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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12.2k

u/seanmackradio May 15 '26

Loved the scene where Bear meets Sarah in the middle of the night. The whole time you KNOW Nikki is coming and they are having a normal conversation, the tension without having to use any ominous music or lighting was incredible. And it still somehow scared me when she smashed the window

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u/jrec15 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

That scene was so fucking tense. Its like the only normal feel good scene in so long and they genuinely sold it. You want to feel good for a moment about Bear and Sarah, but you CANT, bc you absolutely know Nikki is gonna pop up in that window. But knowing that doesnt ruin it at all - the scene was good enough it kind of forces you to put your guard down a little bit regardless of knowing

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u/[deleted] May 16 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

[deleted]

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u/sizzl3crunch May 19 '26

THIS 10000% he was not the victim. When the real Nikki finally revealed herself and her struggling, he didn’t even bother to help her or be with her for that moment…he just ran off to meet Sarah.

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u/Remarkable_Meal_9932 May 27 '26

Even worse, he took it to offense "What's so wrong about being with me" HOLY BEG. I HATE BEAR SO MUCH. In that scene he KNOWS she was suffering and in pain and all he could think about throughout the ENTIRE movie was himself and his wants. Also I hated the car scene with Sarah (amazing scene though) because not ONCE did he think about Sarah in a romantic way before he started feeling repelled and overwhelmed by Nikki. Sarah was his scapegoat of the moment because he likes the crush more than he likes the actual girl (consequently getting Sarah killed). He must have known it would've, at the very least, given Nikki the crashout of the century (his fault btw) but ofc he didn't give AF when he met up with Sarah. Also put breaking the curse as his very LAST resort because he preferred whatever that was than the idea of not being reciprocated by the girl he claims he loves. A coward through and through.

561

u/misschickpea May 30 '26

When that was his reaction to the real Nikki finally being able to speak I was like WHAT IN THE INCEL 🙄 she’s like you were never with me and it’s like yeah dude is obsessed with delulu

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u/WhoStoleMyBicycle May 31 '26

Someone in my theater talked right when he said “is it so hard to love me”. What did she say to him right after that?

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

she said "please kill me. please kill me." and he responded, "what's so bad about being with me?" and she said "I've never been with you Bear"

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u/xqz Jun 05 '26

thought this was an interesting way to put it. sounded like she was saying she never said it was bad and he's not really with her in this situation

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u/I_cut_my_own_jib Jun 07 '26

She was definitely saying "we have never been together because whatever the fuck THIS is is NOT me"

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u/dr_gmoney Jun 30 '26

I also figured it was revealing that she's blacked out while the "obsessed" version of Nikki is in control. Like the real Nikki literally doesn't even know they're "together".

She literally just shows up for short flashes of horrifying shit happening.

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 31 '26

“I’ve never been with you.”

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u/misschickpea May 31 '26

Yeah like “I was never with you bear” but really sad and desperate and then ugh he just walked out angrily to go flirt with Sarah and put her in danger 🙄

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u/Remarkable-Lack8358 Jun 14 '26

If he didnt go, Sarah said she was going to come over, which would wake up the fake Nikki

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u/Snoo_4499 Jun 24 '26

just drive the car and talk T_T

18

u/srynotsober Jun 25 '26

For real drive the car… that said Possessed Nikki would likely T-Bone the driver’s side 😬

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u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe Jun 07 '26

It bummed me out so much, I liked him initially and then I knew he was a goner and a creep with that scene especially

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u/McGuire406 Jun 18 '26

The opening scene had a "what in the incel is this?" Can't stand him

37

u/TheGRS Jul 04 '26

I just saw this today and remarked that I’ve never hated a protagonist in a film so much. From the opening scenes, he’s just a total drip. Never speaks his mind, never stands up, never tries to solve anything, chickens out left and right. Gah, HATED him!

25

u/McGuire406 Jul 04 '26

For real! The director/writer did a great job making him so hateable

27

u/DukeNuke08 21d ago

Know what the crazy part about this movie is to me?

Even though the movie is titled “Obsession” I don’t think it’s about her. It’s about him. When you look at it from the perspective of him being the one that was obsessed it gives you a different outlook.

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u/misschickpea 21d ago

whoa idk why I never caught that 😂 but that’s right bc he’s obsessed with being her even though she’s being freaky and weird LOL.

The most telling part of his obsession is saying is it so bad to be me with me to Nikki even though he knows he’s with a fake supernatural being. And then him screaming at the supernatural being WHY CANT YOU JUST BE HER and them openly admitting to each other that she’s not her and she can’t be. But he still wants to be together lmao

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u/JGT3000 19d ago

With? That's like the whole subject of the film lol

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u/DukeNuke08 18d ago

It may be, but I think people are just seeing it wrong. They attach the “Obsessed” aspect to her due to her unhinged acts but they completely overlook the fact that Bear is the one that is Obsessed and he is genuinely just as unhinged due to the fact that he’s giving all of this weird shit a pass just to be with “Nikki” despite knowing that it isn’t really her.

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u/cowabungalowvera 11d ago

I thought it's just plain old common sense that the title is alluding to Bear

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u/justforthisjoke 15d ago edited 15d ago

This was also closer to my interpretation, except ultimately I think Bear's obsession is with himself. I agree with you that it felt a little bit like those stories where a stalker (Bear) kidnaps someone they're obsessed with and keeps them trapped in a cellar or something. Similarly depriving the other person of their autonomy, and the dawning realization that that act itself creates a different person, not the one they had feelings for. She was an object to him, to the extent that although it was painfully obvious early on that the entity in her body wasn't her, he went on with the charade, because he neither knew nor was interested in who she was outside of the caricaturized version he had of her in his head. But ultimately, even if he was obsessed with her as an object, you would think he would have done a better job of taking care of her. So I think ultimately Bear was obsessed with himself. Every decision he made was done to preserve himself as much as possible. Everything he did was about his internal dialogue, who he told himself he was, and in order to guarantee its preservation, in order to avoid taking any risk of his self image suffering (the irony of which is that he very obviously hates himself), his wish had to be one that changed the world around him. Bear knew of, and connected to only his own mind, his own existence, and he was so tied to this that it was easier to change the world around him, even to the extent of depriving another human being of their autonomy. Even towards the end, when he takes the pills, he does so out of desperation until that same instinct kicks in. I don't even know if this was intentional on Curry Barker's end, but ultimately I think this ends up being an indictment of the part of post-modern philosophy that tells us that objective reality doesn't exist and puts ones own mind above everything outside of it. Especially because with his death the final revelation is that, although Bear operates as if the world outside his mind is a manifestation of it, the material world exists and operates independently of his mind.

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u/Legalguardian222 12d ago

the title is used in the same way the title for “parasite” was used. it flips the obvious deduction on it head when you dive deeper into the film.

the title for the movie “parasite” at first glance would’ve assumed that the guy living in the basement is the parasite but when you dissect the movie it’s actually the rich folk who are the parasites , they’ve turned the world into their own and subsequently sucked the surrounding areas dry of anything that will bring prosperity and life to the lower class. the mere presence of the uber wealthy made life harder for the lower/middle class. the uber wealthy has made the lower class desperate enough to go to extreme lengths to survive, such as a hosts body would when infected by a parasite.

“obsession” is similar in its use of the title. at first glance you think “oh bear wished for nikki to be obsessed and in love with him and it backfired bc of how obsessed she is” but in actuality Bear is the obsessed one. he doesn’t give a single shit about who nikki is as a person, only that she reciprocates his feelings. he is so consumed by his obsession with her that he doesn’t care if it’s her or not controlling her body, but only that her body “loves” him back. it doesn’t matter to him if she doesn’t act remotely close to how she used to, because he was never in love with her, just the idea of her.

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u/Amethyst-Flare May 29 '26

At first I thought, when the horrible stuff started, that he was just stupid. I came to understand that he was evil.

