Obsession: A ‘Clingy Girlfriend’ Premise Veers Towards Chilling Commentary on Consent

As Nikki, Navarrette delivers an eerily physical performance, contorting her face, body and voice, shedding every last bit of vanity and going the distance for the film’s demented idea. At the heart of Curry Barker’s Obsession lies a simple, contained but brilliant premise: what if your dreams come true; but those dreams turn out to be your worst nightmare . Starting out writing comedy sketches under “That’s a Bad Idea”, this is only the writer-director’s second feature. Maximising the thin conceit and wringing the idea for social commentary, Obsession keeps the audience unsettled, as Barker takes the narrative to ludicrous and shocking heights. Bear (Michael Johnston), a young introverted man, probably in his 20s, is hopelessly in love with friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette). They work together in a music store, living a harmless life in American suburbia: going to trivia nights, taking turns at the karaoke, hopping between bars and house parties. When she puts in her two-weeks notice at the workplace, he must hurry and tell her how he feels. He buys a ‘one-wish willow’ (a bark that is supposed to be split into two after one makes a wish) as her going-away present. Too shy to give it to her after he drops her home, Bear, without thinking too much, wishes ‘Nikki would love me more than anyone in the world’ and then breaks it. Much to Bear’s shock, his wish is granted, as Nikki turns around from near her door-step, walks towards his car, and insists if she can sleep at his house. To be honest, initially, I found myself reluctantly laughing at the situations in Barker’s premise. Especially, as Bear and Nikki start spending a lot of time together, much to their friends’ curiosity and annoyance. And the way Barker mines it for laughs, turning Nikki into the epitome of a clingy, insecure, hysterical girlfriend, made me wonder if the film knew it was in tricky territory? In one scene particularly, when Nikki enters Bear’s bedroom and kisses him – only to abruptly come back to consciousness, and pull away – he reflexively concedes, “you kissed me!” Bear doesn’t know until a day later that his wish came true, and that Nikki loves him more than anyone else in the world. Does he have her consent? Hasn’t he found a way through magic to enslave her? One of the glorious things about Barker’s film is how it gradually reveals the villain of the film: a nice, shy, well-meaning, considerate man, and yet, when it comes to choosing someone’s company, even if she degrades herself while being under his spell, he perseveres with the relationship. There’s a sad scene, when Barker hints at the underlying tragedy of the film, when Bear looks at a possessed Nikki and says, “This isn’t real. Is it?” Obsession seems to be among the descendants of Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) – which spearheaded this genre of movies (primarily by comedians) confidently straddling genres of comedy, horror, social commentary. Films like Zach Cregger’s Barbarian (2022), Michael Shanks’ Together (2025) and Bring Her Back (2025) by the Phillipou brothers, too use supernatural or body-horror allegories to point out truths about the human condition. In a similar vein, Barker’s film has a dialogue on the attributes of a ‘healthy relationship’, co-dependency in couples, and has a chilling conversation on consent. Doffing his hat to Peele’s film, Barker makes Nikki say “No... no... no” in a manner that is reminiscent of Betty Gabriel's character in Peele’s film. Barker is possibly a horror movie nerd, evident in the way he manufactures its staples: the eerie silhouettes, the jump-scares, the violence, the shock value. But what remains admirable is how much he likes toying with his audience; consistently inhabiting the territory of primal grimaces. Edited by Barker himself, the film takes us on a terrifying journey, offering food for thought and also many, many unexpected laughs. As Nikki, Navarrette delivers an eerily physical performance, contorting her face, body and voice, shedding every last bit of vanity and going the distance for the film’s demented idea. Johnston is the surprise in the movie, inhabiting a selfish, mopey man, who hides his cruelty behind his mild manners. As the film keeps accelerating towards the finish line, the audience wonders the carnage it’s going to leave behind. Obsession showcases male longing at its most grotesque; without losing sight of its humanity. It’s not cruelty that prompted Bear to wish for Nikki's love, it was his desperate desire. However, as the film goes on we realise the violence hidden within that desire. What begins as a relatively innocent fantasy, curdles into a nightmare of possession. And as Bear eventually realises himself and what seems to be the central thesis of Barker’s film is: love minus consent is horror.