Obsession
A friend-zoned dweeb uses dark magic to make his dream girl fall in love with him, but it only leads to nightmarish (and familiar) horror tropes.
I didn’t find a lot of surprises in “Obsession,” a familiar story about dark magic mixing with love in a way that heads down a vortex of horror tropes. But what it lacked in originality, it made up for with some very tense mood-building and top-notch performances you don’t always see in scary movies.
Baron (Michael Johnston) is in his early 20s, working a low-end job at a music store, and is completely smitten with his friend and coworker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette). But he’s a total dweeb with zero confidence, so even though they share more intimate thoughts with each other than anyone else in their lives, he just can’t bring himself to make a move.
At one point, Nikki lays it right out for him: “If you like me, now’s the time to tell me.” But of course he has to do that movie-guy thing where he stammers and freezes, muttering something nonsensical until she lets the matter drop. Honestly, he’s pretty pathetic, and even speaking as someone who was a lot like Baron at that age, he’s not a lot of fun to be around.
Fortunately, Nikki more than makes up for this puddle of a human being. She’s smart and sassy and very self-aware, not just an idealized figure of beauty like you usually see in movies. (Though Navarrette is super, super cute.) Think of Sloane in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” — she’s not just some dude’s slobber-object, but very much in control of her own little corner of the universe.
Until, that is, she falls under Baron’s (unintentionally) dark spell.
Looking to buy her a gift, he wanders into one of those new age stores where you can buy crystals and bongs, and comes across something called the One Wish Willow. They come in an old-timey box and promise to grant your wish if you snap the little branch in half, but only one wish, even if you buy a hundred of them.
(Which is not a great marketing strategy for repeat buyers.)
After blowing his big chance, Baron wishes that Nikki would love him more than anything else in the world. And it actually comes true. After a little more weirdness where he can’t quite bring himself to believe it, the two are soon a hot item, spending literally every minute with each other. Nikki basically moves in uninvited to Bear’s (that’s what she calls him) pad.
Their closest friends and frequent bar co-hangers don’t quite know what to make of it. Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) is a prototypical party guy, self-centered and not big on other people’s feelings, while Sarah (Megan Lawless) is an intense emo girl who’s making a last-ditch effort to get into art school to get away from the music store, owned by her dad (Andy Richter).
Right before Bear’s willow trick, Nikki had been subtly trying to let him know that Sarah has been carrying a crush for him, which will obviously complicate things later.
Navarrette’s intense performance, married with the way she’s photographed (by Taylor Clemons), is what really moves the story. The magicked version of Nikki is cloying and possessive, almost an entirely different person, really. Whenever Bear makes any kind of move toward independence — even leaving their bed in the night to go to the bathroom or Google her weird behavior — she’ll go into a devil-eyed manic state where her affection curdles into control, and even self-harm.
You won’t be surprised that eventually her tendencies toward violence start to be projected outward rather than inward. Hey, it’s a horror flick, so we know things are going to have to get wet at some point.
Often Nikki will stand just outside the light, her outline barely visible, but with the barest of pricks reflecting from her pupils. It’s not supernatural, but subtly scary in a way that creeps under your skin.
She also has a tendency to suddenly snap out of her state and seem to become the old Nikki, if only for a moment. So even as Bear becomes more and more worried about his lady, he becomes transfixed with the idea that he’s actually doing harm to the girl he loves. Navarrette, in between her screaming fits and acting out, manages to make sure there’s still a nugget of sympathy for Nikki.
“Obsession” is written and directed by Curry Barker, who made his debut with “Milk & Serial,” a found footage horror film released on YouTube that was purportedly made for a budget of $800. Focus Features snapped him up with a deal to make this movie and based on what I saw, a bright pathway lies before him.
The idea of using magic to make our heart’s desire fall in love with us is a very old story, one that resonates because it mixes fantasy yearning with a cautionary tale about free will. Love really can you make you crazy.