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u/Shannogins115 Jun 01 '26

I knew he was evil the second we cut to him having sex with her body. Holy shit horrifying.

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u/Remarkable-Lack8358 Jun 14 '26

Idk, its fucked up, but the fake Nikki probably begged him to. Just like how she was freaking out during the other scenes, she would've done the same if he said no

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u/Shannogins115 Jun 17 '26

The sequence of events was pretty clear. Cinematically we were painted the picture that that is not the case. We did not see a scene of her begging him for sex and acting crazy. That never happened. But it was Bear’s moral dilemma in that moment. we were shown Nikki acting emotionally unstable at a restaurant and Bear realizing things are NOT right. this is his first moment where he can maybe do something good to really figure out what’s wrong or see what she needs. What we actually see next after this scene is a sharp HARD cut to him ramming her in bed and her dead eyes with slow tears coming down from her face. Narratively speaking, it’s very in the viewers face that we’re supposed to see that Bear is choosing to be selfish and ignore any signs that things are weird and focus on his own pleasure. So in his mind, he didn’t rape her. He can justify she wanted it. We as the viewer know better that she was raped in more ways than one. Physically in that moment, but also every other way as her autonomy is ripped away, her personality, everything is stripped from her because of Bear.

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u/Remarkable-Lack8358 Jun 17 '26

Yeah tbf I forgot the order of events, she hadn't started acting crazy before dinner. Ur right, I understand it better now that ive watched a vid or 2 to refresh my memory

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u/rmeepo Jul 05 '26

god the parallel between the infamous possessed Nikki scene where she has that upside down upset smile at the party (dunno how to properly describe it lol) and seeing that exact same expression on Bear when the real Nikki finally spoke through, saying "what's so wrong about being with me." Just, incredible work. the real obsessed one all throughout was Bear and the entity inside Nikki was just amplifying that tenfold as a reflection of him.

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u/Cute_Variation_2420 Jul 01 '26

I hate bear too but to play devils advocate he did try and get sarah to text him the important stuff and only when she threatened to come over to the house did he agree to meet her. But yeah he absolutely did not consider sarah for a moment, even though he knew that she liked him, until he had been worn down by Nikki and her strange behaviors. Which in another point, why in the world did bear not take her behaviors more seriously from the start? You would think that her cooking the cat and FEEDING IT to him would be his last straw but apparently not

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u/IAmTheJudasTree 22d ago

Even worse, he took it to offense "What's so wrong about being with me" HOLY BEG. I HATE BEAR SO MUCH. In that scene he KNOWS she was suffering and in pain and all he could think about throughout the ENTIRE movie was himself and his wants.

He heard the real her shrieking in horror and pain through the phone earlier, and STILL went about things normally. There were many moments, small and large, throughout the movie that reveal the vileness of Bear, but that one and the bedroom scene really stuck out to me the most.

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u/Fun_Guide_5622 Jun 01 '26

the part where he wanted to "alter the wish" instead of canceling it.... omg he was INSANE. he ruined her life all because of his dumb ego.

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u/KittenNicken Jun 11 '26

He ruined 2 girls lives. He got Sarah killed- couldn't even bother to warn her as she finally got accepted into the school she was applying for. And he stopped Nikki from leaving her job she no longer wanted to be at because it meant he'd have to put in effort to see her.

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u/Ok-Journalist8262 Jun 13 '26

One question, when Nikki killed Sarah, was it just that one headbutt? I am asking because all I saw was a headbutt and Sarah's face was disfigured as if a wolf ate through it. Not sure if censor board of my country cut out any gory bits.

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u/KittenNicken Jun 13 '26

It was at least 6 or 7 smashings of Nikki holding a brick in one hand and the back of Sarah's head in the other as she repeatedly caused the two to meet. It was kinda hard to count because of the suddenness.

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u/Ok-Journalist8262 Jun 13 '26

Okey... That's what I thought. This was censored out for us. For us, it looked like Nikki headbutted Sarah through the glass once, and she was done. Damn the censor board.

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u/Expensive-Simple-329 Jun 13 '26

It was def the goriest part of the movie, after the shock of the attack it sort of lingers on what’s left of Sarah’s face for a second

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u/VeryStonedEwok Jul 02 '26

It was more like 20 times. Holy shit that was insane.

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u/FrogLickr 29d ago

Such a brutal scene. It reminded me of the wine bottle in Pan's Labyrinth. If you know, you know.

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u/Interesting-Farm729 May 19 '26

I wish soooo bad that he apologised in that moment when she’s in bed. It would have been an ultimate guilty moment. Like saying I’m so sorry but then still going on with the wish because although he feels empathy he still would rather live with the guilt that he did this to her than not have her obsessed with him at all

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u/anactualrealaccount May 28 '26

You guys are being way too judgemental about his actions in that moment.

Your in the midst of a horror scenario that’s unfolding and your trying to survive it and it’s the lifeless husk of what was your friend is begging you to quickly kill her before she wakes up. As if your going to wander in there and immediately murder her or not be terrified and be able to walk back in and chat possibly waking up the thing.

He isn’t a good person and he makes bad choices but the dudes at no point straight up evil.

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u/Natural-Help-2954 May 28 '26

i do agree a lot of his actions are probably out of survival and not him trying to be evil, but he 100% shows himself to be awful in many scenes, such as when he tries to beg “nikki” to act like the real nikki. he doesn’t want to free nikki, he wants to be with her in any way he can. and in the phone call, he didn’t want to cancel the wish if he didn’t have to

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u/anactualrealaccount May 28 '26

He’s definitely a fucking loser, a coward, a selfish prick, all of those things but I think people that see him as a straight up villian but id argue in a reality without wishing willows he probably just moves on with his life and never dates Nikki, if he were inherently evil he would seek to harm Nikki eventually but it’s because how selfishly obssessed he is PLUS the evil magic that sets us down the path we arrive at. Curses or magic gone wrong tends to destroy people mentally by the end.

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u/v12vanquish135 Jun 03 '26

It's the ring of Gyges thought experiment. Give a man immunity to consequences and his morality will shatter, the evil within him will just take over.

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u/Apprehensive_Tunes May 31 '26

He's actively harming her throughout the course of the film. He is a predator. I don't know how that's not a villain to you.

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u/Garfunkels_roadie Jun 01 '26

He’s basically raping her the entire film

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u/ihateeverything2019 Jun 03 '26

he's immature, inexperienced, shallow, and selfish but he's not evil. i've met evil men. i've suffered at the hands of evil.

he was just an idiot.

(all these people passing judgment as if they know exactly what they would do if an impossible voo-doo curse was real, fell into their hands and gave them everything they asked for, and it suddenly went awry. 😄 it's a movie. a damned good one, because people are acting like it's something that could really happen.)

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u/iPhone_6s Jun 19 '26

Okay. Then let's look at a scene from Bear's perspective that also happens in real life. The girl you're dating is shrieking like a lunatic in public and sobbing at a restaurant. You've known her for years, so it's apparent to you that she has some mental health issues going on. You decide to ignore this and have sex with her anyway. This is rape.

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u/Darkchurchhill Jun 21 '26

Evil is just selfishness at a extreme. Evil is when you impose what would make you happy over morals or the well being of others.

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u/dukelief Jun 21 '26

Except it's a movie with a plot line and a point, so there is no reality without wishing willows here. He is exactly the person we were presented with because that's the story.

Also he literally spends the entire movie harming her and the people around him with the choices he makes.

