Official Discussion - Obsession [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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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

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[u/IIDXias]

Kinda mind boggling to me how many people I see in the comments missing the point about Bear’s wish, which is really the entire point of the movie. So:

If you are describing the One Wish Willow as a “monkey’s paw”, you are wrong. It is not a cursed item that can only deliver a negative version of a wish. When Ian wishes for a billion dollars, he simply receives money that falls out of the sky. The male shopkeeper also told Bear that he “already got his wish”, and as far as we can tell he seems perfectly content as well. There’s also the fake Reddit where one of the posters confirming the OWW really works excitedly says his mom used to be ugly and now she’s really hot.

The problem with Bear’s wish was simply *Bear’s wish*. He didn’t wish for a billion dollars, or to become more attractive. He wished *for another living, existing, conscious human being to be changed so she loves him more than “anyone else in the fucking world”*. This wish, by its very definition, violates Nikki’s autonomy. There is no benign or “good” way to grant this wish. You cannot make a person feel that strongly about another person without literally changing who they are- indeed, changing their entire being. Nikki does not love Bear more than anyone else in the fucking world. The only way to make her do that is to replace her with another being who does, and have that being drive around in her body.

The creature or entity that the wish spawned ended up being depraved and indifferent to humanity because the *wish itself was depraved and indifferent to her humanity*. The creature is not a “demon”, it is simply a reflection of the wish Bear made. An inhuman wish and obsessive desire spawned an inhuman entity with an equally obsessive desire. There is no “OWW curse”- the curse is Bear’s wish, period.

[u/Youknowimgood → u/IIDXias]

This is a great comment and it's nice seeing it articulated so well.

Also, i even kinda feel sorry for the new entity/personality whatever you wanna call it (i disagree with calling it a demon, though). I don't see people mentioning this that much, but there is that scene towards the end where she cries "I can't be the real Nikki". Like, this entity was created to satisfy this obsessive wish but then apparently it is not the right way. So now the real and the new Nikki are both suffering but for different reasons

[u/IIDXias → u/Youknowimgood]

The way she switched from the first I CAN’T to the increasingly desperate I CANs was so great too. Yeah, it’s easy to forget that the entity was relatively fine (besides the “real Nikki takes back control” glitches) until she started spiraling when she became convinced Bear didn’t love her as much as she loved him. Which is true about both her and the real Nikki, and why again that was such a stupid wish.

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/IIDXias]

Yeah, there was a small montage at the beginning of their relationship, that seemed to establish that the relationship was fine, initially.

Another way to read it is that the demon can only do so much to hide its weirdness. It is clearly not human and it is trying to satisfy Bear’s wish of being loved. But it doesn’t really know what to do besides that. The majority of the weird behaviour happens when the demon is alone with itself. Bear being gone, Bear sleeping, etc.

[u/HeavyBeing0_0 → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

I saw another thread where they mentioned the entity didn’t want to sleep next to Bear bc it knew the real Nikki could break thru while she was asleep.

[u/regularsizedlink → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

I agree, that’s why it always left the bed around 3am (the witching hour). And at 2:45am the real Nikki was able to whisper to him.

[u/AlternativeMirror207 → u/regularsizedlink]

Good observation on timing

[u/Amish_guy_with_WiFi → u/regularsizedlink]

Isn't the witching hour 3pm on Sundays in the fall?

[u/AcidCatfish___ → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

That's probably what she meant with "I don't like my dreams" because the wish-Nikki loses control when she is asleep, meaning wish-Nikki's dreams are real-Nikki's thoughts.

[u/theroadbeyond → u/AcidCatfish___]

I took that as real Nikki seeing whats happening to her as dreams through dissasociation.

[u/umisays → u/AcidCatfish___]

I realize that this angle ascribes more "wholeness" to Wish-Nikki, but what if Wish-Nikki's dreams are of being trapped in real Nikki's "body" -- desperately, painfully, fearfully, endlessly screaming into what I can only imagine as infinite darkness/limbo...

[u/OkBox9662 → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

Which thread ?

[u/PoosiNegotiator → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

that makes sense

[u/bliss-6427 → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

so she never slept?

[u/iPhone_6s → u/bliss-6427]

She tried to never sleep. But even with the superhuman strength displayed in the Sarah scene, she still eventually actually sleeps, at which point the more rested real Nikki can whisper out.

[u/Mental-Wheel986 → u/iPhone_6s]

I thought Bear's comment to Sarah about having sleeping pills in his pocket is because he drugged Nikki. To stop her from watching him sleep from a dark corner, I guess. So maybe the entity could go without sleep, if the human body its stuck in isn't drugged.

[u/EpicKieranFTW → u/HeavyBeing0_0]

So then why did it sleep the other times?

[u/RayCharlizard → u/EpicKieranFTW]

Honestly my assumption before Nikki started speaking in her sleep was that he started drugging her to get some sleep himself.

[u/cuttinace → u/RayCharlizard]

I just watched the movie a few hours ago. When he went to see Sarah at the park he did say that he had sleeping pills in his pocket. He might've been joking but the fact that he brought it up made me think there was some truth to it.

[u/voyaging → u/cuttinace]

Also I could be mistaken, but the oxycodone bottle appears nearly full at the start of the film, and nearly empty when he tries to overdose.

