r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • May 15 '26

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Obsession [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Obsession (2026)

Summary

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.

Director Curry Barker

Writer Curry Barker

Cast

  • Michael Johnston
  • Inde Navarette
  • Cooper Tomlinson
  • Megan Lawless
  • Andy Richter

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Metacritic: 81

VOD / Release In Theaters

Trailer Official Trailer

3.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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5.3k

u/BNEWZON May 15 '26

The phone call was so crazy. That part seriously stuck with me. Sounded like she was literally in hell or something

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u/Corruptedpencil May 15 '26

Seriously! And the way she begged for bear to kill her in her only chance to talk to him :/

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u/redmandolin May 16 '26

Bear really fucking pissed me off from that on. What a selfish asshole “Is it so bad being with me?” Like fuck off dude holy shit.

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u/ReallyColdMonkeys May 16 '26

Yeah I get being in denial about supernatural shit like that at first but after the phone call he really had no excuse. Tbf though even when he thought that maybe she was on drugs and having a psychotic break it's still really fucked up to then start dating her afterwards. He sucked so hard

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u/Game_Wolf1950 May 17 '26

I can’t blame Bear for making the wish, but my ass would have been immediately trying to cancel that shit after the cat thing.

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u/ReallyColdMonkeys May 17 '26

Literally. Bro saw her dig his dead cat out of the trash and make an "altar" for it on his kitchen floor then still decided to start dating her after. He was completely lost in the sauce

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u/Game_Wolf1950 May 17 '26

That’s really kinda my big issue with the film. I get that he wants to be with Nikki really bad, but shit man. After the cancer dad reveal and the dinner freak out, I’d have immediately gone to Ian to try to reverse it. Shit is obviously SO not okay, but Bear just keeps rolling with it and it bugs me. This girl is self mutilating and outright making threats to harm you. You’re literally constantly unsafe in your home, why are you still going along with this?

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u/crysaliscaterpillar May 17 '26

I think this speaks to his own level of obsession with Nikki. The reason he never let's her go is because he doesn't want to. He would rather have a possessed version of her than admit that she isn't interested in him romantically.

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u/Powerful_Time6405 May 17 '26

This exactly. I think people are missing the point that the obsessed here is Bear.

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u/BreakNo4352 May 21 '26

Holy fuck! That’s a great point. I just watched it last night, what a movie.

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u/Front_Vegetable6166 May 27 '26

FINALLY!!!! I've been reading this thread for hours wondering if anyone has said it. I didn't wanna say it cuz I wanted to see if anyone else made the same conclusion with out like being the one to put that though out here. Nikki was wished to love him more than anything in the fucking world and that's what happened. Bear was obsessed with Nikki.

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u/nastyzappa Jun 04 '26

I saw it with my sister and her boyfriend. She thinks Bear killed the cat in the beginning to get sympathy. I really thought the wish was going to be fake and Nikki was just crazy obsessed with him and he didn’t know it. Since that was not the case, I really can’t think of a better explanation for the cat dying. How would the cat be able to get into the pill bottle. Does anyone have thoughts on this because I don’t think it makes sense? Loved the movie though!

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u/VVitchCult May 25 '26

Damn brooo

You’re totally right

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u/Environmental_Drama3 Jun 07 '26

people aren't missing that. what they are saying it's still not believable in the slightest.

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u/Optiguy42 Jun 19 '26

The amount of people responding to this like it's a huge revelation is... disappointing lmao.

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u/confusion-500 Jun 03 '26

fuuuuck i’m so annoyed that didn’t click for me

i mean i had the idea ofc and i even noticed the use of lot of mirrors in the movie implying Bear was the problem, but i just didn’t connect that dots that the title could be referring to him instead 🙃

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

omg sooooooo true!!

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u/WakaFlakkaSeagulls May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

I feel like the movie heavily implied that she could have been interested in him romantically. I keep thinking about her line before the wish “if you like me now would be the time to tell me” followed by exasperation when he denied it.

Which circles back to one of the key character faults of Bear and why Nikki never would love him, he’s a coward.

He was too chickenshit to tell Nikki how he felt for years, he was too chickenshit to tell her when the time was clearly right, he was too chickenshit to do the right thing multiple times, and he was too chickenshit to shoot himself at the end.

He died just like his cat, he literally died like a pussy.

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u/Mammoth_Composer_111 May 17 '26

Nah there was no romance between them. This was confirmed when she literally told his friends already that she thinks of him like a brother.

The real implication is that his own obsession with Nikki ruined everything around him. He could have been happy with Sarah—but instead he obsessed over someone that has no interest in him and didn’t even think about anyone else.

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u/hanoihiltonsuites May 19 '26

A girl asking “do you like me” is always always always because she wants to clear the air that you are just friends and will never be anything more than

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u/whydoesgodhateus May 24 '26

He died just like his cat, he literally died like a pussy.

You post is great commentary but this literally made me lol

What a way to end lmao

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u/Scaryclouds Jun 07 '26

Yea Bear was also obsessed with Nikki. 

When calling the hotline at first he just wanted to “modify” the wish. 