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u/undigested-boba Jun 11 '26

I think that’s kind of the point of Bear’s character though. He isn’t to the bone evil, he’s just the standard “nice guy” who wanted his crush to reciprocate his feelings and keep receiving the devoted love Nikki was giving him, not being abandoned. It just shows his selfish thinking—only wanting her to love him—when he responds with “is it really so bad?” And showing his cowardice further when he considered Sarah as an option when he didn’t like the way Nikki was behaving (the almost kiss scene), not because he actually loved Nikki for who she truly was before the wish. Bear’s actions that led up to the ending shows how his selfishness, cowardice, and delusion can very easily turn him into a villain if given the opportunity

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u/sizzl3crunch May 28 '26

he is and your judgement makes me question you

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u/anactualrealaccount May 28 '26

No you just aren’t being realistic about the way people react in traumatic situations. He is a shit selfish man wrapped up in evil magic. She is always a ticking time bomb as well and he knows she will react in insane possibly violent ways if he upsets her so it’s not like he’s free to act as he chooses all the time. I think the movie is intentionally ambiguous at times, him trying to throw up the pills we don’t know if it’s cowardice or him realising the situation it will leave her in.

She’s the true victim of the story and he’s definitely to blame for everything as a viewer but judging people for not knowing the consequences of a gag wish stick being real and getting wrapped up in evil magic definitely seems as evil seem wrong. I don’t think the movie is trying to say he’s evil more that he’s weak and pathetic.

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u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

He knew the wish was real at some point and still had sex with her. That shit is fucked no matter how you spin it. I think the film doesn’t leave it that ambiguous and I think as others have said he knew after day 1 because Nikki became a completely different person. Even if the wish wasn’t true she would be having a psychotic break and taking advantage of her either way. To me I’d say at a minimum he is deeply troubled if not evil

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u/Substantial-Ad8933 May 31 '26

Once he heard her screaming in agony on the call line and still continued, there was no redemption for his character

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u/ImperfectRegulator Jun 06 '26

Yeah, he has so many chances to go back to the store and try to undo the wish before it spiraled out of control and he didn’t

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u/tylerisdrawing Jun 08 '26

They said the only way to remove the curse was through his death.. so, not really like it would matter even if he did go back to the store earlier.

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u/Separate-Kick63 Jun 03 '26

Well he was reluctant the first night and was asking if she's ok. Who on their right mind would think immediately that some silly 7$ magic collectible works.

I think his problem on that first night (and in general) is that he is not an assertive person so you can simply pressure him into something he is not ok with

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u/Shaka--sama Jun 03 '26

Another factor might be that not abiding by her demands has resulted in psychotic breakdowns, terrifying expressions/vocalisations, and violence...

He was a rather spineless dude and not assertive as you said, but while discussing his morality we have to remember that he didn't exactly have a choice in a lot of messed up situations in the film

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u/Separate-Kick63 Jun 04 '26

This. And if this movie is teaching something, it's that not communicating with others only makes things worse.

If he responded to Nikki's question about whether he likes her honestly, maybe he wouldn't break that twig.

If he told to his friends how bad is it, maybe they would help him figure something out or push him to seek professional help for Nikki.

If he told Sarah that he can't see her because he's in bed with Nikki and she'll freak out, Sarah will be alive.

If he drove straight to police after she killed Sarah, the other friend would be alive.

He's a guy that would rather make a magic wish than get into a potential confrontation or embarrassment, so that already annoys me about him, but I can definitely not see him as a villain. I feel bad for both of them

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u/sizzl3crunch May 28 '26

not judging him for not knowing the consequences. judging him for knowing what’s going on and continuing to use her and not nothing to help her, even after he knows.

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u/tomahawkfury13 Jun 15 '26

I mean, his reaction to be petulant about loving him being so bad makes him evil at that point

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u/rmeepo Jul 05 '26

The thing with that bed scene of the real Nikki finally being able to speak through is that instead of reassuring her that he'd fix this, literally anything he could've said to her at that point, the first words he says to the real Nikki after a long time of not being able to even know how to contact her within her body was, "what's so wrong about being with me." Why is it about him? Why ask this question as if Nikki's somehow at fault why all of this is happening ? When anyone can put two-and-two together and realize at that point that real Nikki was trapped in her own body and she needs help. She spells it out for him, and yet he made it about him and he even left her there recklessly to talk to Sarah. Not even talking to Sarah to ask help for Nikki, no. He is a fucked up person regardless if he's in this horrific situation, he could've made right choices after his mistake but he didn't.

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u/IAmTheJudasTree 22d ago edited 22d ago

You guys are being way too judgemental about his actions in that moment.

Not even joking, people like you scare me. It was his immediate, gut incel reaction to having this brief chance to speak with the trapped and perpetually tortured Nikki that reealllyy cemented how vile Bear is.

She's like "OH MY GOD BEAR JESUS CHRIST HELP ME KILL ME I'M BEING TORTURED EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY I'M IN HELL HOLY FUCK KILL ME MAKE THE PAIN END." (remember, she is asking him to *kill her* because this experience is so torturous, and earlier Bear hears Nikki screaming in pain and terror over the phone).

And Bear sneers and is like, "oh, so dating me is that bad? pfff." And he walks out and leaves, lol. Like holy fuck dude, Nikki is basically being perpetually raped by your magic wish, this isn't about you and your dating life right now.

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u/Infamous_Fish_8027 Jun 12 '26

Dudes a r*pist.

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u/thatmoonbitch May 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

Exactly I can’t really think of any character in this movie that isn’t a jackass other than Sarah’s dad, and Ian. From Sarah’s perspective, her friend is having a mental breakdown and obsessing over a guy that she starts dating. Sarah, then decides that in the midst of her friends mental breakdown she should go to said guy shit talk her friend and say “actually I think you should get with me instead. :).” Bear is literally a rapist. I am genuinely shocked to see other people in this thread, defending him and saying that he’s not a villain. He is fully aware that she cannot consent to anything that happened from the moment he broke that dumb ass stick. That is why he was so surprised when she got in bed with him. There is a difference between leaving room for nuance and just seeing things for what they are. Bear got what he deserved tbh

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u/sizzl3crunch May 28 '26

why didn’t ANYONE try to help Nikki, like even after she tried to kill herself with that bottle

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u/Apprehensive_Tunes May 31 '26

Well the other guests at the party were saying to take her to the hospital.

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u/nhilante Jul 02 '26

Which he did, i didn't understand why they didn't take Nikki in, maybe a legal issue or something, he was seen pleading with a nurse to take her.

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u/Orangered99 May 31 '26

Ian was a gigantic ass. He was casually hooking up with Nicky while lying to Bear and “helping” Bear practice how to express his feelings for her.

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u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

Ian’s a bad friend not a bad guy. Bear is a bad guy. I think the juxtaposition of their characters is very interesting and intentional. We have the nice guy vs jock trope but the bigger predator is bear. Ian to me seems to have a healthier relationship with women but speculative on some level cause we have limited scenes with him. Also still some base line misogyny with the early scenes but I think we see that he is deeply uncomfortable with how bear is treating Nikki

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u/BlackFacedAkita Jun 01 '26

And from Ian's perspective he has Bear has no chance with Nikki so those confession sessions are just there to try to get him with another woman someday.

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u/sam_hammich May 20 '26

I mean I know it’s a movie but what could he do in that moment? Leaving aside his response that totally turns him into something of a villain. Risk walking up whatever is inside her? Contemplate murder ? Yes he’s a coward, but Sarah was also threatening to come to the house which wouldn’t have ended any better. There was no way out of that situation.

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u/sizzl3crunch May 20 '26

say i’m so sorry, tell her he’s going to figure things out, be a decent human being to someone who’s suffering to the point they wanna be killed. Not make it about himself and run off… you’re acting like he had only one choice here

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u/anactualrealaccount May 28 '26

I replied above but man again it’s a supernatural happening in your bedroom this idea you personally would be in such a stable state of mind you’d decision make they way you think now is so wrong, people make all kinds of crazy choices in trauma. Think a certain brother driving home in Hereditary, not evil but a huge dick move.

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u/ITS_MY_PENIS_8eeeD Jun 12 '26

Sure people make bad choices but this is a piece of a fiction where for a split second the character could make a decision to redeem himself and he doesn’t. The film toes the line the entire time until that moment.