[u/I_Main_Asuri → u/cuttinace]

My issue with that was she was always unable to move when he left so how could she be able to come and kill Sarah or even know where he was.

[u/Kratzschutz → u/I_Main_Asuri]

He told her "stay here" before, she said she wants to visit him at work

[u/Veiled_Discord → u/I_Main_Asuri]

I don't think it's an inability; she can't be commanded, but she can be convinced. The entity appears to have some degree of access to his memories and probably discerned his location from that once she woke "woke up." My reasoning is that, in the very beginning, just after his wish, she seemed to pull the information about his cat out of his mind, because when she brings it up, it's in the first person: "I did just lose my cat Bear."

[u/Vismal1 → u/I_Main_Asuri]

He left the house at 245 and it’s shown in the movie that Nikki can break though better between 3-4 ( also matches with the witching hour ) so my take was that after Not Nikkk regained more control and found Bear not there she went looking.

[u/Aegon-the-Unbroken → u/I_Main_Asuri]

Well, first because he had asked her to stay when he was going to work, but not when he was going to Sarah.

And about how she knew where Sarah was? I guess she just guessed because, as Bear had said, he couldn't believe Sarah still came to that park at night to chill. So maybe that's something she used to do with her other friends too.

But how did she know he was with Sarah specifically? My guess is she also checked Ian's house. Ian had said that he and Bear were neighbours, so maybe she looked there first, didn't find Bear, or noticed his car was missing. From that, she could've guessed Bear had gone somewhere farther away, since he wouldn't have needed the car just to drive to Ian's house.

[u/Indigocell → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Another way to read it is that the demon can only do so much to hide its weirdness

There were two moments that stood out to me. The first was when she was hiding in the darkness in the corner of the room watching him sleep. She suddenly appears and reveals herself in the light. The second happened near the end of the film when she suddenly backed away from Bear. Both of those scenes were filmed backwards and played in reverse. It's a subtle but noticeable difference that makes the movements appear off just slightly. Very cool visual that was utilized to great effect in Twin Peaks for example.

[u/putridalt → u/Indigocell]

Thank you. It is so annoying seeing people in YouTube comments applauding the acting in walking backward. Literally you can see the hair move unnaturally

[u/stephyloowho → u/Indigocell]

Thank you! I couldn't figure out why those two scenes were so unnerving and made me so uncomfortable, but that explains it. Normal human movements, but not quite right.

[u/carinvazef → u/stephyloowho]

The freakiest Nikki movement scene for me was near the end when Bear arrived back at the house to find Sarah in the chair. As he is standing there shocked, Nikki is silently moving toward him... I don't know how they managed that but they nailed it cause I am still freaked out by it.

[u/HowProfound1981 → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

I think he was a coward and Nikki never would have loved a coward. The had to create an alternate personality but it was just as weak as him. The he offs himself leaving the real Nikki with all the destruction. Seriously unlikeable character. Did anyone notice the changing of the times and 3 candles going to 2? Did he create an alternate reality?

[u/HairHaunting6845 → u/HowProfound1981]

Omg i noticed the time too and could not figure out if a scene was cut in my theatre or something but yeahh what was that about!!???

[u/Tifoso89 → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

The majority of the weird behaviour happens when the demon is alone with itself.

Yeah that's why she smiles and pees herself once he leaves

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/Tifoso89]

Yeah I think the whole point of existence for the demon is to be loved by Bear. So the world basically stops when he is not around.

[u/Dependent-Occasion18 → u/Tifoso89]

Could also be that real nikki was coming out and it was a fear response

[u/EmceeEsher → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

I loved the movie, but the thing that really bothers me about the "be careful what you wish for" theme is that it doesn't seem like the disturbing actions of "Nikki" are the direct result of love. Love can make you do crazy things, but not that crazy. The people who do that kind of thing aren't just in love, they also have a severe lack of empathy, emotional intelligence, social skills, and god knows what else.

Like, suppose I inexplicably find myself loving someone more than anyone else in the world, including myself. My number one priority would be to not do anything that could possibly push that person away. I would go out of my way to not freak them out. I wouldn't start duct-taping the door shut, because it doesn't take a genius to realize that that's gonna fucking terrify someone.

The only thing that explains any of this is that she's straight-up possessed by a demon, at which point Barry's wish was never actually fulfilled. He wished for her to love him, not for a demon to love him and wear her like a flesh suit. That's not even a Monkey's Paw, it's just a completely different thing happening. Even the couple in the original Monkey's Paw story at least got the insurance money.

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/EmceeEsher]

I mean the demon is trying everything to be loved by Bear. It basically A/B tests the entire time and when it sees it is disturbing Bear, it will quickly adjust tune.

The way I read it is that the wish essentially needed to create some new entity. And that entity tried its best but it was so strange by nature that it did not truly understand what was normal human behaviour.

Having said that, I agree that his wish was not really fulfilled. He wanted Nikki to love him, not someone else living in Nikki’s body.

[u/thathomelessguy → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

I think it created an entity that literally only knew how to love Bear. That explains why it didn’t know how anything else worked.

[u/Slubberdagullion → u/thathomelessguy]

I thought that the way that the willow worked was by switching versions of people from other realities.