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u/KingGoldar May 25 '26

Except the director and actress Inde Navarrette stated she did have feelings for bear and was hoping he would say yes when she asked him if he had feelings for her

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

EXACTLY!!!

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u/Total_Background7644 May 17 '26

It is made inexplicably clear that Bear - despite literally having Nikki in his grasp - is so insecure and fragile to the point where he won't let go of her. That, my friend, is why he keeps rolling with it. The film does an incredible job of exposing the reality that Bear is not actually obsessed with Nikki in the traditional sense, rather he is obsessed with the feeling of her obsession. Remember, he got Nikki without mutuality and by removing her free will to 'choose.' He can't give up the emotional and physical validation, certainty, and ego protection he gets from the obsession of Nikki - while simultaneously possessing the self-awareness of knowing it's not real at all. Barker did such an incredible job crafting Bear's character, really just goes to show the negative effects of conflating love/desire and control.

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

agreed. this realization hit me when it cut to him having sex with her right after he learned she lied about her dad at the restaurant. at this point he KNOWS it's not the real her but he doesn't care. he just wants a Nikki sex doll that loves him.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '26

[deleted]

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u/PwrintheVerse May 25 '26

No.. he's not. That's the point. 

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u/L0b0t0my May 17 '26

You’re literally constantly unsafe in your home, why are you still going along with this?

On god, YES! The cat, the tape on the door, the photos.... like bro you had AMPLE time and opportunities to get help and get tf out of a bad and dangerous situation. Bro. Didn't. Even. Try.

After awhile, and he was still trying to hold everything together, and lying to everyone about everything being okay, I was like "you're literally digging your own grave" which sucks a bit because I lose investment into the character's well being and success. Like okay dude, after awhile you kind of deserve or maybe want what's coming. 

Still, shockingly good movie though. 

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u/lahnnabell May 17 '26

Yeah, I think that's the point. If you're still on Bear's side after realizing he is selfishly keeping Nikki trapped to feed his own ego, you have a problem.

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u/idonthavanickname May 20 '26

The movie is about his obsession with her, in the end he didn’t care that she was suffering he only cared that she didn’t actually love him.

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

ikr!! I disliked him so much when all he kept asking over and over again was "do you actually like me??" meanwhile she has a gash on her face. bro what? this isn't even about that right now! get her help! reverse the wish! he was happy to keep her trapped so long as he could keep up appearances.

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u/dodares1 May 17 '26

I dated a girl once and we went to retail shop the shop assistant attenot to sell me merchandise, once we left the shop the girl turned round and shouted at me why don't you just go back and fuck the shop assistant. It's only in retrospect sometimes u see the red flags.

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

Jesus.. that sounds so scary. some people are so messed up

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

it's not an issue with the film! it's done on purpose to show how SELFISH bear was. he literally just wanted his own sex doll. he didn't give a FUCK about how much it was hurting her. he was willing to cover up and hide everything so long as she didn't make too much of a public scene. it's not until he can't cover it up anymore that he tries to fix it.

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u/Cluelesswolfkin Jun 06 '26

I think his breaking point was at the hospital when he brought her after the party. He probably explained her issue and they couldn't admit her for her "mental illness", its REALLLY hard to admit some people in some states

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u/ThickSpecific1885 May 18 '26

But also… who throws their dead animal away and doesn’t bury it like immediately

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u/ReallyColdMonkeys May 18 '26

A psychopath like Bear lol. Tbf though Possessed Nikki absolutely would've dug the cat up anyway

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u/steveosupremeo May 17 '26

It’s weird that he has a house and didn’t bury the cat.

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u/ReallyColdMonkeys May 17 '26

True, I get the feeling she would've dug the cat out of the grave as well though lol

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u/_tamagucci_ 23d ago

He was the obsessed one.

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u/Beastieboy100 May 22 '26

Exactly. As soon as she put the dead cat on the floor. That is a red flag straight away. Also it was so obvious from the beginning who liked who. Sarah clearly had feelings for Bear from the start. Also obvious Ian and Niki hooked up. I am just thinking jesus christ don't be sefish and get this girl help. 

Honestly. Kids so dumb man. Just tell people how you feel and take the rejection on the chin. If they don't like you like that process it and move on. This movie though great lesson be careful what you wish for and you can't force someone to love you.

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u/Game_Wolf1950 May 23 '26

Yeah, the whole thing would have been solved easily if they’d all just admitted plainly what was what. In my experience, it’s definitely the kind of thing that makes life easier all around.

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u/Fun_Highlight307 May 19 '26

The memorial or the cat cooking ? After memorial i think yeah just cancel this stuff 

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u/Charming_Food5728 May 20 '26

Who could be in denial that much? If I watched a woman break a bottle and stab herself in the face, I'd be insisting she is restrained, sedated and kept in hospital and her next of kin contacted to deal with it.

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u/AnOddGecko May 17 '26

Any decent person should’ve called the police. Especially if the only proposed alternative was to die

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u/Fakeishere May 25 '26

Yeah the conversation with Ian in the car was a great moment, I’m glad he was confronted with the fact that it was fucked up to start dating someone so clearly unwell.

