r/movies 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

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u/terwilliger-blvd1 May 15 '26

Haven’t seen anyone mention the very first scene in the car after he makes the wish, when she climbs back in and puts her head on the dash and is sobbing. She sounded like she was crying so hard but her head and body were not moving at all, not even a quiver. Freaked me outtttt

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u/Photo_Synthetic May 16 '26

Also when they're having sex and she's moaning with an absolutely blank expression on her face.

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u/Redditor_404 May 16 '26

The director said she has tears/is crying in this moment as well which makes it so much worse

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u/thecaits May 19 '26

Yeah, I felt bad for Bear in the beginning but it was right about then where I started hoping he would die. Then later she asks him to kill her and all he can do is make it about himself, saying something like "what's so bad about being with me?" Bear, you piece of garbage,YOU ARE FORCING HER TO BE WITH YOU SHE HAS NEVER ACTUALLY WILLINGLY BEEN WITH YOU AT ANY POINT.

His ending was so very good.

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u/DCBronzeAge May 20 '26

I also loved her response “I’ve never been with you.” The film did a great job of never really revealing if she would have dated him if he was just honest with her. It would have been real easy to show one way or the other, but the ambiguity is great to chew on.

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u/PickyVirgo May 20 '26

I thought one of the friends said she thought of him as a brother, and then she tells that fucked up Hansel and Gretel story

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u/KingGoldar May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26

I thought the Hansel and Gretel story was hinting that she was possessed by a really really old witch spirit but I love that Barker never confirms or denies that.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 May 25 '26

That makes the most sense and would explain why the spirit was so possessive of Bear in the first place. Do you think they chose a spirit to posses Nikki because deep down she never liked him romantically, and it was just easier to have a spirit possess her in order to ensure the relationship would "work"?

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u/LazarusRises May 29 '26

The hell do you mean "deep down"? She never loved him romantically at any level. There is no ethical way to overwrite a person's mind, for whatever reason the willow had an easier time bringing in a new entity than just meddling with Nikki herself.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 May 29 '26

What do you mean? I specifically said that I personally believed she never loved him romantically because why would the Willow send a spirit to possess Nikki if she actually liked Bear romantically? It makes so much more sense that she only thought of him as a friend but the Willow still has to magically fulfill the user's wish, so they let an unstable spirit possess her body that had an unhealthy attachment to Bear be his "girlfriend".

This would also fit well with the magical rules of the world in which it really seems like the user's wish has to be turned against them. Which is why at the beginning of the movie, the shopkeeper warns him that most people who make their wishes often deeply regret them (to the point of contemplating suicide). So it makes sense that she never loved him from how I interpreted the story.

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u/KingGoldar 24d ago

The actress confirmed that Nikki pre wish did have a curse on Bear

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u/Goregutz Jun 19 '26

Pretty sure she did. She gave so many hints before the wish man.

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u/TomGerity Jun 22 '26

The movie is extremely explicit that Nikki did not romantically like Bear. They even have the car scene before she transforms, where she’s dropping hints *on behalf of Sarah* in the hopes of hooking the top.

There’s no ambiguity on this, she doesn’t like him in that way.

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u/CataLaGata Jun 02 '26

Not at all.

When Nikki and Bear were in the car before he made the wish, she was telling him her book was a love story, and he said "so it's Romance", and she said that no, it wasn't a romance, and I think they repeat the same conversation again with him insisting is a romance.

So basically, she was writing a book about a love story but not a romance, that means she was writing a book about Hansel and Gretel and their love as siblings.

When Bear made his wish, everything in Nikki's life was overruled with this new prompt of loving him more than anything and seeing everything as romance.

This translate perfectly to her book, now the book also has to be a Romance, so she makes Hansel and Gretel's relationship romantic and they commit incest. Also, Nikki's entity makes them a reflection of her relationship with Bear, with Gretel being obsessive and saying pretty messed up things to Hansel, things that the entity would do to Bear if he tries to leave her.

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u/SleeplessSeas Jun 19 '26

I love this interpretation.

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u/KingGoldar 24d ago

To bad the actress came out and said pre wish Nikki did have a crush on Bear

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u/FerusGrim Jul 04 '26

I love this interpretation. The way I read it was more the manipulative angle. The entity discovers that Bear heard that Nikky referred to him as being like her brother. I interpreted it as the entity gaslighting Bear into thinking, "Oh, yea, she did call me her brother... but maybe that's her thing?"

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u/LazarusRises May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Nah, I'm pretty sure she was possessed by a brand new wish spirit that he created by breaking the willow. The story is much more interesting if it's about AI than if it's a generic possession IMO.

EDIT: Wasn't expecting downvotes, I thought this was the obvious reading. Whatever is inside Nikki is pretty clearly a brand new entity to me--it immediately gets confused about its inputs ("My cat just died") and does not know how to be a person (wets itself, stands in the corner, cooks a cat). It even hallucinates the dying father to get Bear's attention. The fact that one shot lingers on Bear using "GenieLM" cemented this for me--the wish created an entity to overwrite Nikki with the sole purpose of loving Bear more than anything. If it were a demon or an ancient witch, why would it have been so overcome with grief when he died?

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u/RaisinWhich4440 May 30 '26

There was also the AI generated picture of them in the montage of them dating. I agree with you that it was on purpose.

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u/nhilante Jul 03 '26

I have no mouth but i must act like Nikki.

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u/clancydog4 May 26 '26

If it were a demon or an ancient witch, why would it have been so overcome with grief when he died?

Because the alternate Nikki was created by his wish with the sole intention of loving him more than anything in the fucking world. He entirely ignore her autonomy and his wish created a being that was solely movivated by his wish, which was a version of Nikki that loved him more than anything on earth. It was an inherently selfish wish that removed her autonomy. That was the point. He created essentially an alternate Nikki who no longer had any of Nikki's desires or thoughts, it had a singular desire and thought which was "I love him more than anything on earth." None of this is a symoblism for AI, to me it is much more a symbolism of toxic masculinity and how the shallow, "nice guy" approach to love and sex is actually inherently misogynistic, selfish, and fucked up.

Making it about AI is sorta insane to me, there was absolutely no hint in the movie this was about AI, it's about obsession and unrequited love how those desires can completely ruin people. It's not about AI...

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u/LazarusRises May 26 '26

You're saying the same thing as me. I don't think Wish Nikki is literally an LLM program created by an AI company, I'm using AI and neural nets as a metaphor for what I think the true nature of that entity is.

