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Obsession Movie Review: Curry Barker’s wild attempt at blending novel horror tropes with classic psychological thrills pays off well in his unnerving directorial debut, starring Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston. Barker masterfully throws off viewers by making the antagonist appear as the tormented and the real victim as his tormentor. Visual deception is the key element in Obsession that binds the taut narrative together, with plenty to decode for the watchers even after the edge-of-the-seat thriller ends, somewhat satisfactorily.
Simply put, Obsession follows what happens when the person you love and desire starts to reciprocate, albeit not naturally, but with the help of a supernatural novelty item that grants one irreversible wish. Don’t mistake it for a “we’ll make it work somehow” romance tempered with tense interpersonal moments between the couple. It’s a full-blown cautionary tale instead. Bear (Michael Johnston) and Nikki (Inde Navarrette) become the vessels of manipulation even as the grotesque reality begs for attention.
Barker follows the set-up and pay-off formula throughout the movie’s runtime to keep us hooked. Sometimes he throws creepy jump scares at us, and at other times, stuns through raw, untamed silences and emotional breakdowns. The eerie background score and the claustrophobia that comes with entrapment (disguised as love and affection) lend themselves accurately to creating a suffocating atmosphere that is retained throughout.
One of the striking elements is how Barker frames his characters. They mostly appear singularly, often against restricted corners. The contrast lighting then heightens the feeling of claustrophobia that Bear and Niikki feel, and the audiences feel it with them. This is also the cinematic depiction of the loneliness epidemic and a stark commentary on the internet generation that’s starving for real connections and would go to any extent to experience them.
Inde Navarrette turns one of the finest scream queens in recent times, embodying both the helplessness and freak in Nikki in perfect measures. She transforms from the unsuspecting girl next door to Harley Quinn-like deranged “lover” without missing a beat. She devotes herself to the role both emotionally and physically so convincingly that the audience is forced to switch their loyalty time-to-time. Navarrette singlehandedly shoulders Obsession, breathes life into Barker’s vision and pushes the narrative to its gory and wacky conclusion masterfully.
Johnston embodies Bear, the “nice guy” you must watch out for, well. He hides his ill intentions and eventually turns himself into a martyr. However, it’s his entitlement that kicks off an uncontrollable chain reaction, and while you may empathise with him initially, his actions at each turn are simply deplorable. Instead of working on his glaring flaws, he traps Nikki in a one-sided relationship, then goes on to inflict sexual and psychological violence on her, robs her of consent and downright strips her bare and helpless. As he ignores “real” Nikki’s cries for help, he turns into a violator. The narrative does right by Bear by bringing him face-to-face with his moral ambiguity early on. However, his inaction sends him down the path of no return.
The adage “be careful what you wish for” comes alive and jolts you to the core in Barker’s unrestrained and fresh horror-thriller Obsession, running in cinemas now.
