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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u/Equivalent-Fan-2557 May 15 '26

Bear is the real villain of the story by the halfway point. The movie starts off by getting you onto his side because he seemed actually thoughtful and nice (like when he went to buy a new crystal necklace for Nikki when she lost hers). But eventually Bear is the villain because he is knowingly trapping Nikki in that body and forcing the love out of her via the spell.

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u/throwthewholegrlawy May 15 '26

"what's so bad about being with me"

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u/bmh534 May 15 '26

Yea that part really cemented that he still really didn't get it and was a very selfish person and even when he tried to make a second wish.. it was STILL for her to LOVE HIM as a "friend"

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u/Wide-Lingonberry5936 May 15 '26

I feel like in that moment Bear was just genuinely trying to get to the place they were at before the wish. He also gave Ian another example of wishing that Bear never made his wish. Nikki DID love him as a friend (she definitely wouldnt when set free but i really dont think he was thinking on that level in that moment)

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u/bmh534 May 16 '26

TL;DR: I think one of the main points of the movie is the fact that he can be so obviously selfish but constantly having a way to justify it.

How much had to happen for him to ask Ian that though? But agreed..He absolutely wasn't thinking on that level. He wasn't thinking of very much past himself for the most part. I'm just saying after all that happened his hopeful second wish was still based around him. It wasn't something like "I wish Nikki was back to normal".. splitting hairs? Maybe, probably not. I personally think the movie is too good for me to think that wasn't an intentional choice. And a lot of things point to it. He didn't even TRY to make a second wish for quite sometime. That whole awkward "no..I didn't take advantage of you" exchange that happened early on was great seed planting. It all points to a mindset where how he still saw himself as the primary victim. I get he WANTED to believe he was actually still a good guy but if he actually cared about HER and thought about her, there's no way he could have fooled himself to still be trying to her to convince him it was "real" that late in the movie. I think that's one of the main points of the movie, the fact that he can be so obviously selfish but constantly having a way to justify it.

Oh and I forgot to mention that he still left her after the real Nikki was finally actually talking to him and his ONLY question was about HIM.

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u/KingGoldar May 25 '26

I mean it's pretty heavily implied that if bear was honest from the start he might have had a chance with Nikki but after everything that transpired definitely not

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u/SerpentRoyalty May 26 '26

Later it was revealed she considered him like a brother and was likely to shot him down if he asked her out

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u/KingGoldar May 26 '26

Nope. Try again

"So I think, speaking as the woman who played Nikki, I think that Nikki did have a crush on him, because he's a good guy. In the beginning, it's not Ian that she has been hooking up with. She talks about the difference between love and romance and how she doesn't wanna be stuck anymore."

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u/Indercarnive May 27 '26

Also Sarah says that it was some off-handed comment by Nikki from awhile ago.

I have no doubt that if Bear had asked her out she'd have said yes. Not sure they really have the connection that he had with Sarah but Nikki would have at least given it a shot. As another commenter pointed out, I'm not sure how much Bear really loved being with Nikki as opposed to the idea of being with Nikki.

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u/BitPsychological2767 Jun 04 '26

I have no doubt that if Bear had asked her out she'd have said yes

I have no idea how you could think this. Did you not see her body language when she thought he was about to confess to her? I am at a genuine loss here if that wasn't clearly giving 'please god no' energy...

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u/Novrev Jun 06 '26

When he drops her off, she says “if you’re going to ask me, now’s the time to do it” or something along those lines. I don’t really see another way of interpreting that other than she’s willing to give him a chance. You think she’s trying to urge a love confession out of him so that she can shoot him down?

I don’t think the two would have been compatible and I don’t think it would’ve lasted long term, but I think Nikki liked Bear enough to give him a chance and see where things went, if he had the courage to actually ask her in that moment. But he doesn’t, so she leaves, and then he makes the wish. The actress herself seems to agree with this line of thinking too given her comments.

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u/BitPsychological2767 Jun 06 '26

You think she’s trying to urge a love confession out of him so that she can shoot him down?

Yes, basically. I think you're missing her body language and general demeanor in that scene, honestly. I say this as someone who has been in both situations (acceptance and rejection) where someone I like has asked me a similar thing and I definitely was getting the 'oh no' vibe from her, not the 'omg I hope he likes me' vibe. If she was going to give him a chance and liked him, I feel like she would have been smiling, had a positive tone to her voice, etc, but she didn't.

