“Be careful who you wish for…
After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
This movie lived up to the hype and then some. Imma show my age again, but this feels like an adult Goosebumps episode. And I mean that in the best way possible. This premise is simple and one that we’ve all heard of or read a story about. The execution and the familiar plot elements to other more recent horror titles are phenomenal. I loved everything about this movie.
So this is a story about a guy named Bear. I’ll be transparent very early here, I’m not going to be kind to Bear at all. He is a young guy in a friend group who has a crush on one of his friends and has trouble expressing it and telling her his feelings, and he eventually fumbles his confession hard and then makes a wish on a trinket he got from a store, a wish that she would love him more than anything in the world. And you can probably guess where the movie goes from there.
As much praise as I have for this movie, I do think some people should be cautious going into this because there were some very potentially triggering things in here, just by the nature of the premise. This movie deals heavily with manipulation and consent. What I found so interesting is how they went about showing those things. With Nikki, it can range from abrasive and very apparent to more subtle, but the movie does such a brilliant job of slowly showing just how in control of the chaos Bear really is and how he is manipulating the situation. And there is a real conversation to be had about her consent (or lack thereof) to everything that goes on in this movie. Before I watched this, I stayed away from spoilers, but I did see some mild criticism that this movie didn’t really dial into its themes enough, and on some level I agree, but I also think this was dark enough to maintain its dark comedy elements, and like any further I think it would’ve been too depressing.
The easy tagline for this movie and any review of this movie is “be careful what you wish for.” You know, it fits. It does. But to me, that saying has always felt like it gives an olive branch of victim hood to the person who made the wish. Bear is a victim in maybe the literal sense, but make no mistake, he is an evil person and the villain of this movie. I don’t think his plight is gender specific, but I’m a guy like him, and when I was younger, I had probably too many situations like the one he found himself in. In terms of having a crush on a friend.
The best course of action is to be open and honest about your feelings, especially if given an open opportunity to do so, but I do understand the anxiety of it all. For the first 10 or so minutes of this movie, Bear is a relatable guy in a relatable situation. The next few minutes after that can definitely not be excused, but maybe taken as he is confused by the situation. As this movie goes on, it is made more apparent scene by scene how negligent and manipulative he truly is. How starved for love and attention he is, that makes him do the things he does. Actually, let me rephrase that: the brilliant thing about this movie is that, in a general sense, the most evil thing he does is nothing. From the moment she becomes possessed by his wish, it is clear to the audience, and not long after, it is clear to him, but no matter what kind of crazy stuff she does or says, no matter how much his other friends express their concern about both of them. No matter how terrified he gets of her and this situation. He does nothing or the bare minimum to try to fix it.
His brand of manipulation is cowardice and complacency. When she makes him feel scared, of course, she’ll coddle him after and try to make him feel better. But he didn’t feel scared when everything was seemingly “fine,” and she was being a “normal loving girlfriend.” He didn’t have any issues every time he had sex with her. He is the worst type of person. And there are two scenes almost back to back where, in my mind, he goes from an awful person to an evil one. I’ll just say that for those who have watched it, they’re the customer service scene and the last bedroom scene. Those two really solidified this character as one of the most evil in recent memory. Fantastic writing and acting to portray the subtleties of this complete loser.
Inde Navarrette man. Give her an award. This was one of the most chilling and erratic performances I’ve ever watched. Seeing her go from such a normal young person to, at the drop of a dime, after the wish, this obsessive person who will say and do anything to get what (or who) she wants, was just insane. The way she portrays the more well-known, but still nuanced, shades of manipulation is done so well. From lying to various degrees, to threatening others, or her own life. The erratic mood swings, private and public outbursts, and dramatics that play into Bear’s personality faults. It’s all done so well. She becomes the ultimate abuser, but since it isn’t by her choice at all, I couldn’t help but feel bad for this person who is being taken advantage of. Who has no say in her own body anymore. All because she did the gravest sin of mankind and “friend-zoned” Bear.
Actually, let me touch on that and their relationship before his wish. I hate that term, friendzone. When I think of that term, I tend to see it as two people who like each other to some degree, but for whatever reason, one (or both of them) decides that being friends is the best option. That doesn’t apply to their situation. Bear, to our knowledge, has never made any outward attempt to express his feelings towards her. And it really doesn’t matter because she, to our knowledge, doesn’t like him like that anyway. He didn’t get friendzoned; she just doesn’t like him in that way. And going through this movie knowing that makes everything he does so much more sinister and vindictive. Even more so than the crazy stuff that she is doing against her will. And I’m very glad the movie doesn’t shy away from that fact. This movie makes a point to place the blame on him.
Back to Nikki, she screamed so much in this movie, and they were all so bone-curdling. I don’t think I can praise her performance enough. She is the cornerstone of this movie, from her movements to her dialogue. I love how her dream of being a writer creeps into her personality. She is full of theatrics. I have also never seen a person actually frown like the circle frowny faces you draw. I don’t know if that was done in post or not, but it looked crazy. Without spoiling, there’s a realization about her situation that definitely re-contextualizes a lot of scenes in the movie and really made me feel for her. But, honestly, Nikki is amazing. She is 100% an all-time horror icon.
Another thing I loved about this movie is that the friend group really did feel like friends. They hung out like real friends. Had secrets as some groups do. It did really feel like they knew each other for a long time. I really enjoyed both Ian’s and Sarah’s characters. They brought a more grounded quality in contrast to everything else that was happening between Bear and Nikki. I especially love that they called Bear out on his bullshit. Yeah, definitely more could’ve possibly been done, but I think in general that is a good thing and a start. There are also some subtleties within all of their relationships that pay off towards the end of this movie.
I understand why some people might’ve thought this was ghost-directed, but some people just got it like that. First of all, love me a good 4:3 aspect ratio. It just adds something that I really can’t put my finger on that I enjoy. Maybe it’s because I grew up watching VHS and old DVDs, so it’s nostalgic. The camera work and shots were just out of this world. Visual metaphors can make a scene; they can make a movie if done right, and this movie is littered with them as well as small but very important details about these characters if you just pay a bit of attention. Really though, the way Nikki was shot and framed is award-deserving. The use of shadows and dark lighting is done so damn well. As well as the music choice and the use of that score throughout. From a pure directing standpoint, this movie is a masterpiece to me. Also the music choices add this really dreamy kind of off putting vibe to the whole film. It works really well.
So yeah, Obsession is one of my favorite movies ever. It’s really that simple. A premise as old as time is being used in a way that’s so unsettling, but what (or who) you’re unsettled by slowly but surely starts to flip as the movie goes on. I bash Bear as a character, but that’s because he was written so well; I don’t want his performance to go under the radar either. Nikki’s performance is a generational one. Her character is unsettling, but you really do feel for her situation. Every aspect of this movie is just amazing. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time, and one of my favorites ever.
Obsession – 10/10
When I watch or play things I take notes in just small phrases or sentences for myself to look back on to write these and my notes on bear throughout the movie progresses from
-typical crush stuff
-hes a straight dumbass lmfao
-hes sick for what he did
-hes so sick in the head
-hes so spineless
-hes a fucking loser
-blaming her. Hes more manipulative than her
-hes evil