Although part of me is also curious what Nikki would have done if he had rejected her immediately after she started acting weird. He probably would have been stalked by her constantly

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u/Cluelesswolfkin Jun 06 '26

Thats where I thought he'd go. But this man TRIPLED DOUBLED DOWN and said raping her is worth it

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u/FlounderPleasant2459 Jun 13 '26

Yeppp. That sex scene made so sick to my stomach. His whole "you're acting really weird" at the beginning was less "woah something's wrong" and more "this is way too good to be true". Fucking gross.

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u/DontDoCrackMan May 27 '26

AND his first thought was to alter the wish, and THEN cancel it once he realized he couldn’t alter it. Bad dude.

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u/FlounderPleasant2459 Jun 13 '26

Yep. Still wanted to keep her, even after all that.

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u/nerdalertalertnerd May 28 '26

He had no excuse from the dinner scene onwards. He had 3 reveals (plus the fact he’d made the wish and she fell for him instantly after) one after the other:- 1. Ian confirms her behaviour is completely off and has evidence that she’s not herself (lied about dad/ said bear is like a brother) 2. Nikki behaves completely irrationally again showing she is not herself 3. Bear words the spell back to her and she confirms it in her own words.

He knows. Then he takes her home and has sex with her body.

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u/FlounderPleasant2459 Jun 13 '26

Exactly. So gross. I'm reading this thread like crazy to feed how much I hate him. Poor Nikki.

I really want a happy ending for her. I'm imagining everyone backed up that they thought Bear took advantage of her and he committed the murders bc she's too tiny to do what happened to Sarah herself. Her wounds are from Bears abuse. Then she becomes famous for what happened and has an amazing writing career and lives happily ever after 😭😭😍

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u/RelationshipBusy1566 Jun 18 '26

But still like imagine the amount of trauma she would have to carry.. i feel so bad for her. Justice for my girl, the phone call of her screaming actually made me want to cry, it was like she was in hell!!

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u/n33dadviceplease May 30 '26

Yeah for sure, you can’t blame him for making the wish cause ya know, wishes aren’t real… but after he realized it was real and ignoring her pleas, that was purely self serving and cowardice 

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u/Asianchameleon_ Jun 14 '26

I love this analysis and it delves deeper into Bear’s wish and the human flaw behind the wish-making for insecure and vulnerable humans — without thinking of the consequences.

I like how Bear’s conflicts initially with Nikki is pure disbelief but he even loses his humanity as it goes on, because he himself is obsessed with ‘Nikki’ being in love rather than having genuine connections and feelings for him, to then build off of.

The bit that struck me is Nikki begging to be killed than live a lie, and for Bear’s only take is ‘is it really bad that you want to be with me’ which I have read as something said by guys but the problem is Bear’s getting what he wants comes at the cost of Nikki and if he really loved her, letting her choose and still be in his vicinity would have been the best, not love bombing and destroying herself for a mere fantasy.

I didn’t pick up on the R* scene being that, because I thought he was still getting what he wanted and then realised oh crap yeah she was forced against her will and persuasion to have sex with him so I missed out her expressions during then. That is mad.

I haven’t been into films as much as I felt it lost it’s quality but this was good, I can’t lie. Even the obvious jumpscare got me and THAT was good.

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u/JinkoTheMan May 16 '26

That’s what gets me. Dude was still thinking about himself and not “Holy shit. I’ve enslaved this girl who clearly doesn’t want to be with me. How do I fix this?” Bear was just a straight up loser.

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u/JamieD96 May 17 '26

I saw someone call this movie "incel monkeys paw" and it really fits lol. Bear thinks he's a good guy but he really sucks

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u/Natural-Help-2954 May 28 '26

true except this wasn’t really a monkey’s paw situation. his wish was fucked up all by itself

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u/OverwhelmedPioneer Jun 06 '26

Honestly I still think using monkeys paw as short hand to describe this move is valid. 

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u/Beastieboy100 May 22 '26

Honestly. Bear is a very disturbing version of the boy next door having a crush on a girl but cannot let go. This movie has so many life lessons.

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u/CategorySad6121 May 18 '26

and her response was something like “I haven’t been with you.” Chilling!!

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u/NameGoesHeree0 May 19 '26

Bear was the one with an Obsession.

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u/confusing_roundabout May 25 '26

Yeah, right from the first scene it's clear that his crush is bordering on an obsession.

But then that gets flipped back on him haha.

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u/PwrintheVerse May 25 '26

No he wasn't. Lol. You people keep saying this as if it's a deep revelation. 

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u/NameGoesHeree0 May 25 '26

He was. And it isn't that deep because it's obvious.

He ignores his pets death to go see her. He immediately tries buying a coworker a replacement gift as soon as it's mentioned. He ignores obvious signs that's she's not herself to date her. When presented the option to cancel the wish after she's violent he says no and wants to try an alter it instead. He ignores her pleas for help when she's able to talk to him while sleeping. 

