. while I'm sleeping. It scares me a little. It makes me uncomfortable. I'm sitting there in the theater. I'm like, what? How is this guy not long gone by now? And we're only like halfway through the movie and then she does increasingly terrible things in the final 30 to 40 minutes and he stays.

[00:13:35]He keeps going back to her and that was a struggle for me. I think if Curry Barker had just delayed her going psychotic a little bit more, the movie would be better. It kind of made me think about Fatal Attraction, that amazing 1987 thriller starring Glen Close and Michael Douglas. It'd be like if Close's character Alex in that movie boiled the bunny halfway through. That wasn't near the end. She was already off her rocker like 40, 50 minutes into Fatal Attraction. That movie wouldn't be as strong. Obsession could have gone a slightly more subtle route where we recognize something is wrong with Nikki pretty early on, but she's not like stabbing herself in the face. She's not taping up the entire door. Like that stuff could have happened, but a little bit later. She's so crazy so early that by the time we get to a car scene, I will just say later on with a friend. I didn't have any doubt in my mind how it was going to end. I was just waiting it out. I was like, "Okay, they're having a conversation. I know exactly what's going to happen here. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. There it is."

[00:14:45]Like the style of the death was surprising. I was like, "Oh, okay. Wow."

[00:14:49]But like, I knew how that scene was going to end because we had been pre-programmed by that point of the movie. She is completely gone and she will do everything she has to to stay with the love of her life. Now, what's interesting to me about my main criticism of Obsession is that because Curry Barker doesn't go the subtle route, I think that's why the movie is so popular. I think because it goes so big so early in the movie, that's what many viewers are responding to. It's what makes people want to go back and see it a second, third time. They want to see her spiral out of control early on in the movie. It makes for a more entertaining film watch, I guess. I just think in terms of its creep factor, in terms of scaring the viewer more, more subtlety in the second act would have made this movie truly sore. And I was confused at times. I'm like, why is he still going back to that house trying to have a conversation with her in the kitchen? She has done things that would make anyone else flee the country, and he's still like going to work and going back home. And let me have a conversation with her. maybe she will get better. It's like, man, this is a little hard for me to believe. Bear is written as an intelligent character.

[00:16:07]He's not stupid. So, it was baffling to me at times, especially in the last 40 minutes when he's still there. I know he loves her. He's loved her for many months, maybe years. And now he finally has her. But dude, when she serves you your dead cat in a sandwich, you need to run. And the other thing, this was a slight thing. I went with it, but I felt like the movie could have set up the whole wish idea a little bit stronger.

[00:16:36]He just goes into a store and for like seven bucks buys this product and makes the wish. And that's what sets the story's events into motion. It felt a little too easy for me. I didn't want like a witch character to show up. She overhears him like talking to himself. I really love Nikki. how am I going to get with her? And some like witch character walks up to him, creates a spell. That would have been terrible. I didn't want that. But I'm like, he just buys this product in a store that anyone could purchase that apparently works for everybody who uses it. That was a piece of the movie I had to just go with Get Behind. I was like, "Okay, this is kind of a fantasy. It's not real. It's an exercise in horror and trauma and absolute batshit insanity.

[00:17:27]And on that level, it is very entertaining. So, on a story level, I had enough issues with Obsession. I I'm like around a seven out of 10 on this.

[00:17:37]I'm not a nine. I'm not a 10. But as I thought about it in the hours after having seen the movie, I was like, you know what? I am bumping my score to an eight. I'm bumping it up one because of that incredible performance by Indie Navareti. She is such a showstopper in this. She is so spectacular. She absolutely is worthy of an Oscar nomination for this movie. Will that happen? Probably not. I mean, I know we had Demestance.

[00:18:08]We had Amy Madigan weapons and that was a moments and Navareti is on their level. This is one of the best horror performances I have seen in the last 5 years. Even when I had some issues with the story, with the structure, when you just focused on her performance, this movie absolutely rocks. She is the best thing about it. She's the piece of obsession we will still be talking about in the years to come. So, I would love to see her play a role in the next awards season. Would she be lead or supporting? I think lead, right? She's in enough of the movie that to put her in supporting actress wouldn't feel right. I would love to see her get some awards attention for Obsession in the months to come. I mean, there's some problems there. She's young. I think that's going to make it harder for her.

[00:18:57]It's also not a physical transformation like Dei Moore and Amy Madigan. Those are physical transformations of the highest order. Navareti doesn't have that. I mean, she transforms her face and the way she moves her eyes and her mouth. Like, she does some impressive things physically in her performance.

[00:19:16]She's still the actress, so that's also a piece of this. I question it. I mean, best actress or supporting actress, whichever avenue they go, that's the only shot I think of awards love for this movie. It's not getting into a picture, director, actor, screenplay, a technical category. It's just that performance by Navareti. That's the one shot at an awards nomination. Can she get in at the Oscars? I highly doubt it, but Obsession is such a sensation. It's doing so well at the box office. And she's so bonkers brilliant in that performance. Maybe, you know, I doubted more. I doubted Madigan. Madigan won.

[00:19:58]Madigan won best supporting actress. So, you never know if everybody is still talking about Obsession in the fall and winter, maybe Navarretti can get into a couple places and then we might be thinking about her potentially of getting an Oscar nomination for this performance. That would be freaking awesome. So, thanks for your patience waiting for this obsession review. You know, it's not all the time I'm in France at the Can Film Festival for 12 days. So, this review was always going to be delayed, but it is here finally.

[00:20:29]And I understand what you all see in Obsession. It is so much fun. It has some really great gory kills, beautiful cinematography, terrific editing, a wonderful score, a very atmospheric and creepy score from beginning to end. And then those performances, especially indie Navareti. Holy freaking cow is she a star on the rise. I give Obsession an eight out of 10.