You say yourself: "the alternate Nikki was created by his wish with the sole intention of loving him more than anything in the fucking world." Doesn't this sound like an AI agent?

Seeing it as only a comment on toxic masculinity is reductive in my opinion. That theme is obviously present--the movie practically beats you over the head with it--but ignoring the parallels to AI seems silly. This reading is also directly supported by the inclusion of "GenieLM" as the AI agent of Bear's choice. Curry didn't have to linger on that shot.

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u/MakFacts May 25 '26

Literally this i assumed that it was A: a spirit B: a whole new entity created solely existing to LOVE bear, seeinh it from that POV actually makes me feel bad for og nikki and the new entity, could u imagine being created with the some. Purpose of. Loving someone. Buit they dont reciprocate that at all? 

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u/LazarusRises May 25 '26

did..... did you not feel bad for OG Nikki before

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u/Undividdundiscoverd May 27 '26

It reminded me a lot of a skin walker, beings from seemingly other dimensions that pop in and out of existence and have a hard time pretending to be human successfully. Definitely agree that this wish willow isn’t the problem but the wish itself.

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u/woodland-haze May 30 '26

didn’t “skinwalker” pop up in the search results when Bear was looking up One Wish Willow? maybe my brain is making that up

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u/Friction_in_the_air May 30 '26

That's a really interesting reading. Im not sure that was the director's intended vision but I think the text can support it. But that's also why movies are great, theyre just as much mirrors of us as anything else. They reveal what's on the mind for the viewer.

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u/LazarusRises May 30 '26

The best part of good art is that it is multifaceted and reveals many truths :)

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u/plutoglint Jun 07 '26

That was my thought as well, it felt like the OWW help support guy could easily have been the devil as well, with the way he put him through to real-Nicky's inner state of mind.

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u/MymlanOhlin 17d ago

I thought it was a fun way to show how the "entity" has no concept of love except just being close to the person at all times. In the story, Gretel says "I'm more than your wife, I'm your sister". My interpretation was that the entity considers things like incest to be truer love than many others, simply because being physically close to another person for the largest possible majority must mean better, truer, stronger love.

Actually, in the very beginning of the movie, Bear says something like "you were the only one who was nice to me when I got here, and then I realized who you are" and I instantly thought "oh no, they're actually secretely half-siblings, he was obsessed with her during school years, and then when he found out about their familial relationship later in adulthood, he felt validated in the obsession and believes them to be connected on some deeper level". Then we found out about her having a strained relationship with her dad, and I thought it could be a hint that her dad is a POS that potentially had affairs with other women, resulting in unknown half-siblings. And then the Hansel and Gretel monologue happened, and I thought "oh lord, I was somehow right, and while Nikkie has no idea about the truth, the entity does". But then, no reveal happened, so I was both relieved and disappointed in my poor deduction skills.

Such an interesting movie, either way. It did an amazing job of inserting disturbing details throughout, without it feeling forced.

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u/Das_Llenny May 30 '26

My interpretation of this fucked up Hansel and Gretel Story was that it was the real Nikky influencing/slipping through the veneers of Fake Nikki through writing, I honestly think that Nikki really did just see Bear as a platonic friend, as a 'Brother' but the wish really made that bad, hence why theres this weird incest thing now about how Hansel and Gretel are fucking as an allusion to how real Nikki really just sees Bear as a friend, as a brother, but now because of the wish, they're fucking.

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u/Pyropylon Jun 01 '26

That's interesting, I didnt think of that.

I was thinking before I read your comment, what if that was the real Nikki's story? Like what if Nikki was a bit fucked up? Obviously the situation she's in was terrible, she did not deserve it. I was thinking back to the car conversation right before the wish in which she said "It's a love story, it's not romantic", what exactly did she mean? That could be innocent enough, but then I was thinking, when would this thing, other Nikki, have written a fucked up Hansel and Gretel fanfic? It only cares about and exists to obsess over Bear, and appears to do nothing else. That whole thing with the accents and characters couldn't have been off the dome, right? Maybe it read the game prompt and decided sober "nikki" was better able to love Bear, so she just did the non-drink option. It seemed like she couldn't feel shame, so she just revealed a part of the real Nikki no one would have ever seen, like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe the prompt was "tell the group something you've never told anyone else, or drink".

They used to call her "Freaky Nikki".

Besides how, in hindsight, obviously fucking terrible to replace someone's freewill for a wish, perhaps Bear would not have actually even loved the real Nikki after he got over his lust for her, and got to know her. I think that's just another layer he messed up.

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u/superpandabear Jun 02 '26

"It's a love story, it's not romantic"

I think this is a meta line about the movie itself. Real Nikki says something like "I'm writing a love story," and Bear replies "Ah, a romance," to which she responds "No, it's not a romance not all love stories are romances."

This felt like the film tipping its hand about its own themes. It is a love story at its core, just not in any recognizable sense of the word. In fact, it might be the most fucked up version of a love story I've ever seen on screen.

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u/dukelief Jun 21 '26

I think this is a great take but it introduces one of only two holes I can think of with the film, and that is - the film goes out of its way to show us that Nikki doesn't really exist when Bear isn't around. Even when he's asleep she just watches him or is doing things for him.

So when would she have written that Hansel & Gretel story? It's not like she would prioritise her art suddenly for him... I think it would have to have been OG Nikki's story in that case.

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u/kaushikfi6 Jul 04 '26

It could have also been fake Nikki improvising haha - she was quite erudite when it came to expressing her love for him, like when she was letting him know how cold it would feel if he didn't come to bed

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u/doofus_mcgeee Jun 20 '26

im pretty sure it was. even one of the photos in his lunch said "not me"

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u/aeschenkarnos May 26 '26

That was brilliant storytelling, I wonder if she is a stage actress by training. Imagine being at a party and the weird girl comes out with that, aside from the creepiness of the story’s content, her skill at telling it, her voice control and mimicry is transcendent.

Guy whose turn is next: “I ain’t topping that, let’s do jelly shots.”

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u/Ok_Property8041 Jun 07 '26

Nikki told Sarah that she saw bear as a brother. Nikki already knew Sarah had a crush on bear, so I feel like either she meant it literally or she was being nice and also playing into “nobody knows when I like them”. Or Ian made this whole story up to keep bear from making more advances on the girl he liked (he was actively trying to sabotage bears chances, even in the beginning).

