Spoiler and content warning: depiction of graphic scenes, sexual assault and dead animals (yeah, it’s an unsettling watch…)
Obsession was filmed in just one month by Curry Barker who was only twenty five years old before production ended! To top it all off, the movie has already made 330 times its original budget of 75,000 dollars as of June 8, 2026.
There is a rise of low budget indie horror films this year. Backrooms (2026) and Hokum (2026) both earned millions. Backrooms was also directed by a young man, 20 year old YouTuber Kane Parsons, proving that young people are defying expectations. Honestly, I’d happily watch a low budget film with creative charm. Larger budgets don’t always mean good screen writing and directors.
The Cast
Obsession stars Michael Johnston who plays the main character Bear. We start to pity him, he has a crush on a pretty girl, we’ve all had a crush right? But Bear makes consistently selfish decisions that negatively impact others. He is the definition of morally corrupt.
Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki, Bear’s love interest. Her ability to protray a range of different emotions is astounding. Including her iconic and overmphasised frown, (that many fans argue half of Hollywood cannot replicate due to botox injections).
A fun fact to note is that many of the supporting actors were actually the director’s friends.
Plot
Bear evokes the power of a “one wish willow” by snapping the branch and making a wish. Despite the warning from the crystal show owner, Bear decides that his wish for Nikki to love him more than anything else in the world was worth it.
Time passes by as we see how Nikki slowly loses her autonomy as she becomes infatuated with Bear. But the real Nikki can’t seem to understand why. Navarrette’s performance is so captivating as we get to see glances of the real Nikki trying to regain control over the spiritual entity that is controlling her body.
Naturally, the consequences of the wish create an unsettling and eerie atmosphere. This begins when Nikki makes Bear a sandwich containing remnants of his dead cats corpse. Bear ignores this major red flag that something is wrong with Nikki. To avoid taking accountability, Bear assumes Nikki has taken drugs to convince himself her love for him is real.
Is Bear really “the nice guy?”
Absolutely not. I feel the director was very clear with his intention for this character. Bear absolutely is the antagonist.
First of all, Bear choses to abuse the concept of the “one wish willow” by making a wish that strips Nikki of her bodily autonomy. The wish is that Nikki loves him more than anyone else in the world.
As soon as the wish is made, the change in Nikki is apparent. Nikki tries to embody everything that Bear loves. Firstly, Nikki claims she is sad because her cat died. Her cat didn’t die. Bears cat died.
As the film progresses Nikki begins to act more strange. Her friend assumes she has taken drugs and is “going through something.” Nikki begins to harm herself and others. She even refers to herself as “freaky Nikki” which is a nickname she previously hates.
This rises the question of whether Nikki can truly consent during a sex scene with Bear. The real Nikki does not want to be intimate with Bear and this scene is controversial for being borderline sexual assault.
When Bear phones the helpline number on the back of the wishes box, he asks if he could ALTER the wish so that it benefits him more. As opposed to cancelling the wish entirely. Every opportunity Bear has to take accountability for his actions, he ignores.
Tip For Anyone Dating A Girl: Don’t buy her gold jewellery if she always wears silver!
Once Nikki learns that Bear may reciprocate feelings for his friend Sarah (yes, Bear was literally going to cheat on Nikki after she becomes obsessed with him), Nikki begins to copy the way Sarah dresses to recapture Bear’s attention. This means Nikki exchanges her silver jewellery and her crystal necklace (that may have protected her from the wish in the first place), for gold jewellery.
“Uncanny Valley” Make up
Scenes where Nikki is possessed by the spirit of the “one wish willow” she is scurrying around in the dark. Her makeup is done in a way to distort her facial features slightly. This makes the audience feel that something isn’t quite right. This technique is usually called “uncanny valley” makeup. It slightly distorts facial features for an unhuman look, adding to the creepy atmosphere.
Make-up artist Kate Oja shares behind the scenes photos of Nikki’s uncanny makeup transformation.
My Opinion
The only noticeable low budget part of the movie was a certain gory car scene. But who had their eyes open during that anyway? Hopefully the main actress Navarrette gets a bonus because she carried the entire film. Also apparently the red and black halter top she wears in the film is from Princess Polly and is selling out.
Takeaway point from the movie: “crazy girlfriends” are usually crazy for a reason.
Buy Your Own One Wish Willow
If you feel like chancing your luck and making your own wish…
Fourth Year English and Journalism Student