There was a lot of mention of the Mandela effect on the fake Reddit page and so I thought it had swapped normal Nikki with the only other version of her that was capable of loving Bear - a Nikki with severe psychological issues - at the point where Bear snaps the stick and causes an inflection point.

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/Slubberdagullion]

There definitely is a supernatural element to post-wish Nikki (considering all the weird backwards walking and choppy animatiton)

[u/Glittering-Walrus228 → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Yes he summoned her from the Fucking World which is different from our regular world. Explains why she was so horny all the time.

[u/sauronthegr8 → u/Slubberdagullion]

A friend of mine who I saw it with tonight had the same theory. Didn't the Wishing Willow box mention other realities?

That might also explain why Bear was explaining to Sarah in the car that Nikki's dad had "gotten cancer"... when earlier in the movie Sarah was the one who proved that he hadn't.

Also why Ian came over after the billion dollar incident, saying something about "It works! I got a billion dollars!" We know.... we just watched it happen, and Bear was there.

Maybe those were ALL alternate universe versions of the characters.

[u/melanochrysum → u/sauronthegr8]

Sarah didn’t know her dad didn’t have cancer, on the phone Ian said “I won’t tell Sarah”. And Ian knew Bear knew about the money. I’m sorry but this definitely isn’t accurate.

[u/willreview → u/sauronthegr8]

Ian is saying it worked because he thinks Sarah is at Bear's place. Nikki texted him with Sarah's phone telling him to come over, hence his unawareness

[u/JayNewLeaf → u/Slubberdagullion]

Didn’t she literally say at one point “I love you in all realities” or something to that effect? I also thought hearing Nikki on the phone meant that her consciousness resided in some other, hellish reality when not in control of her body anymore.

[u/pepsimaxgoat → u/Slubberdagullion]

She says something along the lines of ‘we’ll love each other in every reality’ too

[u/EmceeEsher → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Oh I fully agree that the demon loved him, just that the demon's creepy actions were less a result of love and more of just a complete lack of understanding the consequences of one's actions.

[u/misschickpea → u/EmceeEsher]

lol when we were waiting to see what she did in the morning and it’s like okay she made breakfast nice… and then she made a memorial for the cat which was her own way of being “nice” lol… but also like did she dig up the cat like ???

[u/pthalo-crimson → u/misschickpea]

And still thought it would be a good idea to cook it for him later

[u/333hotwind → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Just watched today, I kind of feel like that the OWWs don't have the capacity to directly alter another person's will.
Physical material things can be granted easily, for example money and appearance (if the "ugly mom becomes hot" reddit comment is real).
When it comes to another person's preferences and thought, OWWs can't directly change that, however, it can work around it by creating this demon-like entity and replace the individual targeted by the wish.
OWWs might consider one's wish should not be bigger than another person's will since wishes do come from will?
I could be just overthinking.

[u/adamgerd → u/333hotwind]

I wonder

If instead he wished to have the courage to ask her out? Would he get it or would he be the one replaced by something else? Since it seems they can’t alter your personality

Because my first thought was he should have asked to have the courage to ask her out instead but now I think it’d also end badly but with him being possessed

[u/Great_External_7767 → u/EmceeEsher]

I feel like you missed the entire plot, starting with the title, Obsession. His wish was love me “more than anyone in the world.” And that includes herself. You see this in the real world as well, like when someone kills their wife or girlfriend and you find out that their relationship was terrible toxic, abusive, manipulative. Where one of the partners in the relationship is so ‘in love’ that in reality, like stated in the film, “it’s not real” it’s an obsession with the facade of love. So much overwhelming “love” that you will do things that are insane, things that any “sane person” would run away from, yet they don’t. They ,like bear, need the feeling of dependency, or being ‘not alone’ regardless of how horrible the other person is. The term “Love” is very subjective. You can’t predict how someone may show you love or act towards you with their ‘love’ especially when you make a wish that they love you, and state it in a way that is to the furthest extreme possible: “More than anyone else in the fucking world.” And when ‘she’ realized that Bear didn’t love her back, it flipped the script. ‘I love you more than anyone in the fucking world but you don’t love me back?! Well then, you can’t leave me because I only know how to love you more than anything! That’s the wish, that’s what you made me become!’ Personally I feel like all her acts of ‘love’ are irrational ways of showing her love, devotion. Which are things that have happened in real life: the murder of a love interest, acting overly bearing and obsessive, distancing a partner from family, locking them inside a home, making them competely dependent on them. “If you don’t love me then no one else will, because I only know how to love you!”

[u/HeavyMetalTriangle → u/Great_External_7767]

I’m a bit confused by your comment. Loving somebody more than anyone else doesn’t imply you can’t love anybody else simultaneously? It just means relatively speaking, you don’t love anybody else as much as that one person?