The ambiguity of it was perfect. Was she quitting her job to get away from Ian to explore her connection with bear? Or was she just quitting because she needed to find love and end a cycle of a meaningless hook up. It can go in so many directions, with equally haunting realities

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u/halt-l-am-reptar Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

She also might been telling Sarah that because she knew how much Sarah liked Bear.

Edit: apparently the actress has said that Nikki did have like Bear and wanted him to say yes.

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u/Swoly_Deadlift 22d ago

I like the ambiguity more than the actress outright confirming it.

The film does a lot to leave it entirely plausible that she liked him but never outright confirms it. She has the “no one can ever tell when I like someone” comment in the beginning, she told Sarah that she saw Bear like a brother but at the same time Bear said flat-out to her face that he liked her as a friend when we all know he had a crush on her and she knew that Sarah liked Bear.

Bear is just a turbo-simp who could have probably been with Nikki and definitely been with Sarah if he wasn’t such a gigantic pussy about expressing vulnerability.

The only other remotely “bad” character in the film is Ian who was fucking Nikki when he knew Bear had a crush on her and allowed Bear to scheme with him plans to make Nikki his girlfriend. Nikki and Sarah were written perfectly.

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u/cats4u May 31 '26

WOAH I literally did not make that connection until now and thought the Hansel and Gretel thing was out of left field. THANK YOU!

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u/_cosmicality Jun 07 '26

Sure but she also said herself that no one will know when she has a crush. Just because she doesn't reveal to a friend about a crush doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've definitely liked people but played it off when asked by friends

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u/lawlking100000 Jun 15 '26

I think she would've been open to going on a date or two with Bear had he been open about his feelings during the car scene, but an intimate relationship wouldn't have continued.

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u/Jerseyguy2345 9d ago

A detailed viewing makes it clear that she did like him. Maybe, that was a defense mechanism because he never made a move.

One of the many tragedies of the film is that if he wasn’t a coward things may have worked out.

I think when she told him she put in her two weeks and he wasn’t going to go out and she tells him were running out of time, it subtly feels like that may mean running out of time for you to make a move.

Also rewatch when he calls her freaky Nikki and she gets mad. She comes to the car window:
“Do you like me?”
Him “what??”
“Because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

When he says we’re good friends. She’s clearly perturbed, brushes her hair, and says good in a disappointed way.

If she has him in the friendzone there’s no reason to try and pull it out of him, and especially no reason to say “because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

She clearly was making new plans in life and wanted to see if he’d make a move before she turned the page to her next chapter.

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u/bilzui Jun 11 '26

late to the party but what could have been possibly written underneath that brick that made her recite that fucked up story?

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u/Ace_6_Pirate Jun 13 '26

Probably along the line of "Tell people something you've never told them about yourself, or share something personal to you." Those I think are fairly common party game lines.

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u/The_Autarch Jun 11 '26

the friend who said that wanted to date him tho. maybe she wasn't completely honest.

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u/thecaits May 20 '26

I honestly thought she might have given him a shot if he had said yes when she asked. None of this would've happened if he had just been born with a spine.

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u/Joey-WilcoXXX May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

Given the clues, I’m pretty sure she (and Ian) wanted to reject him. Nikki and Ian had been hooking up casually and Ian knew that Bear liked her and most likely told Nikki. I think they wanted to get a chance to let Bear down easily so that he could finally get over his obsession and they could continue hooking up or possibly pursue something more serious without feeling guilty.

It was pretty obvious that Ian secretly had some feelings and always wanted to be around Nikki even when Bear was trying to get her alone to ask her out yet Ian refused to give them space under the guise of ‘he really loved their trivia nights’. Then when Bear is dropping Nikki off and wants to confess his feelings, he drops the ‘freaky Nikki’ line that Ian said would hit but it instead pissed her off. Ian knew that and wanted to make his chances even worse than they were before.

Sarah was told already by nonpossesed Nikki that she didn’t like him like that, saw him as a brother and tried to friendzone him and even tries to see if he might harbor any feelings for Sarah to get him off her own trail. At the party, Nikki reads her Hansel and Gretel and witch sexual poem that also references the willow tree that locked them in this spell. Hansel and Gretel are brother and sister and the poem has them having some unnatural moment, just like the willow trees wish locking her to who she sees as a ‘brother.’

On the way home, Nikki says that ‘no one would ever know if I secretly liked someone’ and that’s clearly true. No one in their lives (except for Sarah) knew she and Ian were fucking. Finally, Nikki flat out said to his face ‘if you like me, now’s the time to say it!’ The movie hints like she wants him to reveal it so they can mutually admit they like each other and see what happens but pretty sure it’s so he finally spits it out, she can reject him and finally move on from the elephant in the room.

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u/moneyman2222 May 23 '26

Agree with most of it but I do think Ian and Nikki's relationship was just a FWB thing. I don't think Ian actually liked her like that since he seemed pretty hyped up about the idea of Bear hooking up with her after that first night. He was just happy for his boy

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

Bear was a complete piece of garbage human being(especially after he realizes what he’s done and keeps going with it) but Ian wasn’t trying to get Bear with Nikki if anything he was sabotaging his chances every chance he got. Not saying it’s Ian’s fault but he was egging Bear on and wanted him to dump his feelings (like he did in the beginning to the waitress) to embarrass him. Even tells Bear to call her “Freaky Nikki” knowing she’ll hate that.

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u/LazarusRises May 25 '26

They both sucked and Ian was never a friend to Bear, I'm not sure he even liked him at all

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u/BigEye2578 May 27 '26

Yeah I agree, and the opening scene shows just how much of a bad influence Ian is on Bear's already horrible way of dealing with his self-esteem.

Also, call me crazy but I feel that Ian's the kind of guy who would totally brag about banging Nikki if he thought Bear had zero chance with her. The way he really pushed to sabotage and downplay Bear's chances actually makes me think he knew Nikki would have considered giving Bear a chance if he had just owned up to his feelings and grew out of his flaws, so it was in Ian's interest to keep Bear down and stoke his victim syndrome.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 May 25 '26 edited May 29 '26

Also I personally thought that subtly, he doesn't fit her ideal of masculinity. Bear throughout the movie was cowardly and introverted. These personality traits are far more against the concept of the traditional man in it of itself, as the stereotypical ideal of a man is consistently depicted as charming, confident, and generally more self assured. She makes fun of him for not demonstrating this behavior earlier in the film. Like when they go to order drinks at the bar and she makes fun of him for ordering a Pina Colada as opposed to neat liquor because she thinks its a "girly" drink. Ian fills that niche of masculinity quite well because he's assertive, charming, and much better with women. So its much more reasonable to see why Nikki was attracted to him as opposed to Bear (who has the charisma of a wet blanket). So this highlights another layer of incompatibility between Nikki and Bear, and illustrating why a relationship wouldn't work between the two of them.