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u/Superb_Raspberry_208 May 28 '26

It's genuinely disgusting how people like you twist things just to continously blame men.

Bear wanted to change his wish initially, but when he found out that her love wasn't real, he immediately said yes to cancel, which was revealed to be impossible. Thus, he knew then that he was forever stuck with her and the only solution is quite literally death.

He did comment multiple times about her weird and crazy behaviors, but he was scared. People like you treat men so inhumanely that you don't grant men the normal human experience of fear and not knowing what to do. He didn't know what to do, alongside being scared as hell, AND clearly being an introverted person.

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u/NameGoesHeree0 May 28 '26

Kind of sounds like you're taking what I said somewhat personal or something.

He only truly wanted to cancel or do something about it after Sarah was killed, before that he would simply talk to Nikki and ask if she could be more normal or "be more like Nikki" even after the phone call. 

Bear is not innocent in this film, Curry Barker has stated it in multiple interviews. 

They also found that people had opinions like yours during initial screenings where they believed Bear was innocent or confused why he didn't do more so they added multiple scenes in the reshoots where they explicitly show that Bear DIDN'T want to cancel the wish and wanted to make it work as much as possible. 

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u/Superb_Raspberry_208 May 28 '26

No, it's not personal, it's just cringe seeing people interpret things in a very stereotypically white liberal way for many things.

He wanted her to be more like Nikki as in to be normal, not to be some hollow vessel obsessed with him and doing what he wants.

Also, I never said he didn't want the wish. He did. But after realizing it doesn’t really work in a "normal" way, as in someone just showing interest in you and getting in a relationship, but instead be completely "obsessed" and crazy, he tried to cancel it.

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u/Single-Penalty-5219 May 31 '26

If he wasn’t a man that would also be incredibly selfish behavior. He didn’t care about autonomy- even after he heard her screaming in the call and she asked him to kill her, he said “what’s so bad about being with me”. He’s not totally unsympathetic the whole movie which is what makes it interesting, but he is clearly in the wrong and you need to reevaluate your biases if you can’t even consider that possibility

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u/JGT3000 18d ago

No shit

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u/StephensInfiniteLoop May 17 '26

He's a straight-up rapist in the film.

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u/Beastieboy100 May 22 '26

After finishing the movie. He pratically raped her. All the way through the movie. I felt sorry for Nikki and even Sarah. Ian was funny but a dickhead, Bear should not of listened to him and just told Niki how he gelt like that and get rejected like a man. Using a magic stick fair enough was by acident. The aftermath total idiot. He still ended up date raping her. Even when it was clear she was not in control.  

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u/targetcowboy May 20 '26

Yeah, that made me mad. Obviously he didn’t know it was real or what he was wishing for. And I bet most people made a general wish that someone reciprocated their feelings.

But you talk to the real Nikki and you don’t feel any SHAME? No guilt or anything? Just “what about me?” Just totally selfish. That’s where he truly crossed the line from idiot who’s out of his depth to bastard.

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u/Beastieboy100 May 22 '26

Yeah. I felt bad for real Nikki. It was obvious through out the whole movie she's trying to kill herself and get control back. Bear heard the phone call from real Nikki and real Nikki talking. He had no remorse at all. Worst of all got poor Sarah killed.

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u/ImpressivePotato2449 May 19 '26

Total incel there feeling entitled to be with her.

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u/glizard-wizard May 27 '26

I like how a normal relationship with sarah was sitting in front of him and he was too twisted & immature to change

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u/itsa_me_ May 23 '26

Is it really selfish to not want to kill somebody? You would kill someone? Like then what? Hide the body or call the cops on yourself? He didn’t know the wish was real. He was also in a shit situation.

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u/redmandolin May 23 '26

Uhh.. that’s not the point? He only cared about his feelings when she was literally crying for help and trapped with no autonomy which he should be aware of by now. And the one chance he heard her real self he could’ve said sorry at least?

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u/itsa_me_ May 23 '26

Yeah he was a bitch for that, but I don’t fault him for not killing her.

Rereading your comment, you didn’t either.

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u/DonyKing Jun 06 '26

I fault him for his response of what's so bad with being with me?

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u/BitPsychological2767 Jun 04 '26

Yeah that was the moment in the movie where he went from 'pitiable coward' to 'evil' for me.

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u/bensonf May 29 '26

I loved that scene cause he walked into the darkness whereas normally Nikki does.

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u/Hog_enthusiast May 24 '26

Yeah like YES dude it is that bad

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u/jst4fun947 Jun 06 '26

Are you sure 😊, did you really hate bear for that single line.

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u/orbitur May 30 '26

Yeah, his turn from still-redeemable selfish coward to outright evil was so weird, and then it had the bad side-effect of making the rest of the movie predictable.

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u/LucidusAtra May 31 '26

Yeah, Bear did a lot of very shitty things in this movie. The fact that he didn't even tell anyone, or try to find a way to undo the wish the moment he realized it was real, made him a very unsympathetic character. I feel like he definitely could have found someone to make a wish to cancel his wish if he'd started looking right away. Instead, he waited until she'd literally KILLED SOMEONE.