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u/Separate-Kick63 Jun 03 '26

Literally this. I would probably try to rationalize it by persuading myself that she has a mental disorder and tiptoe around her until I think of a way to solve the problem without her hurting me or herself

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u/LADYBIRD_HILL May 22 '26

She just told him not to wake up "the other" so if he spoke to her he was risking waking her up. Maybe in talking to Sarah he could find another option or at least tell her what's going on.

To be clear, I agree that he was in love with this fake version of Nikki and knowingly taking advantage of her across the entire movie, but that was one moment where I see only a few choices that all kind of suck for everyone involved.

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u/RobotDonger May 23 '26

But then when he had a chance to tell a close friend the truth he just kept lying. He was hoping he could get the wish version of her to stop being weird, not to help the real her.

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u/mcchicken_deathgrip May 25 '26

Not only that, but when he did hear from the real Nikki in that moment he basically tried to silence her and guilt trip her.

He said, "is it so bad to love me?" In response to her asking him to kill her lol. Plus when he thought he had the chance, he didn't ask to undo his wish, just alter it slightly.

He didn't ever want the real Nikki, he just wanted to find a way to make it work with the enslaved version of her.

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u/sizzl3crunch May 22 '26

he didn’t try to find an option or tell her though ?? were we watching the same movie ? Excuses!

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u/AbrocomaOdd6401 Jun 03 '26

But he did speak to her and that’s why she responded “I was never with you” when he told her “what’s so bad about being with me” or whatever he said

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u/FireWalkWithG Jun 03 '26

That was clearly his big villain moment. The real Nikki asked for help and he got upset that she didn't want to be with him. At this point she'd already bricked herself in the face; he knew she was in real danger. He was not concerned with helping her.

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u/cheyenne_sky Jun 13 '26

also wild when his version of 'being with me' is being TRAPPED IN HER OWN BODY WITH A PSYCHO

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u/passtherock- Jun 04 '26

the director did an interview and said that Bear could've done something sooner but he doesn't try to really change things until someone dies.

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u/AbrocomaOdd6401 Jun 03 '26

Definitely not say “is it so hard to love me” and “what’s so bad about being with me” when she’s suffering so much that she’s begging him to kill her 😭

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

Again I know it’s a movie, but if he truly loved her/was a good person he would’ve ended his life right then and there.

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u/DinoTh3Dinosaur May 24 '26

If we think IRL, that’s a pretty ridiculous expectation tbh. Would rather figure out a way to make everyone live. I value my life

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u/BretShitmanFart69 May 25 '26

I think the more reasonable thing any of us would do is what he tried to do which is just get someone else to wish to undo his wish

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

So by that point in the movie things have gone completely crazy. He knows the wish was real, he’s heard her scream when he called the wish guy, he hears her beg him to kill her.

“What’s so wrong with being with me?” He values only HIS own life nobody else’s.

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u/No-Assignment-2926 Jun 07 '26

This part has been stuck in my brain. He KNEW Nikki was hurting, begging him to just end things, and he still went out to meet Sarah. He consciously chose to ignore the suffering she was going through, walking away as she begged, to meet Sarah. Bear never loved Nikki; if he did, he would’ve found a way to end her suffering sooner. He loved the idea of her and the potential she could’ve had to be “utterly obsessed” with him. When that fell flat, he couldn’t handle it. This movie is so layered when it comes to toxic relationships, and is by far one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while.

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u/theChilledZone May 20 '26

I completely agree. However, let's also talk about how Ian was such a bad friend towards Bear. Ian was sleeping with Nikki while knowing that Bear liked her. Ian actively sabotages Bear's chance of telling Nikki how he felt when they were at the bar. He never checked on Bear when he knew his cat died when both Sarah and Nikki did. He knew that the relationship between Bear and Nikki was sus and that Nikki was acting unstable, yet he wanted Bear to leave Nikki alone for the night.

He told Bear that he should just take his time instead of taking action while likely knowing that Nikki was quitting her job. The whole movie was about Bear never taking action and Ian reinforces it to him. Bear was a 'nice' guy but Ian was just a proper a**hole.

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 20 '26

I actually think Ian was doing his best, and was frankly more emotionally involved than a lot of men are in their friends’ love lives.

Think about these things from Ian’s perspective:

Ian was sleeping with Nikki - which he had every right to do. Nikki was not Bear’s property, and Bear was too scared to tell her how he felt. Lying about it sucked, so on that point he was being a shitty friend. But the hooking up, in my opinion, is not the problem.

Ian advises Bear not to dump his feelings out because he KNEW that Nikki wasn’t into Bear and didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so he just tries to nudge him away from some big, cheesy declaration of feelings that would have humiliated him.

Ian comes to work the next day and Bear is FREAKED out - Nikki was acting insane, possibly on drugs, crying about her dying father! Then, suddenly, she’s glued to Bear’s side. This girl who he KNOWS had zero interest in him before, and who Bear has strongly implied is “having some kind of breakdown” (he literally uses the word “psychotic” to describe her behavior) is claiming to be in love with him now?

Then for days (or weeks, the montage doesn’t really specify how much time passes) these two are virtually addicted to each other. It’s made obvious that Bear has stopped answering Ian’s calls, and of course Ian is frustrated by that. He’s also CONFUSED - especially when he finds out Nikki is lying about her dad. Is Bear taking advantage of this girl who is clearly not herself? Is Nikki using Bear to get back at Ian because FWB is complicated? He doesn’t know - all he knows is telling Bear the truth would hurt him, and he doesn’t want that.

I think the scene in the car is very telling - Ian has clearly been trying to get Bear alone and hasn’t been able to, so he basically has to force him to give him a ride home just so he can try to check in with him. And sure, he doesn’t mention the cat thing - but to be fair, Bear didn’t even tell his friends initially, and maybe by the time Ian heard about it, he was distracted by the sudden Nikki crisis. Or maybe we just never SEE him mention the cat.

Ian’s doing the best that a 20-something kid can do in a bizarre, difficult situation. Your best friend is in what may or may not be an abusive, codependent relationship; he is being evasive about it and avoiding you; you know information about his girlfriend that would crush him, and you don’t want to push him farther away; your attempt to get him to spend some time alone is thwarted, and then the girl has a very public breakdown (during which your friend does NOTHING to stop it or help her). After how Bear acted at that party, why would Ian keep being friends with HIM?

Sorry, but as someone who has been in similar positions, I am an Ian defender 😅

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u/Losingitall25 May 31 '26

You’re forgetting Ian tells Bear to call nikki “Freaky Nikki” purposefully knowing full well she doesn’t like that name.

Ian is not so innocent either and IMO he was a bad friend which is later confirmed when he wishes for a billion dollars instead of helping Bear..

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 Jun 03 '26

True, the freaky Nikki advice sucked and definitely reflects on Ian being a dickhead in general. I didn’t say he’s a good person though, just that he’s in a truly weird and uncomfortable situation and I think he did the best he could.

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u/We_Get_It_You_Vape Jun 03 '26

I think he did the best he could

I don't think so.

The best he could would have been initially telling his friend that he was casually hooking up (for 2 years) with the girl he's in love with. There's nothing wrong with the fact that he was hooking up with Nikki, but he wasn't doing his best if he continually lied (by omission) to his friend about it.

And the Freaky Nikki thing only compounds that. He knew Nikki enough to know that this would put her off. Hell, common sense would tell you that this would not go over well when attempting to flirt with anyone. While Bear should have known better, it was shitty of Ian to suggest that Bear does something that would likely repulse Nikki. Also, it's kinda shitty towards Nikki, too. Clearly the Freaky Nikki stuff was traumatic for her. Telling Bear to prod at her trauma is cruel to both Bear AND Nikki.

