We are quickly approaching the point where the most reliable way to become a horror director is to launch a short form of comedy career. Jordan Peale shocked the world with “Get Out”, Zach Cregger made it a pattern with “Barbarian” and “Arms,” Danny and Michael Philippou Jumped on the train with “talk to me” and “take her back.” Now, Youtube -prankster Curry bark Have released one of the best horror films in 2025.
“Obsession“Begins with the simplest of horror premises: Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy and sensitive music big Employee who Can’t find the courage to ash his co-worker and childhood friend nikki (indde Navrarette) on a date. Wanders Into a woo-woo Crystal Store and Buys a Wish Willow, A Kitschy Antique Toy From The 1960s That Promises to Grant Its Owner A wish when they snap a branch in half.
After releasing Nikki at home after a night with Bar Trivia with her other co -workers (and rejecting her with her attempt to flirt while he insists that they are just friends), he snaps the arrow and makes a simple wish: that Nikki would love him more than anything in the world. It is not long before she comes out of her house and asks to go home with him, and Bear thinks he just bought a one -way ticket from the friend zone.
Suddenly, Nikki is always horny for Björn, is keen to show public affection and spend so much time with him that she basically moves in. For Bear, the new arrangement is good about 99 percent of the time … The only downside is that Nikki sometimes snappes back in her old self and screams in complete terror for a few secretions, before they resume love.
Even before the film spirals out of control, Bear and Nikki’s mutual friends begin to point out how strange everything is. The other girls at work heard Nikki talk about how she saw Bear as a little brother just hours before turning into a beloved teenager, and it becomes clear that she is going through something. Rumors begin to fly guests range from drug abuse to a complete mental degradation, but somehow no “news” guesses the 60s wishes with deadly consequences “-but one that they can all agree on is that the bear benefits from a girl in a vulnerable state.
Social connections start to dry up, party invitations get lost in the post, and Bear is soon with no one to turn to when the new Nikki begins to stab herself with broken glass, cook his dead cat and seal his doors with duct bands to prevent him from leaving the house. All he can do is call the customer service line on the back of the package – but when he hears that they have the soul in the real Nikki who screams for help, the hopeless romance realizes that he bites much more than he could chew.
“Obsession” is proof that the Cregger-Anification of the Horror of the 2020s is in full effect, as its combination of sadistic violence, ironic needles and comedy that is broken by people responding to tragedy in pathetic self-service will deserve lots of comparisons with “barbaric” and “weapons.” It also continues wisely to the latest trend to allow forces of unexplained evil to simply exist in their world and find their social comment in the way people react to things they do not understand. Instead of turning the actual evil into metaphors.
The filmS most compelling unpredictable drive lies in Barker’s choice to tell a story about something objectively horrible – in this case, a guy who takes a woman’s whole soul away and turns her into a psychotic copy of himself so he can have sex with her body and pretend that they actually take a woman’s whole soul and turn her into a psychotic copy of hers Her to a psychotic copy of himself so that he can have sex with her body and pretend that they actually take a woman’s whole soul and turn her into a psychotic copy of herself so that he can have sex with her body and pretend that they actually take a woman’s whole soul and turn her into a psychotic copy of himself so that he can actually have a sex with her body and pretend to have a sex. Navarrette delivers a brilliant twisted performance like what is left of Nikki, but given that her real I am stuck screaming in the call center actor and will only show up for a few seconds at a time, Bear is the human whose eyes we see all through.
A significant majority of the horror genre is built around men who make disgusting things for women, with results ranging from deeply misogynistic to catartically feminist. But “obsession” is built around a much more contemporary male fear: creature The problematic guy whose entire social circle knows that he used a girl and does not want anything to do with him.
When we meet Bear, he is not a monster just waiting to be snapped. He is a sensitive guy, frustrated with his lack of romantic success, and his heart damage drives him to put his own wishes over his friend’s autonomy just long to destroy both their lives. He does not physically attack her, but he wades into a morally gray area for purely self -service purposes, clearly haunted by guilt in the irreversible bike he started. He also hates the fact that his friends are correct in his criticism of him. (The fact that a movie such as “obsession” can even exist is evidence of the smallest part of social progress, as it would only work in a society where men feel that there are real social consequences for sexual behavior.) Barker shows him no mercy for his actions, but leaves the door open to darker intospection. For most viewers, the scary question should not be “can I end up like Nikki?” – Rather, it is, “Can I or someone I feel tempted to do what Björn did?”
It is not to say that what happens to him is worse than what happens to her (at least initially), but Barker almost seems to dare his audience to ask themselves how many “good guys” in the theater who can be able to be a similar decay in them in certain circumstances. Men and women will experience two very different types of fear when considering the answer, but “obsession” should keep everyone awake long after they come home from seeing it.
Rating: B+
“Obsession” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025. It is currently seeking US distribution.