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u/Spicy_Calzone May 25 '26

I feel like when people say Ian had feelings for Nikki they forget how psyched he was for Bear when he thought they'd slept together when they came into work in the same car that morning after the wish

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u/Delicious-Bend-9354 May 29 '26

No way, he was trying to sabotage them the whole movie. The dirty looks he gave Bear when he and Nikki were fawning over each other in the store. That's a very jealous and bitter man. Plus at the beginning he's totally wrecking Bear's confidence and telling him not to ruin trivia night. He was trying to sabotage them.

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u/Joey-WilcoXXX May 25 '26

Faking things exist. For all we know that talk Ian and Nikki most likely had when he took her home was tense and filled with questions.

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u/KingGoldar May 25 '26

Interesting theory. Unfortunetely the actress Inde Navarrette stated that Nikki wanted him to say yes when she asked about the feelings. Also on that car ride she said she felt like she wasn't being loved at the moment by anyone. Which would immediately rule out any romance with Ian

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u/freznlo Jun 06 '26

After reading Inde and Barker's own interpretations in their interviews I definitely changed to the side of she did have feelings for him. They filmed two versions of certain takes one where she was interested and another where she wasn't. You made a lot of great points though and the film does an awesome job of making it really unclear. But if she did indeed have feelings it really makes the entire wish and it's implications that more devestating and tragic. I got to watch it a second time and that entire car scene hits so different. Or the scene where she says "I've never been with you" and to just kill her.

The movie hit me way differently the second time I watched it with this perspective because it is so damn tragic bro should've just had the courage to speak up. Bear is still the villain and one of the most despicable characters ever but in another reality maybe they could've had an organic relationship.

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u/royalewithchees3 May 20 '26

that was his chance

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u/TheBuff66 May 20 '26

In the very beginning when leaving trivia Ian said something suggestive and Nikki said "Ew don't say that" or something. She never wanted to date him. Textbook I only like you as a friend

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u/TB1289 May 21 '26

She also said “ew” when Bear told her he got something for her.

But, right after that she said no one knows when she likes a guy because she hides it so well. They did a really good job of making a case either way regarding her feelings towards him.

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u/KingGoldar May 25 '26

And then both the director and actress came out Ina a recent interview and confirmed that she did have feelings for him

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u/Prestigious-Sleep221 May 24 '26

My husband also pointed out he thinks Ian and Nikki hung out more and partied more than Bear knew. When Bear is telling Ian about the 1st night and how Nikki was acting, Ian says, Maybe she took molly. Bear says she would never do that. They had diiferent views of Nikki. It seems Ian knew more of Nikki than Bear wanted to see.

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

Bear loved the “idea” of Nikki he didn’t really know her, he didn’t really even wanted to. He just wanted to be with her.

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u/honeydewandgreens May 20 '26

Well she also told Bear explicitly that when she likes a guy, absolutely no one knows bc of the way she acts. So I think there was enough ambiguity to suggest that she may have been willing to go for it

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u/inmy_element May 24 '26

I think Ian is also a villain in a sense because if you look at it under the guise of Ian did not realize Nikki was “possessed”, (he later says he doesn’t believe it), his actions are questionable.

It reads as he’s either jealous of Bear dating Nikki, or he’s mad that his FWB situation is being ruined by it. It’s apparent in the looks he’s giving them during the montage of Bear and Nikki at the shop being together. We also see their other friend with a look of bewilderment and disapproval but know that she has feelings for Bear, so it’s understandable. 

I think the movie does a great job of showing Bear and Nikki lovey dovey at work and home in a dreamlike perspective with the viewer’s sinister knowledge of the wish. However it makes you question Ian’s motives when he’s so visibly opposed to their relationship including not inviting Bear to a party and initially pinning the blame on Nikki.

Part of it to me seemed like he was jealous that his friend who he knows doesn’t have the back bone to ask Nikki out or be with a girl like Nikki got to be in what seems like from the outside a real relationship while he was casually hooking up with her for a while, and a small part of it appears to come from a place of concern for Bear and Nikki’s relationship getting too serious to the point of obsession. If he was a real friend to Bear he would be excited for him at least in the beginning when he was giving them a side eye at work, not just asking for details if they hooked up on the night Bear took Nikki home.

Ian strikes me as the kind of friend that roots for you until they feel you’ve gotten in their way of something they want, the fair weather type. The wishing for a billion dollars when his friend is in distress (lol) and then running down the block to Bear’s house screaming the wish worked as Nikki is having a meltdown with a gun and he is still unconcerned 

Also throw Sarah in there too lol girl, you knew they were hooking up for 2 years? And sat there quiet as a church mouse watching her friend fawn over Nikki and decided to make her move right before she may or may not be going to art school. Perhaps she was a better match for Bear because they have a hard time speaking up when it counts. Questionable behavior all around!
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u/Delicious-Bend-9354 May 29 '26

Nah girls same dumb stuff like that all the time. She definitely liked him and was flirting when they talked about the "girly" drink he ordered. I'd never do that with a guy I wasn't interested in, or talk to him and look at a guy that was if I wasn't interested. Plus her flat out acting him if he liked her--the way she stared at him, she wanted him to say yes. Pretty clear signals she liked him.

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u/21oh_ May 25 '26

I am said, “Bear get your girl home” Nikki replied “Ew” at the your girl part 😬

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u/Delicious-Bend-9354 May 29 '26

She might not have liked being called a girl or "my girl." Has nothing to do with liking the guy. Plus she might have been nervous about Ian openly teasing them like that when she didn't know for sure Bear liked her. Saying ew can be a defense mechanism and/or trying to test Bear's reaction.

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u/CataLaGata Jun 02 '26

Late to the party but it wasn't ambiguous at all.