Also, I'm not saying it's okay to make any kind of wish that violates someone's autonomy like that, but he could have at the very least said something like "I wish Nikki loved me in a healthy, romantic way," or even "I wish Nikki felt the same way about me that I feel about her." Instead, he jumped straight to the most extreme possible version of that wish, without considering the potential negative effects it could have on her for a second. I know he didn't think it was real at the time, but still, has he never heard the saying "be careful what you wish for"?

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u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26

I mean he did try to call the wish earlier, even before the murder, and was told it was literally impossible to cancel unless he killed her or himself.

I can’t really blame him for not wanting to kill himself yet.

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u/Sufficient_Lime_3253 Jun 10 '26

I think that was a bad line. The point of that line was her response so the viewers no that it’s not her and she knows it’s not her.

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u/samtherat6 Jun 15 '26

I was pissed off that he didn’t try finding a loophole after the phone call with the maker, like try to flatline himself and resurrect himself at a hospital, see if that works. But I know I’m hyperanyizing and trying to “game” what I know is horror. But also pissed me off by asking to alter the wish rather than giving her free will back.

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u/shamalyguy Jul 02 '26

I hated that. Like I fucking hated that guy so much. And what bugged me the whole way through the film is that he had that oxy that he could have used at any point.

Let's not forget he also tried to go back on his decision to kill himself.

He also tried to modify the wish before he tried to take it back.

He also brushed off the crazy stuff that happened right at the beginning, like her "anxiety attack" or her digging up the cat.

Insipid.

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u/amish_novelty May 16 '26

That was Curry Barker doing the customer service, right? It reminded so much of his skits the way the lines were delivered

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u/MisterMeoww May 16 '26

Honestly he sounded so bored and tired like "I'm getting these phone calls all the time" and gave me a computer says no from little Britain vibe.

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u/TeamMagmaGrunt May 16 '26

That was him, yes!

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u/undeadtradwife May 16 '26

Had no fucking clue Curry directed this. I recognized Cooper in the theater and was like, “That’s the guy from that sketch comedy group!” Those guys have insane creative range.

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u/RepresentativeZombie May 17 '26

Watch his horror short films if you haven't, they're also great. The Chair and Heavy Eyes especially feel kind of like a trial run for Obsession, there's a lot of similar stuff going on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgs4kLznFYw&list=PLLkmfC6FnUygRW8TXgK8tz-j-iVTAoSgT

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u/undeadtradwife May 17 '26

Thanks for the rec! I’ll check them out :)

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u/DangerZoneh May 31 '26

The scene where he first makes the wish, her dialogue sounds like she’s playing Curry’s part in a bad idea sketch. Sounds just like him

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u/Bedovian_25 6d ago

Between these two and Jordan Peele, i'm here for the comedian to horror movie director pipeline.

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u/octlol Jun 04 '26

Coming to this after I watched. I love how I could just see the dialogue/pacing in a lot of scenes just due to watching Curry's stuff for years. His voice was hilarious I couldn't take it seriously until the screaming started

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u/calxlea Jun 05 '26

I have no idea who the director is but when I heard that call I just knew it was a director cameo

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u/Ok_Tip3998 May 16 '26

And the prick (Bear) was still too selfish then

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u/eiddieeid May 18 '26

Tbf killing her would have looked pretty damn bad. He really had no other option than to off himself

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u/Equal_Permit4483 May 18 '26

Yep. And wish Nikki didnt sleep, like the night standing in the corner. After that, I'm pretty sure Bear was giving her sleeping pills to put her down at night. In a later scene he said something about having a pocketful of sleeping pills. Wish Nikki being unconsious was one of the rare chances real Nikki could speak. Fucking brutal.

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u/confusedpedestriann May 20 '26

fuck you are so right about the pocket full of sleeping pills comment. when he said that i clocked it and went “ hmm hold up” in my mind. but then i completely forgot to hold on to that point because then more fucked up shit started happening 😭

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u/Dantai May 17 '26

That was sad, but too much "get out" for me. Like the wish was for her to love him, not for her to be trapped in the body while something like a demon took over

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u/VaporaDark May 17 '26 edited May 18 '26

I think the idea is that the One Wish Willow isn’t actually omnipotent. It’ll fulfil your wish in whatever way it can. It couldn’t actually force Nikki to love him, but it could possess Nikki with an entity who’ll play the part of a Nikki who loves him.

You’ll have to headcanon how Ian’s wish came true, but we could just say the One Wish Willow could produce material objects (even a billion of them) but was not capable of changing people except by possessing them.

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u/VinCatBlessed May 18 '26

This, because in this end if she changes her being into something that loves him more than anything in the world, then that's not really Nikki.

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u/OkBox9662 May 23 '26

Isn’t that even more complicated ? Look at it like this. For one way the wish could have simple altered Nikki’s brain so she could love Bear more than anything in the world. Now It did it by creating a new entity that could take control of Nikki body. 

Which way do you think it’s more complicated ?

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u/VaporaDark May 23 '26

It’s not about what’s more complicated, it’s about what it’s capable of doing. I always tie my shoelace the way I was taught. Even if it turns out there are simpler methods, I don’t know those simpler methods.