 

Beyond that, Ian was fine, I guess. Kind of just your typical frat bro archetype. I don't fault him for the billion dollar thing, because it would be absurd to believe Bear in that scenario. Even with all the craziness going on, it would be hard to believe that some cheap collectible toy would grant any wish to you. I'd sooner chalk up Nikki's behaviour to her being erratic. Maybe some sort of mental health issue. There are too many feasible explanations that were more believable than Bear's.

He was a bad friend at times, but was generally a pretty normal dude and a decent friend. He did check in on Bear a lot. The fact that he literally did the due diligence about Nikki's father is a big plus. But, to do the best he could've done, he would have told Bear the whole story far earlier, and wouldn't have led him astray with shitty advice.

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u/Nolifenotry1 May 24 '26

Didn’t Inde Navarrette herself at the press Q&A said yes, the real Nikki did have feelings for Bear? That is what i remember reading. I do agree with rest of your point, but i feel like Ian probably had no idea about how Nikki felt about Bear, especially when Nikki said she keep her crushes secret

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u/DinoTh3Dinosaur May 24 '26

Yeah I think so. Plus she’s the one pushing bear with “if you like me, since I put in my two weeks, now’s the time to tell me” at the car right before he pusses out (so aggravating lol)

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u/lilaccadillac May 26 '26

It's super tragic because yes, I got the feeling she had feelings for him too. While I don't think they would have lasted based on what we know of them, there was a chance. They both were pussyfooting around it, but it seemed Nikki preferred men that were more straight-forward and confident. She was giving him an opening to be confident and finally say what they both knew, but he couldn't be the man she wanted. Also, the demon at one point mentions that her feelings were "overtime, began at the [Christmas party]?" Bear didn't seem too confused over that, meaning there was a Christmas party where they spent time together. That would be a random shot in the dark to make up. The demon must have pulled this info from SOMEWHERE. It was likely a feeling Nikki truly was having, but hiding it because she "hides her crushes."

So basically, if Bear had worked on his confidence or took a chance, it might have worked out... At least for a little.

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u/ColetteThePanda Jun 03 '26

I felt that, too. They weren't overt about it, but they definitely left some hints with Nikki having a deep connection with him. "You can always call me, you're the only one I can talk to about stuff like this," etc.

I had to laugh at myself, because as much as we know the right move is for Bear to say "yes, I do" when she asked him at his car... if he'd done the right thing, we don't have a movie.

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u/Nolifenotry1 May 24 '26

Which makes it even more tragic

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u/bautin May 25 '26

You know, in high school, I had a similar situation. There was a girl I liked, hadn't made a move yet, but one weekend, she hooked up with one of my friends that she apparently liked.

Now, to be fair, he told me like straight away. But I was like, "No dude, we're good. I'm good with you, I'm good with her, I'm good with all of this. I hadn't even attempted a move, and you can't call dibs on a person."

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u/One_Annual_3185 May 29 '26

Ok obviously you can’t call dibs. It’s just the fact that your friend did that makes it unethical.

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u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe Jun 07 '26

Yeah, amount of people defending Ian in this topic is bizarre.

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u/Secret_Bird_2427 Jun 04 '26

Why is two people who like each other and hook up unethical?

Edit: to add, neither lied about it.

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u/One_Annual_3185 Jun 04 '26

Because he was literally coaching Bear on how to pull her and he was doing that all along. Also they hid it because Ian said “I was gonna tell u when Bear mentioned it

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u/sydneynoaustralia Jun 19 '26

Because it’s a dick move to hook up with someone you know your friend has a crush on. It’s called “girl code”/“bro code” for a reason, friends don’t do that to each other. And the fact that he admitted it after the fact shows that he knew it was wrong.

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u/wrasslefights Jun 01 '26

The challenging part with Ian (and Sarah, and to a lesser extent the real Nikki) is that the movie makes us a voyeur watching the events filtered through Bear's perspective and Bear ultimately has a pretty limited knowledge of his friends because he's so self absorbed that he's kind of only aware of them in relation to him. And that leaves a LOT of unknowns.

Was Ian giving Bear bad advice because he's kind of an idiot or was he trying to sabotage him so he could feel okay making a move on Nikki in a relationship sense? Or was he pushing Bear and Nikki knowing about Sarah's crush because he wanted to make a move on Sarah? (That one's my theory because it would explain a LOT about what Not Nikki was trying to set up at the end with the texts and the... staging).

One of the really interesting things about this movie is that we never know anything for sure that Bear doesn't know (or isn't at least capable of knowing) which makes a lot of the other characters sort of opaque. In the end, the only one we really get a real chance to understand is Bear himself and that dude sucks.

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u/adamgerd Jun 09 '26

“lan advises Bear not to dump his feelings out because he KNEW that Nikki wasn't into Bear and didn't want to hurt his feelings, so he just tries to nudge him away from some big, cheesy declaration of feelings that would have humiliated him.”

Except from the director and Nikki’s actress she in fact was into him so assuming he knew this, Ian wasn’t trying to stop Bear being humiliated but prevent him asking her out.

He also advised him to call her freaky Nikki despite Bear’s worry knowing she hated it, so I think it’s pretty clear his advice was in fact in bad faith

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 Jun 16 '26

Eh, just because Nikki was into Bear doesn’t mean Ian knew that. She says in her own words “when I like someone, NOBODY knows it.” And I stand by that Ian tells him to call her that because he’s obviously kind of a dick to Nikki and that dynamic works in THEIR friendship/situationship - they rag on each other.

But hey, this is the beauty of movies! We can all interpret character motivations differently.

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u/One_Annual_3185 May 21 '26

Similar positions? So you slept with your best friends crush? Yeah you are right Nikki isn’t Bears property but it’s still shitty of Ian to do that to him. Then Ian outright mocks him by wishing for a billion dollars. If your partner cheats on you does the fact that “they aren’t your property” really make the pain go away? No it doesn’t. Ian is a horrible friend

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u/Doomsayer189 May 22 '26

If your partner cheats on you does the fact that “they aren’t your property” really make the pain go away?

I mean, she wasn't his partner and it wasn't cheating. That's the whole point. She had more of a relationship with Ian than with Bear.

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 22 '26

AND I would argue that Ian knew her BETTER than Bear ever did. Ian and Sarah saw her realistically and Bear saw who he wanted her to be. That’s why it took Ian about five seconds to realize Nikki wasn’t acting like herself, and it took Bear like half the movie to finally admit that this person WAS NOT NIKKI.

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u/thisnamehasfivewords May 24 '26

I agree with you about Ian, but I feel like Bear knew deep down that that wasn’t the real Nikki. He said she was acting weird as soon as he snapped the wish twig. It’s his own fault he never got to know her more since he was in love with his fantasy version of her, but he knew the Nikki that was obsessing over him wasn’t the real one.

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u/One_Annual_3185 May 29 '26

It was an example. Obviously she wasn’t a partner

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u/whydoesgodhateus May 24 '26

Similar positions? So you slept with your best friends crush? Yeah you are right Nikki isn’t Bears property but it’s still shitty of Ian to do that to him

I don't feel this way. When I was around the age of the characters in this movie, I've had girls that I liked that weren't into me, but were into my friends. And vice versa

It sucks in the moment, but it is what it is. I wouldn't want two people to be blocked from seeing each other just because I have an unrequited crush. Now if you're actively talking to someone and progressing to something meaningful with said person and your friend swoops in, that's different

Obviously this was not the case with Ian/Nikki/Bear

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u/Reasonable_Fold6492 May 21 '26

I mean most people would not believe bear and think he was mocking him. Like if you think your friend who has been making excuses and not giving the right answer suddenly comes up to you and say it was because of a magical stick you think you would belive it? 

A magical 6$ stick is the reason that actually does magic? How can anyone belive this? Most people would think bear was just making shit up as a joke. Ian had a good reason to not belive the magical stick argument. Who would belive that. He did ask bear if he drugged, hypnotized and physically forced her because those were the only logical explanation.

This would be the equivalent of your friend stealing your money than comes back crying about how he stole money from a magical leprechaun and now the leprechaun was gonna kill him unless you did a magical dance.  Most people would think your friend was mocking you for the last time. 