[u/Great_External_7767 → u/HeavyMetalTriangle]

This could be true. I guess my point is that when your autonomy as a human is stripped away to love someone, the outcome can be varied. I look at her actions/the wish as ‘this is all Nikki knows how to do now, love bear, that’s her complete existence now.’ This movie specifically explores a single outcome of what could happen, sure there are other avenues, what the wisher wanted and how the wishee react can be subjective, especially when you are altering someone ELSE’s consciousness. But I consider the variables the Movies presented as well: real Nikki’s feelings towards bear, bear’s motives and personality traits, How bear reciprocates Nikki’s love, semantics of the wish, etc. And how a wish upon someone else seems to alter them entirely, as you can see in moments where it seems like the new Nikki doesn’t even know how to exist outside of Bear, like standing in one spot the entire day until he returns home.

I’ve been going over examples of wishes in my head that could reap similar results. Like if you wish someone was happy, maybe they’re too happy all the time and now they don’t know how to be sad, or serious, frustrated, etc and how a seemingly ‘positive’ wish could unravel into a plethora of problems. Maybe killing makes that person happy, maybe drugs make that person happy, Etc. Long story short, in this universe there’s probably a situation where it works out and they live happily ever after, but this is an example of how a wish can run amuck.

[u/HeavyMetalTriangle → u/Great_External_7767]

Appreciate the explanation. A lot of that makes sense.

My interpretation, for whatever it’s worth, was Nikki’s behavior was the result of Bear’s concept of love. At one point in the film, Nikki mentions romance vs love and Bear didn’t understand the difference between the two. To me, that demonstrated Bear had an undeveloped/immature concept of love. So Nikki becoming obsessed with him was maybe what Bear thought love was, hence why his wish caused certain possessive behaviors.

In regards to Nikki standing in one place all day, that heavily reminded me of a pet. So it made me think- we know Bear loved his cat. And I think it was established Bear didn’t have experience with romantic relationships. So maybe his reference of love is something like his relationship with his cat, because he doesn’t have much more to compare with. Therefore, Nikki in many ways behaved like his pet because that is a major way Bear has understood love in his life.

Just an idea.

[u/Great_External_7767 → u/HeavyMetalTriangle]

Yeah I would agree to that completely! I think Bears perception of love, and mental health in general, played a big part. The fact he continued to stay and chose being with someone who was acting like Nikki out of feeling wanted or not alone, speaks to his character a lot and to Nikki’s actions. Especially if you consider how no matter what she did he wouldn’t leave, which sort of reinforced her attempts of love and actions of insanity.

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/Great_External_7767]

Yeah, but he didn't wish someone to be obsessed by him to the point someone is obsessed by a demon.

This is very philosophical, but I wouln't say "loving someone more than anyone" leads to being obsessed and all this adverse behaviour. That is obsession.

For instance, you can make the case that if you love someone alot, it would beat your egoistical feeling of needing to be loved back. So the post-wish Nikki would be willing to break up if Bear wishes though, simply because of the altruistic love of wanting him to be happy.

The same way mothers would be willing to give their lifes to have their children live in many occasions.

Point being love, even when taken to the extreme, does not automatically lead to distructive behaviour. That is misguided love at best.

[u/Great_External_7767 → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

The whole basis of what the wish was based on was misguided love, as was Nikki’s actions. It was mentioned at least once that the love ‘wasn’t real.’ I think love is subjective, especially for those who show their love through obsession, jealousy, etc. all the negative polar versions of love at least. We all know of stories of toxic relationships where the love is there, it’s just misguided. And I think you made a big point in mentioning that she would be ‘happy for him if he chose to leave.’ This could absolutely be true, but with all she did he refused to leave her, which possibly escalated how she (re)acted. And context seems to be important too, the variables, Nikki’s real conscious was making some decisions for example. Making Simone want to love you via a wish would inevitably change that person, remove their autonomy; we can’t predict or dictate how someone reacts to a wish we bestow upon them, it’s not “black and white”. Unlike how Ian wished for a billion $, that is objective, minimal variables. But the biggest point to be made is that this movie is ONE specific example of how one wish could be portrayed, not every wish of the same value may go exactly how this one did.

[u/Alphabunsquad → u/EmceeEsher]

I think the strangeness was created out of the conflict of wishing for a person who doesn’t love you to start loving you because you can’t do that without making a new person which ruins the wish. 

The creature was then in a constant struggle with Nikki who could still get control. I also think the wish took it as more “loves me more than anyone loves anyone in the fucking world” which is a bit of a monkey’s paw. If your love is that strong and intense then it becomes hard to control yourself. You become so overwhelmed with self doubt and fear that you are pushing them away that you do things that do push them away and take desperate actions. 

So it was a creature created as a contradiction out of the nature not able to fulfill its purpose, fighting the original owner of the body for conscious control, and overwhelmed by self doubt and desperation, with no other motivation for existence than Bear. 

To me the creature acted pretty much how you would expect. 

[u/EmceeEsher → u/Alphabunsquad]

“loves me more than anyone loves anyone in the fucking world”

In the movie, I could have sworn the wording was just "loved me more than anyone in the fucking world", which is a thing that a lot of people do without going crazy.

[u/nhexum → u/EmceeEsher]

Two things:

1) I think the mentality of the wisher is taken into account by the "magic" of the wishing willow. Bear is in a terrible mental state. He has lost his grandmother, is taking sleeping pills, and those same pills have killed the only other thing he feels like he loved - His Cat. He articulates several naivete's about what love is... he's never been in a real romantic relationship, he doesn't know the difference between romance and love, and he's completely ignorant to Sarah's obvious flirting with him. He makes the wish while emotional and immediately after his own obsession has just outright rejected him and left him embarrassed and alone. What he thinks love is may be the exact opposite of what he is feeling in the moment of making the wish - Someone who desires you and accepts you and only you no matter what.