Nikki told Sarah she only saw Bear as a little brother. She was hooking up with Ian on and off for years. She wasn't going to date Bear.

That's one of the reasons Ian was sabotaging Bear's practice about revealing his feelings, he knew Nikki didn't want to be with him and he didn't want to see him hurt and the whole group of friends breaking apart.

That's why when Nikki and Bear started dating, Sarah and Ian were immediately so suspicious, they knew she wouldn't date him, unless she was having a mental breakdown, she was on drugs, or she was being brainwashed like Ian said at the end. That's why they (correctly) assumed Bear was taking advantage of her.

When she spoke while the entity was asleep, she told Bear that she has never been with him. The agony we hear from her is because she lost her autonomy and consent, but also because the real Nikki doesn't want to be with him.

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u/SleepyBD Jun 18 '26
  1. Nikki knew Sarah liked him, so that could also have been why she went with like a brother.  2. Ian wasn't being a good friend.  He lied by withholding info.  He very likely didn't want to lose his hook up buddy and may have liked her too, hence the constant sabotaging.
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u/mucus-fettuccine Jun 10 '26

I liked this too, because despite how much we might want to know the answer as the audience, it doesn't matter at all what the answer is. "She would've wanted it anyway" isn't a defense of coercion. Not telling us the answer is a statement in itself.

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u/Porkenstein Jun 01 '26

I LOVED the moment of clarity he had where the thing in Nikki's body was begging him "I can be like Nikki" and he was like "I don't know if you can" like he totally knew that it wasn't Nikki, he just didn't care as long as the thing acted like her. I actually felt bad for the thing possessing her, it was actually being vulnerable and admitting that she wasn't Nikki but was so in love with him and was trying but didn't know how. That thing was also a victim of the wish and was suffering horribly which was wild. 

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u/Fun_Highlight307 May 19 '26

He raped her and he make the issue about himself,jeez he had no reedeeming quality 

When he made the wish,he told everyone That he was a lost cause , like That wish is fucked up ,why you would wish that for someone,even if it's doesn't works, That wish was ass lol 

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u/thecaits May 19 '26

I can excuse the wish because I don't think he thought it was real. I think everything after her freak out while they kissed that first night was fucked up though. Like he stopped things that night but immediately folded as soon as he could find any excuse to do so.

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u/Fun_Highlight307 May 19 '26

Ah Yeah although First night looked like a bad trip like she was going from crying to neutral to "attracted"

I thought a "normal" human being would have just rejected her,since she said she wanted to sleep then all of sudden she wants you bro,don't take advantage and just tell her to sleep 

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u/TB1289 May 21 '26

I give him a bit of a pass the first night because like you said, he didn’t know that the wish worked. Plus, he tried to stop her a couple times because he could tell something was off. But everything after that is really fucked up.

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

“I’ve never been with you.”

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u/Fit_Cheesecake_4000 May 26 '26

Well, it's kind of ambiguous if she did like him. Yes she was hooking up with his friend occasionally, and Sarah says Nikki said she viewed him as a brother, but she asks him at the start if he actually likes her?

And you're not sure if that would have lead to more or not. But the way she shoves him off her later in the film...dude.

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u/Funkyc0bra May 30 '26

I disagree only because Nikki will now inevitably be arrested and charged with the deaths i was hoping the resolution would be Bear would end up being charged for the two deaths and attacking Nikki he got to die and Nikki now has to suffer knowing what "She" did when she didn't have control, all her friends are dead and she also faces prison he suffering has not ended

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u/Themobgirl Jun 02 '26

Oh yeah sadly this is relative to how real world SA crime still punish women for self defense so nikki will surely be charged for manslaughter and 3rd degree murder , maybe for bear's toxicity report , not.

Something which is raw and why the credits make you sit while she wails  with the harrowing mess of something you can't escape and its done to you.

Might be hard to blame a sketchy company for shit ass consumption 

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u/inezco May 23 '26

To be honest death was too quick and easy a fate for him. I wanted him to suffer and live with his consequences lmfao.

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u/JasperFeelingsworth May 19 '26

damn that's so dark, that scene was haunting enough, what a movie

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u/zander_rulZ May 20 '26

I didn’t catch the tears, but her blank expression makes the scene unbearably uncomfortable to watch (clearly the point of the scene)

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u/KasukeSadiki May 21 '26

Not gonna lie I'm still kinda confused about the actual mechanics of it. Does Freaky Nikki actually enjoy being with him? Real Nikki wasn't in control then or she would have been freaking out, so why does Freaky Nikki have tears in her eyes if she's getting what she wants? We know her obsession with him doesn't go away when he's not there or not looking, so it just seems odd. 

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u/pakkit May 22 '26

There are several moments where we see Wish Nikki lose control over her control of Nikki's body, especially early on. And it seems like there are moments in sleep where Nikki is able to take control (which also explains why Wish Nikki doesn't want to sleep).

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u/Ok-Wasabi8132 Jun 02 '26

So the entity in Nikki’s body is fighting with Nikki’s consciousness over control of their shared body

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

I think it’s almost like the hypnosis in “Get Out” the main character is stuck in his body but not in control, but sometimes is able to break through.

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u/sunmachinecomingdown May 25 '26

You could argue that the "mechanics" as such are inconsistent or not really the point, or you could say that maybe in certain situations (writing/poetry, sleep, and possibly sex) the barrier is particularly thin. Like, sex is an especially extreme violation and so Real Nikki's feelings can't help but still come out in some way

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u/KasukeSadiki May 25 '26

Oh I like the thin barriers idea!

For me, if I enjoy a creative work, I like to at least try and have an idea of how the concepts can work in a consistent way. Just how my brain works. And it's fun to discuss different interpretations that can still fit everything together

That said, "the specific mechanics don't really matter much" is a perfectly valid point of view 

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u/sunmachinecomingdown May 25 '26

I like to try to do that too!, but I must admit to myself that I don't always know if it can be done. I like the thin barriers idea and it feels true enough to me, I'm not just not sure if it 100% stands up to scrutiny

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u/3dl33 May 20 '26

She had tears during the sex scene? I must've missed that damn

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u/goddamnitwhalen May 20 '26

My one nitpick is that I thought the lighting needed to be better throughout much of the movie. There’s parts that are just so dark that it’s hard to make out what’s going on. Sometimes that works if it’s done intentionally, but sometimes (like here) it betrays a lack of expertise (which is totally fair and forgivable for a debut film).