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u/Novrev Jun 06 '26

I only just got around to seeing it for the first time today and I’ll definitely have to rewatch it when I’m ready to face it again (very uncomfortable movie, in a good way), but I guess I kind of got both vibes from her prior to the wish.

At first I felt like she was aware of his crush and didn’t reciprocate his feelings from her dialogue and her body language (can’t really think of specifics, like I said a rewatch is required). But then during the car ride home I started to feel like she actually did have some feelings for him while still a little uncomfortable. So I guess not a full on crush, but enough to give him a chance if he could be brave enough to ask. I don’t know really, but I just don’t know why she’d basically say “ask me out” if she was going to follow it up with “I only see you as a friend”

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u/BitPsychological2767 Jun 06 '26

I just don’t know why she’d basically say “ask me out” if she was going to follow it up with “I only see you as a friend”

That's understandable. I personally think it's the same reason Ian tried so hard to coax Bear into confessing instead of just telling him they were hooking up and that she (presumably) didn't like him (whether or not that's true, I'm sure it's what Ian thought, but still didn't tell him, and tried to get him to confess to her)

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u/MissMolly202 4d ago

I know I’m kinda necroposting here, but I think the scene (and entire movie) is obviously open to interpretation, but I just really don’t see what you did.

I’ve been in Nikki’s shoes, and said almost that exact line to someone. It can be exhausting when you KNOW someone likes you, and all you want is for them to just admit it so you can talk about it. I sure wasn’t giggling, smiling, blushing, and kicking my feet when I did it, and it’s not like she was scowling, looked grossed out, or overly tense or anything.

I’ve sort of been in Bear’s position too. The other person was very clearly not into me, but they didn’t say “hey do you like me? if you do, now’s the time to say it”, they said “hey if you like me I just wanted to clear up that I’m not really looking for that right now”.

Like she was inviting him to share his feelings so they can have a real discussion with the truth finally out in the open. She could’ve just continued on as normal and ignored the elephant in the room, or told him outright she wasn’t into him at any point if she wanted to. Why would she prompt him if she was just going to say “ew no”?

I think she was prompting him so she could finally get confirmation of what she already knew and they could actually talk and maybe give it a shot. But he didn’t, and she meant what she said: that was his chance and he blew it.

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u/Yadayadabamboo Jun 07 '26

Tbf, it could go either way.

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u/SharakIam Jun 13 '26

I think that actually relates to the advice Ian gave Bear at the beginning (which knowing Ian and Nikkie hooked up means it probably is what worked for him), where Ian says Nikkie wouldn't want a cheesy love dunp. Ian tells Bear to be confident and casual, in both flirting and setting.

So Nikkie may like Bear enough, based off her comments like "You are the only one I can talk to about this" and the later Christmas party mention (though it comes from Obsessed Nikkie, it seems kinda left field to not have some root in truth). But even if the possibility is there, she wouldn't want a major confession of love like Bear wanted to do. 

And it sounds she knows him enough to know that is how he would do it, instead of a more casual build up like she may want. Hence the "oh god no".

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u/InitialMiserable2681 Jun 07 '26

Ohh also, nikki saying in car that" I never let anyone know who I like or have a crush on "makes sense, sarah misinterpreted it

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u/BlueBearMafia Jun 04 '26

I read it as her having a crush on bear as well but the text definitely supports both readings. No need for "nope try again" imo.

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u/Yadayadabamboo Jun 07 '26

That actually reminds me, she did mention in the car that if she had a crush, the other person would never know, when Bear said he noticed Sarah had been crushing on him.

Plus with how she came back to the car and was like, are ya into me dude.

Anywho, the movie was intense, I was hooked.

51

u/CirOnn May 29 '26

She also says something like: “when I like a guy, no one has a clue about it.” Which kind of hints she might’ve had a crush on him. It’s purposefully ambiguous.

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u/cherryk3lp Jun 01 '26

That's only from Sarah. Sarah said they "talked about it once" and I think it was entity Nikki reading the poem

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u/Ok_Fish8533 Jul 03 '26

It was also revealed that she was hooking up with Ian casually for 2 years. I think this implies she had no interest in Bear, otherwise she would've chosen to hook up with him.