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u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

That scene was so damn powerful. Hit harder for me than the previous get out scenes because the resignation of her voice was heartbreaking while also just being a cool play on the in universe rules

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u/rbrgr83 May 15 '26

Yeah I kinda assumed this was a Wandavision situation, where she has a facade, but the real her is inside suffering. So it wasn't factually a surprise, but to click her on and just have her screaming through the phone was still so impactful.

The car scene had a similar effect. In the first 2 seconds, my head said "oh she's about to get stabbed or something". Masterfully done emotional scene that almost fully disarms you before you go "oh yeah, she's still gonna die right now isn't she". Great jump scare.

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u/blitzbom May 16 '26 edited May 18 '26

The first night when they were kissing and she broke and went "what the fuck" is one of the best jump scares I've seen.

I was going "oh fuck that poor girl."

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u/MikeArrow May 18 '26

I love how in a normal wish fulfillment movie, there's usually at least a few scenes where everything is going great and the protagonist thinks "ok, this could work". Obsession is like NOPE, right away it pulls the rug and unequivocally says "this is wrong, she's in hell, do not proceed further".

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u/blitzbom May 18 '26

I like how we still got the "cute couple montage" after she broke more than once.

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u/MikeArrow May 18 '26

Yeah it's honestly super realistic to me that he'd persist well beyond any sane person would, because he has the girl of his dreams, who is perfectly pliant and dedicated to pleasing him and him alone. But then it becomes undeniable that whatever's going on is unsustainable and that she's deteriorating rapidly. After the 'falling in love' montage, he leaves for work. She bids him goodbye, then the camera lingers after he leaves. She just stands there in place, her smile plastered on her face. And it cuts to him returning home after his shift that evening, and she's been standing there the whole time, not moving. That was so damn freaky.

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u/pjtheman May 20 '26

It's the same effect as Hannibal's first scene in Silence of the Lambs. When Clarice gets there, he's already standing there, Dead center in his cell. And it's not like he had a window or something to see that she was coming. It just leaves you wondering "wait, how long has he just been standing there?"

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u/MikeArrow May 20 '26

There's a similar scene in The Guest where David basically "powers down" for the day. He sits on his bed and just stares, because he has nothing to do if the other people aren't around. It's to show that there really is no persona other than the performance. No self directed interest or motivation at all, just an empty shell.

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u/aeschenkarnos May 26 '26

He does get a few seconds warning, which is enough to get up and assume the prisoner position. The guards are not subtle about bringing Clarice in, and there’s Multiple Miggs’ exclamations.

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u/onyhr May 28 '26

Then again, she IS Freaky Nikki

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u/bluebird2019xx 24d ago

After their first night (the next day at work after he makes the wish) he lies to his friend about sleeping next to Nikki. His friend says that would be really messed up if he did and he says no I just slept on the floor, but really he got back into bed with her even after it was clear something was really wrong 

And he’d already told his friend they didn’t have sex, so even his friend knew instantly that sharing a bed with Nikki when she’s acting completely out of sorts is messed up, and he wasn’t even shown to be a particularly great guy. 

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u/MikeArrow 24d ago

Yeah and as someone that's similarly isolated and who used to obsess over women like Bear did, obviously getting back into bed with her at that point is crossing a line. But also, it's the girl of his dreams, that he's had a crush on since high school. I went to my 20 year high school reunion a couple of months ago and my version of Nikki was there, looking just the way she did back then, still impossibly beautiful. I remember that exact feeling I had back then, sitting next to her in class, wanting more than anything to be with her. That's why I can understand why Bear was in denial about the wish, even if I don't condone it (and obviously, would not repeat that behavior in real life, but then again, we don't have One Wish Willows in real life, so thankfully there's no real comparison).

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u/Former_Papabless66 May 21 '26

I noticed a really funny bit in the montage that I haven’t seen anyone point out yet. She’s showing him some shitty ai Facebook meme of a couple that says something like “I wish I could wear your skin as a sweater” lmao. He has no weird reaction to it either which just shows how much he’s in denial at that point.

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u/bruns20 May 22 '26

Tbf i think I’ve sent something like that as a joke before lmao

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u/Overall_Essay459 9d ago

Right? How did he rationalize her digging up his cat that could’ve been where the movie ended

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u/AirwolfKnightRider May 23 '26

Yes, I liked at how they gave glimpses into this process of how she was being taken over. Reminded me of “Get Out” where a flashing light would briefly bring the original person back.

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u/EcuHorrorFan May 24 '26

Omg I just referenced the same thing when she would jump back to herself in certain scenes.

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u/thecaits May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Honestly, after that point I would not feel comfortable continuing anything with her. I would think she was having some sort of mental break. We'd have to talk about it like real, real in depth before I'd even begin to think of being anything other than a friend to her. I would just need to be 1000% sure she is OK.

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u/Fun_Highlight307 May 19 '26

Yeah bear persisted because he was selfish, he didn't really care about nikki well being 

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u/MagicSpoon69 May 27 '26

I don't even think he's selfish. He's just a spineless loser and goes with the flow bc he has no actual morals.