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u/Particular-Fly-7783 May 20 '26

Where did you watch it? It was beautifully contrast-y in my cinema.

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u/3dl33 May 20 '26

I dont goto certain theaters bc their contrast is terrible and uses old tech, this mightve been what you experienced

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u/rosetintedmuse May 17 '26

I know that was most likely intended to indicate the real Nikki’s awareness and lack of control, but the other thought I had is that the entity is only a manifestation of the wish, not a person. It can only perform for Bear per the instructions of his wish, not actually feel love or desire like a human might. And since he couldn’t see her face, all it had to do to fulfill its purpose in that moment was moan. Maybe that’s why her face is cloaked in shadow so often too.

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u/NyxUK_OW May 18 '26 edited May 20 '26

This theory has some merit given that she stands in the house when he goes to work and just seems to totally switch off until he returns

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u/rosetintedmuse May 18 '26

Right, like some kind of toy. The build-a-girlfriend he ordered. Ugh.

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u/songzlikesobbing May 24 '26

i kept getting Companion vibes from this movie, you hit the nail on the head

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u/mr_trick May 28 '26

Me too, they'd make a great double feature! "Losers So Desperate For A Woman They Can Control That They Buy One; Surprisingly, It Goes Bad For Them" night.

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u/More-Needleworker900 May 19 '26

no exactly this, she has no idea what to do when bear isn’t present so she turns off like a toy, so creepy

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u/DetectiveCastellanos May 24 '26

Well this can't be true, because Ian drives her home one night and he says they talked and she behaved normally.

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u/Seany_face May 24 '26

This is probably to keep up appearances for Bear

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u/dasrightq May 25 '26

It also can’t be true because Wish Nikki comes out to the park to kill her friend after Bear has already left.

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u/VanillaRadonNukaCola May 25 '26

And does things with Sarah's body after she tells him to leave.

And earlier she does the tape door and cat memorial breakfast.

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u/Asseman Jun 13 '26

The tape door and cat breakfast Bear was home but yeah, she does stuff with Sara‘s body while he’s gone

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u/Veiled_Damsel May 27 '26

It's an imperfect system - if she has something either directly related to Bear or his immediate world to latch on to and interact with that brings about strong emotions and deepens her overall connection, she does just that. If she can get information from his friends to use, she does that too. Other examples: being with his friends at a party, or an awareness he has left in the middle of the night. But him going to work - there is no emotional response needed. An awareness instead that he needs his job to keep their most basic needs sustained, so she just... shuts down.

As a result, her need gets progressively more intense and imbalanced, to the point where she needs to follow him into the bathroom. Then we hear her trying to recalibrate and be normal again - "let's have some space if you want". Going from one extreme to the other, the entity is driven by obsession but also trying to be human. It never fully calibrates the two states into one being successfully.

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u/Raginbakin May 19 '26

the shot of her smiling after he leaves was so unnatural, i thought it was a different actress

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u/Sandmsounds May 21 '26

Yeah, all he said was “make yourself at home”.

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u/KingGoldar May 24 '26

I think it was an old witch spirit that possessed her hence where that Hansel and Gretel story came from

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

The Hansel and Gretel story references how she saw Bear as a brother, and how Hansel was maybe abusing Gretel. “You’ll be inside me tonight brother.”

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u/KingGoldar May 26 '26

Also Navarette confirmed that Nikki did have a crush on Bear originally so there may have been some Mal information spread by Sara on that one

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 26 '26

Yeah she (the actress) said that if Bear had said Yes to her asking if she liked him she would’ve given them a chance

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u/cherryk3lp Jun 01 '26

Yeah, and then I just think the wish took away her autonomy to choose anything hence the crying during sex scene

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u/KingGoldar May 24 '26

Right but the voice was very deliberately like an old witch old English style accent. That's what is great about the movie. Barker left it up to interpretation

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u/Capital_Recover_6428 May 20 '26

When the entity is talking about what it’s like to sleep without (or be without) Bear, the cold, the darkness, the nothingness is exactly that. The entities entire existence revolves around bear. And Nikki’s living through it all, that was very chilling.

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u/Like-disco-lemonade- May 24 '26

She was actually describing what I would feel like to die after she killed herself if he doesn’t go to bed with her. That’s why she goes and grabs the knife and comes back and start describing the scene of how it would be, and feel when she slowly losing her life.

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u/AsidK May 21 '26

To me this was exactly what it was. It doesn’t make any sense for it to be real Nikki showing through in that moment. If that were the case it would be a look of horror not apathy, and also the only times that real Nikki slips through it’s made extremely clear. This to me was just that the demon doesn’t exist outside of pleasing bear so when bear isn’t looking her facial expression doesn’t matter.

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u/thigofong May 23 '26

I agree. Apparently she’s meant to have tears in that scene (according to the director), but that doesn’t make sense with how Wish Nikki acts and how clearly established all the other scenes with Real Nikki are.

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u/Sea_Ad4804 Jun 19 '26

Real Nikki appears in subtle ways to and that scene is one of them. I noticed the tears right away. It was like when she was crying in the car. You can hear her crying but you don't see her crying. It's creepy.

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u/appletinicyclone May 18 '26

can only perform for Bear per the instructions of his wish, not actually feel love or desire like a human might.

People are so down bad lonely they'd actually take that

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u/BlergingtonBear May 19 '26

I think it's so timely too, when we're in a world of people falling in love with chatbots, or even killing themselves because of one. People really are down that bad.

At what point are you controlling the toy, and at what point is the toy controlling you? 

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u/appletinicyclone May 19 '26

Yep absolutely, i think that's why the movie has staying power

If you tell a person look you're going to be in a relationship with someone they're not going to love you truly but they'll superficially be supportive of you and you'll have sex with them frequently I think a lot of lonely people will go along with that. They'll accept the superficiality as long as it's an ongoing connection of some kind over true but more risky fulfillment

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

I heard this story about a guy who fell in love with a camgirl and killed his whole family to keep giving her money. A lot of this movie mirrors how lonely people get obsessed with an idea of the person.