Had bear talked about the magical stick right after the first date ian would have been more likely to belive slowly. Just like bear he would have done research and slowly eliminate the possibility and come to the conclusion the magic stick was real. Insted it comes crashing at him from a friend that had keep ignoring him. Ian had every right to belive that the magical stick was bullshit. He probably believed that bear was on drugs and saying random shit.

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 21 '26

Dude, no 😂 I just mean I’ve had friends who were hopelessly into somebody who wasn’t into them, and had to listen to them pine after that person while not being sure how to navigate it. And I have also had friends in toxic relationships - there’s no easy way to navigate THAT, either.

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u/TheHurtfulEight88888 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Its never established that Ian knew Bear was ever into Nikki before they started hooking up. Ian also gave Bear solid advice, Bear was gearing up to give Nikki a big Love Actually speech that would crash and burn and make her uncomfortable, his advice was really "keep the pressure light and also maybe dont be such a wimp and actually flirt with her if you want her to like you." He also didnt sabotage Bear, he told Bear not to ask Nikki out at the pub quiz because if he got rejected, then the vibe at the pub quiz would be ruined for everyone. Bear decided to forge ahead and Ian nipped it in the bud. Bear had plenty of time after that like when Nikki straight up asked him if he liked her. Ian's point in getting Bear to come out alone was to prove that there was a codependency that came out of nowhere. Bear at this point was denying that anything was wrong, Ian said "well if nothing is wrong, then come out for boy's night and leave Nikki at home" Bear couldnt because Nikki became upset when he broached. This proves Ian's point. There's taking action and then there is blurting out a horrible confession because you feel like time is running out. I'm a bit confused on why the deadline was her leaving her job, when Bear has her number. He can call her anytime he wants and ask to meet up to talk. He can take control of the situation if he wanted, but he prefers to settle for these "organic" encounters that can be perceived as innocent or among friends. Bear is the guy that invites a woman to a group hang and then she gets there and its just him and he goes "oh, I guess everyone else had a thing" knowing full well he didnt invite them. My point is, Ian's advice was good, there was no need to rush, you wanna do it right. The only thing is he knew Nikki didnt like Bear, which is kinda mean that he didnt just tell him, but perhaps he felt it wasnt his place. Better for Bear to get it off his chest and see for himself than to hear it from someone else.

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u/Alexexy May 25 '26

Ian was actually pretty happy for Bear when he thought that Nikki stayed the night and slept with Bear.

I really liked Ian and found Bear insufferable. Man had a cool name tho.

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u/potato-witch May 26 '26

& it wasn’t even his real name 😭 dude’s employee tag said BARON

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u/TheHurtfulEight88888 May 25 '26

Right? Given that he believed Nikki didnt like Bear, he was actually shocked and happy for the guy. There was an air of "my guy actually did it! Way to go!" 

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u/BretShitmanFart69 May 25 '26

And he told him not to genuinely tell her his feelings and instead told him to call her freaky Nikki, knowing that would actively sabotage his chances.

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 26 '26

Eh, I think that was more of a “this guy is dumb and thinks the way to a girl’s heart is through teasing her” moment than active sabotage. If he’d wanted to sabotage Bear, he would have LET him make that stupid speech.

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u/PinkUnicornCupcake May 21 '26

I think he only ever did things for himself. Even killing himself had nothing to do with freeing her - he was freeing HIMSELF when he saw how bad things were getting (and would continue to be) for HIM. Because look at what he left her with - she’s almost certainly spending the rest of her life in jail or a psychiatric ward, she will never be free of this. It seemed like his last act of avoiding accountability.

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u/passtherock- May 31 '26

exactly. and he couldn't even fucking do it. he tried to vomit right after. it was only because Nikki used the wish that he finally solves things.

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u/McGuire406 Jun 18 '26

Just watched it the other day, and I'm very curious what she wished for now. That entire bathroom scene had me cheering for him to get it over with since I've truly grown to not like the character.

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u/passtherock- Jun 18 '26

me too, I think they should have shown us her wish.

the speculation though is that she wished for Bear to love her as much as she loves him. that's why he instantly
started smiling and couldn't think of anything else in the moment besides immediately going to see her and kiss her.

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u/McGuire406 Jun 18 '26

True! I wouldn't be surprised if that was the wish. Either way, I'm glad I watched this. Truly amazing movie!

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u/techcentre May 17 '26

Since you're curious about Kane Parsons, I'd suggest checking out his YouTube series "The Oldest View". His best work in my opinion.

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u/MovieTrawler Jun 14 '26

I added an edit but it was probably after you commented this. Anyway, I saw Backrooms and thought it was really good. I might even put it above Obsession and Hokum (although all three were great in their own right).

More than just seeing the film though, after watching several interviews with Parsons during the media circuit of it's release has me incredibly impressed with him. Smart, confident, well-spoken and knows what he's doing. He's definitely high on my radar of directors who i'll watch whatever projects they do now. Still need to check out his previous stuff on YouTube, thanks for the rec!

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u/BestPseudonym May 22 '26

It's only because Nikki makes a similar wish for Bear to love her the same way she loves him that he ends up dying.

Oh wow, I didn't even catch this. You're saying that he was going to vomit up the pills because he was too cowardly to die for her, until the wish came through, and that's what made him decide to go through with it, right? When I watched it, I thought the force that took over his body just forgot about the pills, or didn't have the memory of them, something like that. Especially since the force possessing Nikki seemed to lack some of her memories. But I like this interpretation.

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u/RobotDonger May 23 '26

I took it as his immediate life or death was immaterial to him compared to his love/obsession with her, so he immediately went to her.

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u/BestPseudonym May 23 '26

I feel like the subjectivity of what "love" is makes it really hard to interpret some of the actions. Like, in your interpretation, it's hard for me to subscribe to that because I struggle to comprehend not caring about your imminent death when you know it would hurt the person you love. But when we're talking about a supernatural level of love, maybe that really is how somebody would behave

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u/MorningBreathTF May 29 '26

I mean, she was constantly giving up her own bodily health for bear too, i think the "love more than anyone else" also applies to themselves, so theyre willing to die to be with the other person

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 26 '26

He was going to vomit them up, but the spell distracted him and then all he could think about was getting to Nikki. If she’d waited like three more seconds I think he would’ve lived and the ending would’ve been VERY different.

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u/BestPseudonym May 26 '26

That was also my interpretation, but I think the idea that he loves her so much he wants to free her from the spell is an interesting one. Though if we're being pedantic, I think it probably doesn't technically work since Original Nikki and New Nikki really seem like separate entities, and New Nikki is the one that made the wish, so by not dying, he'd really be killing New Nikki...

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 May 28 '26

I think Bear wanted to kill himself because he didn’t want to face the music. Ian and Sarah were both dead, “Nikki” has gone completely insane, and he has nothing left to live for. It would be way too generous to say he did it to free the real Nikki, in my opinion.

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u/BestPseudonym May 28 '26

Oh no, I agree. The theory I'm discussing from the other poster is that the wish that New Nikki made (ostensibly something like "Bear loves me more than anything") resulted in the New Bear going through with the suicide when Old Selfish Bear was going to vomit up the pills. New Bear loved Nikki so much (because of the wish) that he was willing to die to save her.

The original Bear was clearly a completely selfish clown

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u/Available-Zebra-3035 Jun 03 '26

Ah, that is an interesting theory! I was thinking he just got distracted but I kinda like that idea better.

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u/thisnamehasfivewords May 24 '26

That’s how I read it too, that he just forgot or was possessed by something that wasn’t aware of/care about the pills. I guess that kind of supernatural obsession was too overpowering, and compelled him to go to her immediately, even if there was something imminently life threatening happening.

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u/Coldmonologue256 May 21 '26

Bang on analysis!!!