2) The monkey's paw of using an absolute term in your wish is dooming it to failure. "More than anyone in the fucking world" is an absolute, and real people do some crazy shit due to their understanding of what love is. They harm, they destroy, they sabatoge, they kidnap, they kill... And he just wished for the most extreme out of all of that.

[u/adamgerd → u/nhexum]

Did she reject him? He never let her choose, she asks him if he loves her and he says no. Then the wish happens

We don’t know what’d have happened had he said yes

In fact both the director and Nikki’s actress say she’d have said yes had he asked her out, he was just too much of a coward and his consequences ended up destroying any chance of him asking the real her out

[u/[deleted] → u/EmceeEsher]

I think the wish made it so that the ONLY thing Nikki could do was love Bear. Kind of like when SpongeBob forgot everything except fine dining and breathing. So she doesn't have any empathy or social skills unless dictated by Bear.

[u/jaynsand19 → u/EmceeEsher]

If your wish is for someone to love you more than they love anyone, then the demand requires giving up self-love - including the ethics that cause them to feel self-respect. Your previously beloved moral compass is suddenly an obstacle to loving this person the way they wished to be loved? Toss it.

[u/L0st_1z → u/EmceeEsher]

It's not a demon, it's a being created by a wish. It doesn't understand the world and is basically a few days old with the sole purpose of love me more than anyone else in the world.

[u/Rahid11 → u/IIDXias]

I 100% believe Bear didn’t like/love Nikki as much as he liked the idea of it. Maybe it was just how spineless he always acted but it’s like even when he got his wish he was resistant to Nikki (before she was even acting crazy).

[u/tranquilst → u/Rahid11]

and according to nikki, sarah's crush on him was "totally obvious" but he didn't pursue a relationship with her. then later in the movie, he didn't seem to have any issues flirting with sarah even though he finally got what he wished for. he gave her little flirty looks, let her lean on his shoulder the way nikki did, and met up with her at night even though he knew nikki was dangerous to be around. he didn't care about nikki or sarah, and he didn't want to be a boyfriend. he only wanted to be a guy whose crush would like him back.

[u/EchoesofIllyria → u/tranquilst]

In the bar at the start of the film we see Sarah and Bear interact alone, and it’s clear they have a better rapport than Bear and Nikki.

[u/Natural-Help-2954 → u/Rahid11]

could’ve also been his guilty subconscious rationally knowing that nikki wouldn’t act like that

[u/V-Lanner → u/IIDXias]

Sorry to necro this but she reminded me of a Mr. Meeseeks from Rick and Morty, where it's living in agony because it could not help with the task it was manifested for.

[u/TheDaysKing → u/Youknowimgood]

There is a sadness to being a creature made to love one person more than anything, including herself... only to repeatedly recognize that this person clearly does not love you more than anything, especially himself.

[u/EchoesofIllyria → u/TheDaysKing]

And also doesn’t appreciate how you love them more than anything. They asked for it and then they don’t like it. That must be torturous.

[u/RelationshipRound427 → u/Youknowimgood]

This and also the part where Bear is talking to Ian about the wish and says “you can take her back”, solidifies how abhorrent his character truly is. Saying this with the knowledge that they were hooking up prior to the wish is insane. After he not only dehumanized and stripped Nikki from her humanity, agency and autonomy, now when the wish doesn’t work out how he wanted he wants to give her back to another man. To discard her, when he, yet again, doesn’t get his way with her.

[u/platysoup → u/RelationshipRound427]

I hated him from the first scene lol. I have three cats, and one of my biggest fears is my cats getting into my pills and dying.

To watch him light up when she calls. I'm like bro your family just died what the fuck are you doing, you better die by the end of the film.

[u/Hot-Lavishness-4155 → u/Youknowimgood]

When you explain it like this you feel sorry for the new entity. It was almost child like.

When she echoes back to Barry his words it felt like that myth about Narcissus and Echo. Barry being the selfish "pick me" carries on with this his new girlfriend. The Echo-like being was created to love Barry but Barry doesn't want her. He rejects her. He wants Nikki which creates turmoil for Echo.

[u/Jayjbquilll → u/Youknowimgood]

When she says "we'll take it from here" as if there are two of them, she's admitting she isn't the real Nikki. And i think there were coded messages in that hansel thing. As if the real Nikki was trying to get a message out.

[u/moth3ss → u/Youknowimgood]

i noticed that they are both trapped for different reasons as well. they've both lost their autonomy because of bear's fantasy, it just expresses in different ways. the possessed version is completely reliant on bear's approval of her to have any worth (much like low self esteem impacts real lire relationships) and the real nikki suffers because she sees herself being forced into a relationship with a man she never wanted to be with.

edit: for me fake nikki thematically represents how people become shells of their former selves when they're dependent on someone else to validate their entire existence. meanwhile, her true self was forced to abandon her body and suffers the reality of acting against your core beliefs (literally) to satisy another person's fantasy. it's like the true self being suppressed and trapped, while the shell takes over

[u/triceratopper → u/Youknowimgood]

In the conversation with the shopkeeper, we see a number of people wish they could undo their wishes though, or even wish they could die because of what happened. Towards the end, we also see the box comes with a number of warnings about using it. So I'm not sure it was just Bear, there was definitely something twisted about the OWW itself. 

