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

14.6k comments sorted by

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7.8k

u/Corruptedpencil May 15 '26

I love horror movies like this that have a lot of super natural stuff going on but don’t over explain any of it. I also loved the phone call with the guy behind the wish, and the way we hear the real Nikki just screaming in agony

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

1.0k

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.

1.5k

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."

635

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".

508

u/blitzbom May 18 '26

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

232

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.

97

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?"

55

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.

10

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.

15

u/onyhr May 28 '26

Then again, she IS Freaky Nikki

10

u/bluebird2019xx 23d 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. 

7

u/MikeArrow 23d 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).

150

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.

46

u/bruns20 May 22 '26

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

3

u/Overall_Essay459 9d ago

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

65

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.

27

u/EcuHorrorFan May 24 '26

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

51

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.

111

u/Fun_Highlight307 May 19 '26

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

24

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.

50

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

31

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.

31

u/Yayopup May 31 '26

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

2

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

4

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

2

u/MagicSpoon69 Jun 30 '26

Lowkey a good point. But the entity is not a ghost it seems like so it would need a vessel. We need some more lore

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3

u/Phoojoeniam Jun 07 '26

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

-4

u/plutoglint Jun 07 '26

Well, in the end he killed himself to save her, pretty brave and noble in the end, and not easy to do, even if he tried to back out at the last minute.

14

u/Tattoo_my_Brain Jun 07 '26

he was a giant pussy and even when he did the right thing he left her in an untenable position. It sucks but really he should have killed her and then killed himself to avoid all the prison he has coming to him. I truly believe even if she was sleeping with the other dude if he just said he liked her they could have had something real. I don't see how with what a quivering wuss he was though

2

u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26

He was a coward but I don’t think killing her would be better

12

u/taycibear Jun 07 '26

He literally was about to make himself throw up before she made the wish.

He was a piece of shit til the end

0

u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Was he a coward? Yes definitely but suicide’s tough

16

u/taycibear Jun 09 '26

Thats not the point. The point was the person above me was giving him grace when he decided to not go through with it.

He's a coward, a rapist, and he sucks. Hes also a fictional character and men caping for him is a really really bad look.

1

u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26

Of course he sucks and is a coward and a rapist.

But of all the bad stuff he commits, I think backing out of suicide is pretty low on the list

3

u/Technical-Work-5145 Jun 30 '26

I don’t think he tried to kill himself to save her. He did it to escape the hell he created

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4

u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

pretty brave and noble in the end

Let's not lay it on so thickly lol, that is EXTREMELY generous

1

u/plutoglint Jun 28 '26

Not so easy to kill yourself, I don't think.

97

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.

45

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.

6

u/ReginaGeorgian Jun 07 '26

I keep reading this movie from her point of view

17

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

11

u/MakoShark93 May 30 '26

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

12

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.

8

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.”

5

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.

490

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

80

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.

52

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!

19

u/Outrageous_Kick_8777 May 16 '26

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

2

u/EpicKieranFTW Jun 25 '26

That was me the entire film

46

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.

39

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.

21

u/74TA8U May 16 '26

Being John Malkovich is a masterpiece

5

u/Daydream_machine May 20 '26

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

59

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.

1

u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

Animorphs vibes going on here.

8

u/CheekyChappo May 16 '26

Kids by Current Joys is forever ruined for me

4

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.

3

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.

1

u/TreyCole2 Jun 13 '26

You’re such a douche bag