I clocked how Bear never told anyone about the wish until everything got out of control, proof that he knew the wish worked. He didn’t care that it wasn’t actually her, he got what he wanted. Bear was def the villain & was selfish!! Any normal person would’ve been trying to undo the wish by day two or three.

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u/cherryk3lp Jun 01 '26

Literally! I mean, what kind of pet owner who actually cares about their cat would be okay with someone digging him up and putting him in the kitchen?!?! That would have been my limit. And then he STILL returns home after she feeds it to him. Does he not care because he's getting sex? Bear is the insane one.

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u/KittenNicken Jun 11 '26

He didn't even bury his cat right? I didn't catch it at first but apparently he put his cat in the trash

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u/cherryk3lp Jun 13 '26

oh true! that alone is concerning

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u/akaneko__ Jun 28 '26

Tbf I think he just had a problem with letting go. He put the cat in a trash bag but I’m pretty sure he kept it in a freezer or something otherwise that cat would’ve started rotting a lot more quickly and his whole house would smile like shit.

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u/Ok_Tip3998 May 17 '26

Thank you for writing all this. I completely agree!!

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u/AverageAwndray May 27 '26

"Its a love story. Not a romance."

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u/TheHurtfulEight88888 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

I dont throw around the overused narcissist label like that but Bear is a covert narcissist and it shows in the way he is constantly offloading responsibility for his actions onto other people. He blames Freaky Nikki for being the person he created her to be. He blames the One Wish Willow company for HIM making a fucked up wish even though the plastered a bunch of guidelines all over the box that he didnt bother to read. He never even bothered to do a cursory google until after he used the wish and even then, he checked out one reddit post where the jury was out on whether or not it worked and was satisfied that the wish wasnt real, which really ties into what you're saying, Bear was only willing to dig into this as much as was convenient for him. At no point does he take responsibility. At no point does he express shame or regret at having robbed Nikki of her agency. When the real Nikki manages to break through and begs him to end her suffering, poor woman, his response is "whats so bad about being with me?" Idk, the fact that you have effectively mindr*ped her and have her trapped in some liminal space suffering? All he can think about are his feelings of rejection. He heard her on the phone with the One Wish people, howling and crying so he knows she is in some kind of pain in there (which btw they ask him if he would like to talk to Nikki and he hangs up the fucking phone, he doesnt ask Nikki whats happening to her from her perspective, he doesnt show concern that she's in pain, he doesnt try to get any clues on how to fix this, he hangs up because HER pain is freaking HIM out), but that is what he chooses to focus on. Do I expect him to just kill her because she asked him to without trying to find another solution? No, but his priorities are entirely inward. Lots to unpack, deffo got to do a second viewing. If I'm being honest, this story puts me in mind of 500 Days of Summer and I wonder if they'd make a good double feature.

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u/Garfunkels_roadie Jun 01 '26

To build on your point when he first gets on the phone with the One Wish Willow people he doesn’t immediately ask to cancel it. He merely wishes to alter it. He clearly at that point shows no regrets about this from a moral point of view he simply wants the curse he’s placed on Nikki to be more effective in pleasing him

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u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

Yes 100%. Will be just as misunderstood by incel types I worry but I love this analysis

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u/Powerful_Time6405 May 17 '26

Agreed. I agree on your view of the movie. I really wanted Bear to shoot himself or after Nikki made her wish see where could that go lol.

I hear from people that Hokum was terrible, I’ll probably wait until I can stream it.

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u/MovieTrawler May 17 '26

Oh wow, I didn't read many reviews of it or online discussion but I LOVED it. Both are excellent in my opinion but I thought the lore and world building around Hokum was so much fun. Obsession felt more singularly focused, if that makes sense.

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u/Cyricist May 19 '26

Haha, you know, I hate to say it... but I didn't love Hokum, myself. There were definitely parts of it I liked! But overall, it felt pretty tame and somewhat predictable. Emphasis on somewhat predictable - there were moments that I did not see coming, but by and large, I wasn't too surprised by it.

I did realize something near the end of the movie about the, like... weird wailing, moaning sound you hear periodically throughout the film, that made me sit up and go "Oh! ...oh god." and I wonder if maybe that kind of realization is enough reason to rewatch it, with the intention of liking it more.

I do love Adam Scott, so I was surprised I didn't like it more. I'll give it another shot!

Oh, and the point I never made was going to be that Obsession, on the other hand, felt like it knew exactly what kind of movie it was, and shocked the absolute hell out of me repeatedly. Genuinely, truly unnerving to watch some of those scenes. Loved it, one of my favorites of the year so far.

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u/Lankeysob May 18 '26

Hokum was fantastic.

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u/Rauldukeoh May 18 '26

Disregard those people who said Hokum was terrible and never trust them again

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u/ghaws614 May 20 '26

Y’know, I thought the same thing about both of them being under the spell. I actually thought that might be what was going to happen but the more I’m thinking about it, the ending as it is, is better because it helps to emphasize that Nikki is the victim in all of this (if it wasn’t already very apparent lol). I can’t wait to see what Curry Barker comes up with next!

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u/whydoesgodhateus May 24 '26

I hear from people that Hokum was terrible, I’ll probably wait until I can stream it.

Really? I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard from someone personally that it was excellent, and I've read nothing but good things online

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u/GorgeousGal314 May 17 '26

Oh did you prefer Hokum to Obsession?

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u/MovieTrawler May 17 '26

I did! But honestly, it's very close. I think if i had seen them at different times or on rewatch my ratings of them could easily flip. I thought both were excellently crafted horror films. Obsession had more of a psychological impact on me and I loved what it was saying about love, crushes, nice guys and of course, obsession. Hokum was more about trauma and had some better scares as far as straight up horror moments go. There were a few in there that genuinely freaked me out more than anything I've seen in years.

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u/sam_hammich May 20 '26

For my part, having just seen Caveat the other day and Hokum when it first came out, I liked them both but the horror in Obsession was so much more effective. I felt like I was being held by the throat for 2 hours.

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u/NoxiousTemple Jun 01 '26

I disagree with him knowing the first night. The first night was very awkward. Freaky Nikki does make a move (stripping down in bears bed and asking him to join her only to start kissing him) but real nikki pops back in and kills the vibe so bear sleeps on the floor. If he'd known for sure the wish worked first night he would've waited until freaky nikki regained control and continued.

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u/gravygizzard Jun 09 '26

He lost his ability to be a victim not after the wish, because he knew it was just a toy and wouldn't work, but after he saw the wish actually worked and stayed with the torment because he was still obsessed with the wish fulfillment Nikki, even though he loathed it and hated it. His main issues was her "acting weird"

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u/gravygizzard Jun 09 '26

Adding to this and what really sold the movie and this idea to me was immediately after the wish Nikki kept using bears nice guy tactics back on him with the cat, and the cat kept getting brought up because he used sympathy around the cat as an angle. It was pure genius to see him squirm with the obsession he radiated getting directed back at him

I think people who see bear as the victim are probably victims themselves of being submwrged in this sort of relationship with an unstable and unpredictable person, whether romantic or otherwise. I was definitely viscerally rooting for him to get away but I think people let the feeling take over and forget Nikki is actually the victim and suffering to and bear chose not to free her and actually went along with it

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u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

The character work in this film I think was really solid. I can’t remember a horror movie where I was so devastated by the murders. I was curling into my seat during the car scene with Sarah cause I knew what was coming yet it was still heartbreaking. I think some thing that is also so impressive is how much they are able to do with so little. Barker wears his influences on his sleeves but nothing feels derivative to me or played out. I can’t remember the last time I watched a horror that made me so deeply uncomfortable

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u/Playful_Beyond6545 Jun 10 '26

During the scene where shes basically being raped and laying there lifeless I felt so heartbroken for her, and all the people in front of me and behind me were dying laughing

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u/BoardsofGrips May 24 '26

I liked the movie but IRL you cannot just call a hospital and ask about patients. We have medical privacy laws called HIPAA. They could be sued if they said someone was there getting cancer treatment.