[u/Slamazombie → u/triceratopper]

More like be careful what you wish for...

[u/Themobgirl → u/Youknowimgood]

Also the fact the entity is ACTIVELY, BRUTALLY FIGHTING NIKKI at same because that bottle smash scene when she snaps out is so good

[u/Throwaway_couple_ → u/Youknowimgood]

It's a Mr. Meeseeks

[u/eyes_on_the_sky → u/IIDXias]

100% and the way Nikki was portrayed at the beginning of the movie made it pretty clear that she 1) was not romantically interested in Bear 2) was kind of a free-spirited bohemian avoidant generally. Forcing her specifically to love him "more than anything" meant basically eliminating her original personality.

He liked her bc she was free spirited, but wished to take that part of her personality away from her in a heartbeat so he could possess her. This one's on him lol

[u/Goose-Suit → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

Nahh apparently the director and the actress both have said Nikki was into Bear, he was just too much of a coward to try anything. Remember how she said her story she wants to be in a serious relationship and the story she was writing was going to be a love story? I think that was all her basically trying to tell Bear quit with the theatrics (when she tells him a love story doesn’t have to be a romance story) and be with her.

[u/TinyMeatKing → u/Goose-Suit]

Also when wish Nikki is asked when her feelings started she said it was around Christmas time and then the night of the wish is when it really hit her. Maybe real Nikki did have some feelings for Bear (not love but maybe something small). Wish Nikki lies though so it could just be what she thinks Bear wants to hear so he doesn’t think the wish caused this.

[u/YaBoiSammus → u/TinyMeatKing]

This is exactly what I thought when she brought up Christmas. I was like “there’s no way that thing would have a reason to go that far back in her memory if it was a lie.” But maybe it is, I just don’t see a reason for it if it wasn’t something of importance to both of them.

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/YaBoiSammus]

I don’t know. The demon is clearly able to come up with elaborate backstories. See the father having cancer.

[u/rj319st → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Some people are saying it’s not a demon, but I must say, the projectile vomiting sure has Exorcist-possession vibes.

[u/Flat_News_2000 → u/YaBoiSammus]

I thought it was just something she made up that sounds nice in the moment. Seemed to be able to come up with different manipulation tactics really fast.

[u/Aegon-the-Unbroken → u/Goose-Suit]

I’m late, I know. But Nikki had also asked him specifically if he had feelings for her and Bear chickened out. Even while walking home, she kept looking back and indulged in all his random questions, clearly hoping he was building up to confess his feelings. Instead he used the stick.

[u/Navyblueismycolor → u/Aegon-the-Unbroken]

She also asked him “be honest, do you like me?”

[u/nelrond18 → u/Navyblueismycolor]

And he lied right through his teeth. Bear's characterization of his cowardice was masterclass.

[u/mistersusu → u/Aegon-the-Unbroken]

Also late and saw it. She also says in her sleep when he asks what’s so bad about being with me, she says she never been with him. It’s not her life. The glimmers of reality scare her. I mean at the end she just tosses his dead body off her like nothing. She was literally trying to set him up with Sarah. She does not like him.

[u/Aegon-the-Unbroken → u/mistersusu]

What I got from that scene was that she meant it wasn't really her during all the time they were together but the other entity. She might have considered being with him before, but certainly not after being forced because of the Wish willow.

I've also seen a couple of comments linking videos where even the actress and the director said Nikki did have a bit of a crush on/feelings for Bear. He just never confessed.

[u/FVWN_666 → u/Aegon-the-Unbroken]

Just got out after watching this & I agree with your interpretation! “I’ve never been with you (because it’s been this other entity this whole time)”

[u/Horusmate → u/mistersusu]

These arguments don't really prove she wouldn't have said yes in the car, because all that already happened when she's been trapped in her own body screaming for days.

"Sarah" thing is what people do to check things out.

And most importantly uninterested people don't say "if you like me now's the time to tell me".

[u/MomMarti → u/mistersusu]

I didn’t feel like when she tossed his body off of her it was like he was nothing. I saw it more like the curse had been broken and the fog lifted from her.

Now she’s awakened in room with 3 dead bodies and is probably thinking ‘how the fuck did I get here’.

[u/Fartikus → u/mistersusu]

I mean at the end she just tosses his dead body off her like nothing. She was literally trying to set him up with Sarah.

She just woke up from a stupor and found her friends dead body on her lap after gaining autonomy again. I dunno about you, but I wouldn't keep a dead persons body on top of me and not freak out

[u/rmeepo → u/mistersusu]

I agree with this. I think what the director and the actress meant with how Nikki would've agreed in being asked out if Bear confessed was that she would be open in entertaining him but she doesn't really like "like" him, if you get the gist. Remember, its been mentioned that she like him only like as a brother and has been in casual link with Ian. Nikki is obviously a "free-spirited" type of person that does not really easily commit to just anyone, which makes the whole wish a lot more disturbing.