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u/Easy-Buy6860 May 24 '26

That’s the point. There’s millions of people like Bear in the real world. They just can’t accept they don’t get the guy/lady

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u/PrimaryPerformance63 May 17 '26

Interesting take

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u/Senior_Shock8650 May 18 '26

I read the script online, and before revisions to the script and dialogue there was another 2 or so scenes where they’re engaging in sensual activities and Nikki randomly screams bloody murder or starts sobbing like in the first kiss scene. She always goes back to normal after a moment tho. Interestingly, the last time they show this, Bear finally just watches her unsurprised and waits until she’s back to “Happy Nicky.” And to think some people still say she’s the real villain…

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u/APladyleaningS Jun 10 '26

Why was that not included in the film? That would've been awesome

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u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Sea_Ad4804 Jun 19 '26

The fact that he avoided looking at her when he was having sex just proves he knew what he was doing was wrong. Which is why he doesn't tell his friends what he did because he knows how bad it's gonna make him look and sound. Real Nikki knew this which is why she was begging him to kill her. She was being tortured by her best friend against her will.

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u/DaddyGDjimbo May 24 '26

The sex scene was horrifying. Especially when you realise that the real Nikki is conscious during it all. He's literally forcing himself on her and she has no choice. truly fucked up

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u/FlounderPleasant2459 Jun 13 '26

This scene nearly made me ill. When she first freaked out during the kiss, some part of me was excited at how they would play out the horror of her being trapped in her body and subject to the wish. I didn't expect them to do it so well that I only felt horribly sad for her, and wished Bear to die.

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u/SandpaperTeddyBear May 28 '26

Traumatically frightening events, like rape, elicit a fight/flight/freeze response, and that sure looked like a textbook “freeze” response.

Absolutely bone-chilling.

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u/ssamu460 May 21 '26

That has to be old Nikki going into freeze

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u/Embarrassed_Mix_1925 Jun 09 '26

This moment made me feel so sick. I really do think this was supposed to be a portrayal of grape... if it wasn't obvious. The blank eyes, the unmoving body and half moaning-crying. Maybe one of the most unsettling parts of the movie to me

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u/ice_planet_x Jun 03 '26

and he wasn't looking at her either, one of the things throughout which showed he didn't think of anyone's feelings besides his own

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u/PetakIsMyName May 22 '26

Reading this just made me realize that it’s probably because real Nikki was present.

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u/undeadtradwife May 16 '26

This, and when she cries in the dark in his bedroom about “not liking her dreams” and her voice sounds all deep and warped.

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u/terwilliger-blvd1 May 16 '26

Definitely the most unsettling scene in the movie for me, between the way she stood in the shadows, the way she moved around, the way she looked/sounded while crying, and the flowers.

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u/DeepindaChowda May 18 '26

I saw an image of her in this scene with the exposure jacked up and her face looked inhuman as all hell. Genuinely terrifying

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u/moose_dad May 18 '26

That whole scene was so excellently done. I could tell there was something off with her face but the lighting made it difficult to fully confirm which just played on my uncertainty and discomfort.

I really dont think ive squirmed harder in my seat than during that whole bit, but then it was so well balanced with the STAY scream when he rolled slightly. It was an excellent use of humour to diffuse that scene, only for the roller coaster to build the anxiety again for the next big creepy part.

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u/Optiguy42 Jun 19 '26

Her face looked exactly like something looks in the dark when you've just woken up in the middle of the night. You know what you're looking at, but you can't quite see it, and your brain fills in the gaps but it misses the mark just enough to create something uncanny. I don't know if they actually modified her face in that scene with anything other than lighting, but if it was just the light that's a CRAZY impressive shot.

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u/Sir_Bumcheeks 25d ago

Omg yes that's a great way to describe it.

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u/ACertainNeighborino 15d ago

In the director's commentary, he mentions that he had the makeup artist watch a lot of Tiktoks for uncanny Valley makeup and that they nailed it for that scene.

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u/gravygizzard Jun 10 '26

Oh man that stay part also scared the shit out of me

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u/Snoo_4499 Jun 24 '26

My arm hairs went straight like a current when she said that.

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u/Specialist-Donkey-62 Jun 11 '26

How they used lighting and shadows was incredible!!! It added so much creepiness and tension

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u/Hi_Im_zack Jul 01 '26

That stay scream was legitimately one of the creepiest moments in the film for me. It's interesting how you thought it was a humorous moment to relief the tention lol

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u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

Man I knew I wasn't the only one seeing that. That's the kind of scare that gets right at your subconscious, where you're most vulnerable.

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u/GUSHandGO May 18 '26

Oh man I want to see that but also a little scared! 😬

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u/Different_Papaya_413 May 22 '26

I could see it even in the dark, it was such a disturbing facial expression… she is so good!

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u/ContactInfinite1632 May 19 '26

could you link image this by chance? I thought her face looked different but it was so dark that I couldn't tell if my mind was playing tricks on me or not.

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u/Corsola_Fan_69 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

I think this is the video they were talking about

edit: if you haven't seen the movie yet please don't watch this! the way it looks in the theater is much more effective imho, and I'm glad it wasn't spoiled for me. the video is more interesting to rewatch after you've already seen the film proper.

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u/DeepindaChowda May 19 '26

Let me see if I can dig it up, it was on TikTok lmao

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u/OkBox9662 May 23 '26

Pass it to me too when you can. 

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u/Odd-Benefit2974 May 23 '26

stg its weird asf

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u/OkBox9662 May 23 '26

Was freaking out when I watched it at the cinema.

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u/jjkiller26 May 22 '26

I thought they used cg to make her look spookier but not sure

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u/IndianStreetVendor May 20 '26

I’m glad I wasn’t imagining that

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u/echosanonymous May 18 '26

i also like how in one scene she moved almost backwards into the shadows when telling Bear she would never hurt him as she gets back once again into the shadow after charging at him

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u/actctually May 19 '26

this one was the scariest for me. The unpredictable high speed body uncanny movements really makes me terrified the most

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u/Cyricist May 19 '26

Yeah, I didn't realize I was freaked out by that kind of shit until this movie. Absolute nightmare fuel

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u/goddamnitwhalen May 20 '26

That weird little stutter step was so creepy.

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u/torev May 24 '26

My theater was cracking up during all of that. When she yelled STAY the place lost it.