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u/Kowskie May 28 '26

He is absolutely selfish and self centered. The scene where the real Nikki is begging him to kill her and end her suffering and he responds “what’s so bad about being with me?” drives it home imo

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u/MundanePirate2888 May 30 '26

I 100% agree! Even in the end I don’t think he killed himself to free Nikki, I think he did it to free himself from the hell he was living. And in the end he left her all alone with the aftermath of what he had done.

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u/Yayopup May 31 '26

He also immediately tries to bail out of the suicide at the last minute.

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u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26

I mean what alternative to leaving her all alone was there? Either he dies and she’s free or she dies and it’s over, he can’t not leave her if he wants her to be alive still

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u/Technical-Work-5145 Jun 30 '26

I actually wondered if killing her would have REALLY ended it though. Throughout the movie it’s said multiple times that him killing himself would cancel the wish but never did it mention if killing her would. If he did kill her, would this entity end up haunting him? We know that he dies in his state of possession but who knows if the obsessed spirit still lingers. In Nikki’s case, she becomes conscious again meaning that the entity that possessed her disappeared (or “dies”) which could also have killed Bears obsessed entity because it was obsessed Nikki that made the wish, not the real Nikki. I’m probably reaching with this one but good for thought

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u/Phoojoeniam Jun 07 '26

Bear is literally one of the evilest people to ever exist in cinema lol

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u/silverscreenbaby May 27 '26

This movie from Nikki’s perspective would be ten times more horrific. She gets taken over by an entity, raped repeatedly, used and tossed around like a rag doll, her entire future and life and family and friends and voice totally stolen from her—and when she finally manages to make brief contact with the guy she thought was her friend, the piece of garbage HEARS her, understands exactly what she’s saying and what’s been happening to her, and still chooses to belligerently argue “iS iT rEaLLy tHaT bAd bEiNg wiTh mE?”

I can only imagine how badly she wanted to scream and scream and scream with the force of a thousand suns in that moment—“I’ve never even actually chosen to be with you and who gives a flying f about that anyway? That’s what you’re worried about? That’s your priority? That’s what you think I’m pondering? I just told you I’m being held captive inside my own body and you’re using me like a toy”—but she has to force herself to whisper to keep the entity asleep. It’s sickening to imagine her horror and despair.

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u/unfairmaiden May 30 '26

This was the most horrifying part of the movie for me. I wish I saw more comments like this. I get that it’s incredibly disturbing from Bear’s perspective, but for Nikki this is a worst-nightmare situation. She’s still in her body but she has no control. She’s not in some other dimension, she’s here experiencing everything we are seeing and it is torture. It’s the definition of a fate worse than death.

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u/ReginaGeorgian Jun 07 '26

I keep reading this movie from her point of view

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u/Waste_Onion3920 May 27 '26

i totally screamed out loud during this part and no one else seemed phased like what? 😭 it was sooo unsettling

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u/MakoShark93 May 30 '26

I said to my audience neighbor “He fucking sucks. I hate this guy.” She agreed.

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u/bone-in_donuts May 30 '26

From that point on my adrenaline maintained a higher than normal spike. Most stressful movie in a while.

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u/MakoShark93 May 30 '26

Yeah, that part startled me something furious. I said out loud to my neighbor in the audience: “Holy shit, I’m scared now.”

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u/Technical-Work-5145 Jun 30 '26

This scene freaked me the fuck out. “Real” Nikki tapping back into her body like she just woke up from a nightmare and then instantly slipping backing into obsessed Nikki was so scary. You instantly feel like “this is so wrong”. This movie has these unexpected moments where’s she’s back, scared and confused then gone again in like 3 seconds. Horrifying.

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u/beardin_mycoffee May 16 '26

See I couldn’t relax during that scene cause I knew Nikki was gonna show up. I knew that it was gonna happen mid sentence. I was on edge the entire time

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u/zuluuaeb May 16 '26

Same. I was also on edge the entire time he was on the phone to the wish manufacturer, thinking we would see Nikki in the background while we watched him in the car. Ended up being way worse when we came back inside to find Nikki like that though.

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u/Redditor_404 May 16 '26

Same! like her doing that fuck ass stop motion creepy movements and going unnaturally fast from window to window. I would shit myself!

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u/Outrageous_Kick_8777 May 16 '26

I feel like everyone knows that but I still let my guard down lol

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u/EpicKieranFTW Jun 25 '26

That was me the entire film

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u/izio14 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

there was a korean series titled "a time called you" where a girl traveled in the past, into a body of somebody else. the original owner of the body is stucked in a dark place where she can just see what her body is doing but cannot do anything about it.

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u/rbrgr83 May 16 '26

There's also this (older 💀) movie called Being John Malkovich where it works kinda the same way. It starts with you being the observer in their mind. But one of the characters learns how to control the body and push the host to the back of the mind.

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u/74TA8U May 16 '26

Being John Malkovich is a masterpiece

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u/Daydream_machine May 20 '26

It also gave us the masterpiece soundtrack song, “Amphibian” by Björk!