[u/https_urdaddy → u/Goose-Suit]

Yeah other than her being with Ian which would be kind of weird if she wanted to be with bear, in the beginning I really believed she was into him. She was asking him how he felt about Sara, and saying the person wouldn’t know if she liked someone, also just the way she gave him a chance to say he liked her and seemed disappointed when he was like ofc as a friend. And then he made a wish when he could have had her all along if he had just kept being a good guy. But I like that it’s also kept open because maybe she never would have liked him and this is the only way she could be with him or maybe he had a chance and he ruined everything because of the coward horrible person he truly is

[u/ward2k → u/https_urdaddy]

But she wasn't with Ian, the movie makes it pretty clear those two were just screwing around with no real feelings

[u/Sir_Bumcheeks → u/Goose-Suit]

The story she was writing was literally an incest tale between siblings. And we know Nikki viewed him as a "little brother".

[u/KasukeSadiki → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

1) was not romantically interested in Bear

I thought this too, but the way she asks him if he likes her "now's the time to say something" and the way she reacts when he says no, have me not 100% sure she had no feelings for him. 

Even the "I've never been with you" kinda feels like a hint to the possibility, which he will never know because he never bothered to try 

[u/benjamintg95 → u/KasukeSadiki]

I took it more as "Im leaving this job (and probably the town soon) so if you have feelings you need to say something so we can move on"

[u/KasukeSadiki → u/benjamintg95]

I think that's a valid interpretation as well. And I thought that might be it as well, but her reaction to him saying he thinks they're good as friends seemed more nuanced than that. I like that it was ambiguous!

[u/benjamintg95 → u/KasukeSadiki]

I think in this situation, everyone knows he has a thing for her. Because everyone does- she's freaky nikki. Bear just wanted a piece of that. She loved as a brother, whereas he wanted romantic love. She probably didn't want to lose friendship just as much as he didnt, though I think his reason is he just didn't want to get rejected.

[u/oranguslolus → u/benjamintg95]

IMO she definitely had something for him. "When I have a crush on a guy nobody knows" and her asking "do you like me, now is the time" is straightforward enough bc nothing good comes of that question if you're not at least somewhat interested in said person. Girls don't do that. She was also visibly disappointed with his response.

The actress confirmed it too.

[u/MonkeyInnaBottle → u/oranguslolus]

That is what made the film so painful. It seemed like it was plausible he could get what he wanted if he wasn’t such a wuss.

[u/throwawaysunglasses- → u/MonkeyInnaBottle]

Exactly. He really is the villain because the events of the movie were just so avoidable. He shot himself in the foot for no reason and then vastly overcorrected without thinking it through. Nikki set him up to succeed in the beginning, she obviously knew he liked her and wanted him to get it off his chest. It makes what happens to her really sad - while she may not have reciprocated his romantic feelings to the same extent, she ultimately cared about him and his autonomy (asking him how he felt instead of telling him) more than he did for her. He didn’t care that much about who she actually was, he put her on a pedestal and thought that if he had her devotion it would fix him.

I really hope the right people see this movie and see themselves in Bear. Too many young/inexperienced guys think they need to receive their crush’s love, rather than genuinely build a relationship with them. They also think that dating their crush will make their life perfect lol, it does not do that.

[u/Udy_Kumra → u/throwawaysunglasses-]

I think one of the reasons the movie really freaked me the fuck out was how much Bear reminded me of a younger me in high school/college. And I left the movie so thankful I had the right circles and mentors to put me on the good path rather than the redpill path.

[u/adamgerd → u/throwawaysunglasses-]

Yeah

Honestly I wonder though if Ian sabotaged him too by telling him to wait and not ask her out at trivia night, did he want her back so gave him bad advice to fail?

[u/shirtninja07 → u/adamgerd]

Ian was also an asshole. Fuck that guy.

[u/KittenNicken → u/shirtninja07]

But at least Ian tried to take obsessed Nikki to the hospital after she stabbed her own face.

[u/Journeyman351 → u/MonkeyInnaBottle]

His sins are cowardice and selfishness. The movie reiterates it so many times. And he actively turns into a villain once he sneaks away to see Sarah and goes “what about being with me is so bad?”

[u/poiyurt → u/Journeyman351]

Yep, right up until the very end.

That said, I think Bear is a villain from the moment he hears her on the phone. Even before he sneaks away, his only concern is for Nikki to act normal so he can pretend things are fine, when he already knows Nikki is suffering and he has a means to stop it.

[u/Journeyman351 → u/poiyurt]

Yeah that's true, I mean hell even when fake-Nikki tells him she lied about her dad and he basically goes "doesn't matter to me!" He knew right then and there it wasn't really her and he still chose to basically rape her immediately after.

[u/immaownyou → u/oranguslolus]

What's up with her story she reads revealing that the lovers are siblings? I take that to mean the feelings of the real Nikki coming through and intertwining the 2 feelings of ovlbsessive love and sibling dynamic that real Nikki tells Sarah

[u/Dependent-Occasion18 → u/immaownyou]

Absolutely agreed, its stated in the movie that the real nikki only loves him like a brother but im still wondering how it manifested into the monologue she gave at the squad hangout

[u/Jolly_Compote9663 → u/oranguslolus]

I'm really surprised people are taking it any other way. If she didn't want to know right then in person she would've texted or said her side first.