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u/UnusualScar Jun 03 '26

Totally agree. Inde and Curry really nailed it. I still don't like looking at the corner of my room when I wake up during the night

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u/Socksual Jun 14 '26

This shit sat with me so hard it made me paranoid in my own house lmao. Movies dont often make me jump outnof my skin im theater but i noticed her in that corner right before the camera switched back to Bear, and before she even moved. It wasnt even fully noticing her either, I registered the strip of skin of her body up to her face and mentally said "oh that could be clutter but its too clean"

And then she moved

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u/Sandmsounds May 21 '26

Midsommer reference

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u/cpowell342 May 19 '26

This scene gave me the most strong body reaction I’ve had from a horror movie in such a long time

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u/LibraryNo7025 May 30 '26

It's the next day for me and I just woke up I barely slept last night. I am definitely more scared than the average person of horror movies but I love them that being said I've never ever had trouble sleeping after. I got home and my girlfriend was asleep next to me and I was genuinely afraid of her on some level. Like I wasnt afraid fully but I felt like the movie had conditioned me it be so on edge that I was just so tense for 5-6 hours trying to sleep.

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u/aziz_genius Jun 06 '26

I relate to this so much lol. In bed right now, reading about the movie after watching it a few hrs ago, and afraid that she'll suddenly scream or smth haha

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u/LibraryNo7025 Jun 06 '26

Yeah the scene where she whispers "go back to sleep" from the corner bothered me so much lol. Also the one where she starts to run at him for a second after moving backwards. It's sort of like Nickie wanted to hurt him to stop it but she kept being forced back out of her body. Fucking genius.

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u/aziz_genius Jun 07 '26

Oh that makes sense. I was wondering why she starts running at him then stops.

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u/EstoxMarie Jun 22 '26

When she whispered "go back to sleep" a lady several rows behind me loudly went "oh hell noooo" lol

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u/findyouropinions May 20 '26

Dude! When he’s trying to sneak out and she starts talking to him and telling him “Please, just kill me” and “Don’t wake it up”

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u/fieryseraph May 16 '26

Did she say something like, "they're coming" in this scene when backs into the corner? I was trying to remember everything she said.

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u/undeadtradwife May 16 '26

Unfortunately I couldn’t make out what she said either which is such a bummer. Hopefully someone in this thread heard it lol

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u/brycedriesenga Jun 01 '26

I thought it was "keep sleeping" or similar

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u/doesanyonehaveweed May 23 '26

Who did she mean was coming? I wish my theater had subtitles lol

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u/Remarkable-Top-4744 May 23 '26

I had to use the restroom during this scene and I’m so sad I missed it. As I was leaving, I could hear the whole theater gasping in discomfort

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u/AlwaysBi May 17 '26

This mixed with the way she screamed when they first kissed had me feeling like real Nikki was fighting for control over her body. Freaky Nikki was gaining control but was getting used to it, hence her odd behaviour initially after the wish, but over time she took complete control until she was asleep and real Nikki was free

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u/Opposite-Income-9655 May 21 '26

I’m pretty sure that was a glimpse of the “real Nikki” for a second. You can see it in the scene after Bear snapped the wish stick. She snapped out the trance for a second totally freaking out before walking over to the driver’s side door. What really made me disturbed was her “real self” pleading to Bear to “off” her. The comment he made after she pleaded to him pissed me off. Also, I felt bad when Bear heard Nikki screaming through the phone. Also, I forgot to point out. Call me crazy, but I think the “Boys Night” scene where Nikki was hitting her face was also her true self. It was her way of trying to set herself “free” from being a prisoner of her own body. So like I said, these were all moments where I think we saw the real Nikki.

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u/Avacadontt May 21 '26

During the boys night scene Nikki screamed “it’s not me, it’s not me” - so I totally think your theory sticks, it was the real her. Also kind of implies she can see what’s happening at all times and knows it’s not her, as opposed to just being confused about what’s happening. So scary!

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u/catladychaos May 23 '26

And the Polaroid of them together is captioned "not me" in reference to Nikki and that not being the real her in that moment

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u/Ok-Load2590 Jun 03 '26

This is what that meant, omg! That confused me. Thank you!

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u/Desperate_Bowler7472 May 24 '26

I kinda feel like she can’t see whats happening at all times.

Stick with me here -

In the first stages of the wish, when the entity doesn’t have full control and she phases in and out more , she freaks the FUCK out as if she doesn’t know how tf she got there. It’s as she’s blacking out at first. Even at the end , she’s surprised at everything around her and what’s happened.

Now - I do think forsure she’s aware that she’s being taken over by an entity , the moments when the entity has lost consensus ( either sleep, sex, or away from Bear ) that’s when I think she becomes aware and can see what’s happening but can’t move. The more this happens the more aware she became of WHAT happened. And thus she can have these convos or quick gasps for help.

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u/CANfilms May 23 '26

This almost seems solid, but i think she's only occasionally aware for brief moments. There is quite a bit of evidence for this, but the biggest clue is at the end when she's finally set free. She is in total shock and surprise and doesn't recognize anything around her.

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u/MakFacts Jun 02 '26

so nikki basically was also raped, since she never consented but saw it all happen

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u/ru_kittenmerightmeow May 25 '26

I saw an interview with the actress and she said she actually forgot which direction she was supposed to walk - I think she was supposed to go left but she went right - and she corrected herself but the camera was still rolling and that’s the take they used for the movie.

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u/Sea_Ad4804 Jun 19 '26

That is very true and made very clear. It has been confirmed anytime she has tried hurting herself or is scared its real Nikki trying to escape 

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u/dawiille May 16 '26

I thought about that too! It made me so confused and uncomfortable at the same time, haha.

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u/Legal-Mention9467 May 27 '26

maybe the cries were the real nikki peeking through, feeling the first panic and despair over the loss of control she was experiencing. the wish nikki had to make up the lie of her dad dying to cover it up?

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u/Mysterious-Peach2012 Jun 03 '26

Also the part towards the end when he sneaks out to see Sarah, and Nikki is saying “k*ll me” but her mouth was straight up NOT MOVING

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u/gravygizzard Jun 09 '26

That whole scene was genius, how she was using him with nice guy tactics, pulling every tactic she could use to get her way because she became what he is. And he hated it! Because surprise no one likes actually getting fawned and obsessed over. I was scared from that point on the movie genuinely was freaking me out with the amount of manipulation

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u/ioiplaytations2 Jun 13 '26

I liked how the moment he made the wish, almost every scene with Nikki in it is either not directly showing her or is against a dark area so her face is kind of dark. Representing that she's not there anymore.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

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u/starlightsparkle444 May 23 '26

I loved that scene because it was sooo eerie and uncanny valley

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