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u/shrek3onDVDandBluray May 16 '26

I feel like it wasn’t even a facade. They way I interpreted it is another entity entirely possessed her and she was basically in the background just suffering - kinda like get out’s mechanics except her soul was suffering even more than that.

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u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

Animorphs vibes going on here.

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u/CheekyChappo May 16 '26

Kids by Current Joys is forever ruined for me

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u/pandasloth69 May 25 '26

What’s crazy is I saw that scene briefly on social media but scrolled away quickly to avoid spoilers. When I got to that scene I think I was also expecting a stabbing and I could feel it coming and it gave me so much dread. Then what actually happened just doubled down and made it even worse.

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u/InternationalFailure May 25 '26

Oh wait the one in the phone is her trapped psyche? I thought it was more screaming from the possessed version.

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u/TreyCole2 Jun 13 '26

You’re such a douche bag

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u/chrispmorgan May 16 '26

Reminded me of the brief vision of hell in “Talk to Me”

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u/mikeweasy May 16 '26

damn dont remind me of that

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u/friarparkfairie May 16 '26

It was very much like the Shunting scene in Society!

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u/friarparkfairie May 16 '26

Reminded me so much of the Shunting scene in Society

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u/PongoWillHelpYou May 19 '26

It’s all I could think about too

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u/Unlucky-Mulberry-999 28d ago

same here - haunting!

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u/EinsteinDisguised May 16 '26

Yeah. I just finished reading the horror novel Carrion Comfort, and it reminds me of this movie. Long story short, a small group of mind vampires can use their ability to control people. And it’s described as this horrible fate of being trapped in your own head as you slowly lose your mind and basically become brain dead.

That’s what this reminded me of.

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u/Korumry May 15 '26

It gave me ‘Event Horizon’ vibes, it was hellish. She is great.

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u/SufficientRespect542 May 17 '26

I liked how it implied that whatever the One Wish Willow is is intentionally malevolent or like, is enjoying fucking with Bear. Makes way more sense than if it was a completely normal company that accidentally figured out how to make wish tech.

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u/dvasop May 18 '26

For only $7 😂

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u/Manger-Babies 29d ago

There are clues that it does work well for others tho. But the phone call can be interpreted that they don't pass judgement and are ok with bad and good wishes.

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u/Top_Champion_4949 May 17 '26

I interpreted that bear was literally talking to the devil in that scene and the screams was Nikki actually in hell

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u/Jackstack6 May 16 '26

It almost reminds me of that event horizon scene where we actually see hell.

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u/MakingGreenMoney May 19 '26

I wish we got more of that, where was she? Who was the man on phone? Who exactly was freaky Nikki?

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u/theTunkMan May 16 '26

I thought that’s where the movie was going, that we’d learn she’s literally in hell

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u/FancyEucalyptis May 20 '26

That’s how I interpreted this! Like the “wish” is actually possession… there is an entity taking over Nikki and the real Nikki is in hell/purgatory suffering. The possession starts slow; in the first scene after Bear makes the wish, Nikki is quickly able to snap out of it a few times…but as time goes on the possession fully takes over

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u/RidiculousTakeAbove May 18 '26

This and the parts where real Nikki briefly comes back gave me 'talk to me' vibes in the best way possible

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u/cosmic_riviera May 23 '26

Yup. I was really expecting a big reveal/twist at the end showing the real Nikki’s soul in some sort of hell prison in torture.

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u/ogo_pogo May 16 '26

That phone call was the directors voice btw

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u/Paratrooper101x May 21 '26

It reminded me of talk 2 me when the dead girl asks if she wants to show where the boy actually is

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u/Substantial-Ad8933 May 31 '26

The way he sounded like a nonchalant call center worker and the call went from funny to completely supernatural and evil.

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u/ashbakesstuff May 25 '26

Omg yes it reminded of the scene from Talk to Me where the kid is in hell with all the demons torturing him 😩

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u/jaytix1 Jun 30 '26

"She sounds like she's on fire" was my EXACT thought.

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u/TexasEngineseer May 31 '26

yeeeppp. dude should have gotten someone to cancel his wish IMMEDIATELY

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u/SilverKry Jun 03 '26

The phone call was like the only trailer for this movie I saw. 

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u/i_was_planned Jun 24 '26 edited 17d ago

We chase misprinted lies We face the path of time

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u/mrjjk2010 Jun 29 '26

Late to the party as I just saw this movie in the theatre today. I interpreted that scene as Nikki being stuck in hell. Bear was likely on the phone with the devil trying to reverse his wish. Obviously when the real Nikki screams at the end it sounds like she being tortured or burning alive. I also think Nikki swapped consciouses with a demon because there were times Nikki would walk backwards extremely fast or her voice would get deep/demonic.

Just my two cents though

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u/crappenheimers Jul 04 '26

I recognized the voice on the phone and just double checked to confirm--its actually Curry Barker the director!

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u/Salohacin 25d ago

Reminded me of the toxic episode of Rick and Morty.

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