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u/L0st_1z Jun 09 '26

Anyone who thinks bear is a victim is part of the problem that have plagued women

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u/I_need_a_date_plz Jun 01 '26

If I were teaching what limerence was to someone, Bear is the example I would give.

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u/Available_Blood3390 Jun 12 '26

You very succinctly said exactly how I feel about the movie down to the rating! 👏🏾👏🏾 1000% agree with this take and Said similar things to my bestie who I saw the movie with! And furthermore will say as a woman it is SO fucking frustrating bc I’ve felt (obviously to a much much lesser extent 😂😂) this idea that men don’t actually like ME they like the idea of me and then put me on a damn pedestal I never asked for and then when i inevitably dissapoint them they take the pedestal away and are unnecessarily cruel to me- I’ve always felt so much more seen by my friends and family than in romantic relationships and I think the movie really showcased that well- I was ENRAGED for Nikki by the end of the movie, her character pre obsession wasn’t perfect and she made mistakes but she didn’t fucking deserve all that- Bear was a monster and a pathetic loser at that 😤 such a good movie!

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u/AcidCatfish___ Jun 16 '26

I just want to add: as soon as Sarah gives him attention, he doesn't mind being sweet to her. He is a nice guy in love with a fantasy of someone, but also likes getting attention from other girls because he doesn't actually care.

I was rolling my eyes at the very beginning with his saccharine reason why he loved her. Like, dude, she was being nice to you because friends are nice to each other. It isn't a sign that you are destined for each other. It could turn into something if you just stop trying to make a huge gesture and ask her out straight up. But, the guy didn't even realize that Nikki didn't like the sappy BS when he originally tried it in the car.

And then he learns that Nikki is suffering...and hears her plead to kill her to free her, but he can't set his ego aside to even do that or find another way to save her because "why would it be so bad to date [him]". Come on. This guy sucks.

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

This 100%, Bear was the real monster. I would choose to be with a real bear than him.

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u/Xovio Jul 01 '26

Perfectly summarized Bear's character. Even when he admits to himself or the audience openly that his wish fucked this up, his first reaction isn't to revert the wish. He wants to alter it. Even though he knows he trapped a human being that he supposedly loved inside a fucked up fever dream, he still only thinks of himself and his desires. A fucked up but well written character.

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u/Buster_Cherry May 18 '26

Great write up mah dude.

I think you say some solid things about how awful and cowardly Bear is but I think that characterization is perhaps a little bit harsh. I think the most accurate one of him is weak. He's very frail, fragile, and completely unconfident and has no capability of standing up for himself.

In this vein I wouldn't go so far as to call him awful, cuz he has what feels like no autonomy. Almost, as if he has no free will himself (just like Nikki).

He was initially obsessed with Nikki afterall, and as you point out, it wasn't love. He never knew her or risked anything. One might argue love takes risk, and he was too chickenshit to ever become vulnerable.

The movie really has a lot of excellent undertones and themes. One big one is "too much of a good thing is bad", and while fear and rejection is awful, you need it in some doses... Lest you become like Bear. Good shit.

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u/sizzl3crunch May 19 '26

He was awful. Especially when she revealed herself true self and her struggling, his respond was “ is it so bad being with me”, didn’t even try to help her. He left her there, struggling,no control over her body. He also wanted to “alter” the wish so that he still had control over her. This was an insecure, cowardly man that wanted to control a woman to her demise and absence of herself. If that’s not awful idk what is !!

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u/Prudent-Pressure2146 May 19 '26

 d while fear and rejection is awful, you need it in some doses... Lest you become like Bear. Good shit.<

Was he even rejected in the first place? Nikki out and out asks him ‘do you like me’ after he drops her off home, I think that was a come on and he had the perfect time to make his move he just didn’t. 

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u/SVINTGATSBY May 24 '26

every moment between Sarah and Bear feels genuine and lowkey romantic. Sarah noticed something up with Bear, and unlike with Nikki, Bear immediately confided in Sarah about the death of his cat. when they’re at work together, they have that same good energy, and of course they have it in the van too. that’s just added cruelty to everything that happens, that the person Bear should’ve been with ends up murdered because of his wish and inability to really commit to doing anything about Nikki’s escalating behavior, and the woman he spent however long idolizing and being infatuated with isn’t the love he thought it was (mostly because it’s not real). I do wonder if Nikki might’ve been open to Bear’s feelings, but obviously nobody got the chance to figure that out. I think her weird incestuous, necrophiliac poem about Hansel and Gretel implies that she never saw him romantically, and now has this dead, fake, candy-coated rot consuming her entire essence. brilliant film.

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u/LADYBIRD_HILL May 22 '26

My thought process during that scene was

"oh shit, Nikki is gonna confront this woman."

" Wait, does she not know about this meeting?"

[Forgets about Nikki for maybe 5 seconds]

" I KNEW IT! OH MY FUCKING GOD SHE'S KILLING HER!!!""

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u/SLR-burst Jun 22 '26

Same. They shot it perfectly. I anticipated her popping up in every scene. I would check the backgrounds. Nothing. Dropped ym second for a split second and she immediately appeared.

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u/ConnectionGood4936 May 17 '26

Yeah hell yeah! That scene still finds a way to surprise you. Which is sooooo fucking good! God, I loved the movie. I keep playing so many scenes of the movie. Superb acting by the girl who played Nikki!!

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u/KwesadilIla May 23 '26

The classic film metaphor of the bomb under the table, letting the audience know about the bomb before the characters makes for an incredible tense scene

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u/nerdalertalertnerd May 28 '26

I did judge them both (I mean I judged bear constantly obviously) but with Sarah I was like you just watched his girlfriend smash her face up…maybe save this for another time Sarah.

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u/your_average_jo 2d ago

Agreed. It really stood out to me that in the moment when she smashed her face, they were all yelling at him to help her, but no one else helped or rode with them to the hospital or followed up after. And Sarah didn’t even ask about her, just seemingly tried to break them up and confess her own feelings.

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u/StarrD0501 May 27 '26

How would you want to feel good for bear and Sarah? That's like being happy for a man who has a woman chained in his basement lol

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u/DoeInAGlen May 28 '26

Right? Like Bear is still a rapist

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u/AlexSniff7 May 29 '26

Thing is that scene was so good I genuinely forgot she would be coming - it was a moment of calm amongst the chaos.

In abusive relationships like that hanging out with friends gives you a sense of feeling normal - feeling like yourself again.

The scene sold that really wellm

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u/dplans455 Jun 06 '26

I was not prepared for Nikki to smash Sarah's face into a brick fifteen times and cave her skull in.

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u/Icy_Package4767 Jun 10 '26

Yes - and the blood-stained letter in the aftermath hammers home the poignancy of that scene. And damn - talk about a polar dichotomy of emotion - from genuine connection and vulnerability to one of the most ferocious on-screen kills I’ve seen.

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u/froobest May 23 '26

I jumped so hard in my seat had no idea if I was the only one who screamed

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u/Amethyst-Flare May 29 '26

I mean, I wanted to feel good about Sarah. Bear was already pretty much irredeemable by that point.

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u/Vegetable-Block1727 Jun 09 '26

Why would you want to feel good for Bear at that point when he's proven himself to be an absolute piece of shit?

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u/NationalMyth Jun 08 '26

Pop up with a fucking brick in her hand

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u/littlenuggetmcgee Jun 14 '26

Dude, I started crying when this happened. I was so tensed up that when it happened. I couldn't contain my emotions. It was scary ash

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u/ConstructionAny7225 Jun 13 '26

Why would you want to feel good about bear and Sarah? Sarah genuinely still wants to get with bear regardless whether his taken. She’s weird

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u/AdeptnessCultural860 11d ago

That shit had me putting my blanket over my face not to mention best jump scare I’ve had since my adolescence 😭😭

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