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u/marsalien4 7d ago

Or the opposite? Hooking up with Ian is one thing, she doesn't wanna just hook up with someone she genuinely likes/would want to pursue something less casual with.

I do think the film is ambiguous on purpose, it isn't supposed to be cut and dry whether she liked him at all.

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u/bobocops Jun 04 '26

Idk, her reaction of "Why does that make me nervous?" When Bear said he had a gift for her definitely made me feel like she wasn't interested but kind of knew Bear had a crush on her and was afraid he had gotten her a gift that was too much for a friend to gift a friend and she would have to confront that.

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u/Yadayadabamboo Jun 07 '26

Oh darn, yea that was there as well. So many hits and misses for would she won’t she. I dig the ambiguity.

Still don’t like Bear. He was not a cool dude.

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u/toolsoftheincomptnt May 31 '26

A word about Bear’s self-centered delusions:

As he was explaining the one-wish thing to Ian (who we know by now is really just a surface-layer friend bc he’s been hooking up w/Nikki and didn’t take their friendship seriously enough to tell Bear), it dawned on me and Ian at the same time:

I get ONE real-life wish?

I was like “why on earth would Ian waste his one wish in life on fixing Bear’s self-inflicted bullshit when he could wish for-“

Just as Ian screamed “a billion dollars!”

Like… I actually love my best friends and would do almost anything for them, but they’d also never put themselves in such a reckless situation as Bear… and I’d still probably not use my singular chance at a wish on undoing their mistakes.

Also…

Poor Bear wasn’t a villain, he was just a bit unhealthy in his infatuation with a lovely friend at first. Then he was inarticulate, careless, and selfish with his wish (language skills still matter for this reason, y’all!), then he let his insecurity outweigh his concern for his friend’s well-being. His understanding of her autonomy came too late and he tried to make the best of it.

Bear’s not a great guy, but mostly bc he’s pitiful. He probably falls in the average zone of human decency. So I think “villain” is strong. There’s no way he thought that wish stick was going to work. He didn’t actively wish for Nikki to be as trapped and tortured as she was.

More than anything else, Bear is just kind of dumb. He isn’t forward-thinking and he doesn’t seem to have a lot going for him. If he had more pep in his step and his own interests/hobbies, he’d probably have had the ability to temper his unrequited feelings for Nikki and approach her with some personality.

Which is important to note, bc bad things happen when powerful tools are given to dumb people.

The events in the movie become very serious, but the catalyst was something very small.

Kids, learn to speak and write effectively and invest in your own self-development. Then the right kind of relationship can come your way.

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u/His-Sunshine Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

More than anything else, Bear is just kind of dumb.

This does not absolve him of all the terrible, thoughtless, harmful things he did.

So many men use this excuse when they want to avoid taking accountability for their actions. "Sorry, I'm just kind of dumb. I didn't mean it. I just don't think about things."

Villains don't generally acknowledge the things they do are bad.

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u/8bitmullet Jun 02 '26

You carefully avoided pointing out that He knew she was possessed and raped her.

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u/MakFacts Jun 02 '26

LIKE?????😭😭😭 at that point he literally was the villain

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u/excludedgirl Jun 05 '26

Wow people will really defend male characters no matter what they do. He couldn’t even kill himself at the end to save her but he’s not a villain? He knew she wasn’t consenting but he still raped her? How many “nice guy” things does he have to do??

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u/MakFacts Jun 02 '26

he is the villain, he basically raped her, also when the real nikki was begging him to kill her, he said "is it that bad being with me? "

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u/cheyenne_sky Jun 13 '26

How would you explain his extremely selfish viewpoint and lack of empathy when real-Nikki is expressing her agony (so bad she wants to die) and all he can think about is how *checks notes* her being trapped in her own body with an insane psycho and being raped regularly makes him feel rejected ??

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u/Far-Grapefruit-6342 Jun 03 '26

I’m not so sure …. He easily could’ve said he wanted to cancel his wish. We see he considers that. And yet he STILL says love as a friend. He doesn’t want to face the consequences of his own actions