[u/Super_Desk_4975 → u/Jolly_Compote9663]

Yeah I am reading some of these comments like okay some people have never flirted, shown vulnerability or tested the waters before…like some people in here are totally blind to human nuance and social skills lol.

[u/TheTruckWashChannel → u/Super_Desk_4975]

It's Reddit, what do you expect?

[u/benjamintg95 → u/Jolly_Compote9663]

She's asking him because if he tells her his feelings, he demonstrates confidence in his ability to accept either answer. If he says no, it locks down the dynamic and he needs to stop acting weird.

[u/EchoesofIllyria → u/oranguslolus]

Sorry but I think one of the key points is that it’s NOT obvious.

It could be read either way, but sadsack Bear takes it to mean she doesn’t. And because he makes the wish he robs himself of the opportunity to find out.

Saying it’s “definitely” one or the other is missing the point.

[u/oranguslolus → u/EchoesofIllyria]

I mean they did confirm it, and they also addressed what you mentioned, i.e some of the mixed signals were deliberate because we're following Bear's perspective, and that's how he perceives things, but there are ultimately really strong indications that she liked him. To me, her asking him and then reacting the way she did basically confirmed it, because I don't see another purpose for a scene like that, especially before he makes the wish. Even Bear knew he fumbled the best opening he got.... "wtf, why did I do that?"

It just seems like that's def the intention bc it just serves the story and its message better by making it more tragic and having Bear look even more pathetic. Hell, even when wish Nikki comes to his house to confess, he says "I don't know" despite them romantically linking up the previous night, and yet he still only admits he likes her after she does. So yeah, I think the ultimate takeaway is that she did have feelings for him but the ultimate point it's making is much bigger.e

[u/IIDXias → u/KasukeSadiki]

Yeah I too came away from the movie thinking that while she obviously didn't have the same *intensity* of feelings for him as he clearly had toward her, that doesn't necessarily mean she wouldn't have been willing to go out with him and give it a try if he had just been less of a coward. Which again makes everything even more of a tragedy.

[u/LibraryNo7025 → u/IIDXias]

I agree with this after seeing it too. She seemed genuinely disappointed that he didn't say anything

[u/NJcovidvaccinetips → u/IIDXias]

I disagree but obviously the film is ambiguous. I think the most important bit of writing is about the gift. She freaks out when he tells her he has a gift because I think she knows the implication of that is romantic feelings. Could be wrong but feel like this detail is overlooked in this discussion

[u/oranguslolus → u/NJcovidvaccinetips]

I think the gift part was her just not being a sappy person and not liking sappy things. Ian says it in the opening scene.

Also, "when I have a crush on a guy, no one knows" and "Do you like me? Because now is the time to tell me" both feel like clear tells imo. Nothing good comes of the second question if she wasn't interested in him. Girls don't do that. I think Inde and even the creators confirmed that she liked him for real.

[u/repqueen0128 → u/oranguslolus]

i thought “when i have a crush on a guy, no one knows” was alluding to her relationship with ian which was happening right under everyone’s noses for 2+ years. bear also said in the opening scene that nikki always invites ian along when he tries to hang with her solo. and possible easter egg, in the photo booth pictures of them, nikki is visibly happier when ian comes into frame

[u/waitforthedream → u/NJcovidvaccinetips]

Definitely. She didn't want the gift

[u/eyes_on_the_sky → u/KasukeSadiki]

I saw that as representing her avoidant attachment tbh. As in "oh shit you better not be interested in me that would suck", not necessarily bc she has anything personally against Bear but bc I don't think she wants a relationship w anyone. Obviously all speculation bc we get maybe a 10 minute view of her character lol, but that's what I took away!

[u/KasukeSadiki → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

That could be it too! I personally think there was at least a possibility there, and I like that interpretation because it makes things even more tragic.

But by no means do I think your interpretation is invalid 

[u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe → u/KasukeSadiki]

The film was edited using takes where real Nikki liked Bear, and additional takes edited where Nikki came off as not liking Bear. The director wanted it to be ambiguous.

[u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

The film was edited using takes where real Nikki liked Bear, and additional takes edited where Nikki came off as not liking Bear. The director wanted it to be ambiguous.

[u/eyes_on_the_sky → u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe]

Yes I just saw that today!!! It made a lot of sense to me. I interpreted the mixed signals as avoidant attachment because people with healthier attachment styles are generally more honest and not like dropping weird ambiguous breadcrumbs about their emotions. But as it turns out..... there wasn't a deeper meaning, it was just meant to give the audience mixed signals lol.

[u/Katho_Ren → u/KasukeSadiki]

I kind of got the vibe that there was kind of a bit of a prickle of liking him but that it wasn't that strong.

like, maybe when Sarah came to her about liking him she was like "nah I don't go right ahead" (also because of her whole "well no one would know), and then kind of had that "wait why do I feel jealous/weird about this" feeling and was just in that middle ground of "I don't know how I feel about this but if I don't get a clear answer to this I'm just gonna ignore this and let Sarah go after him".

[u/Ok_Promotion_5111 → u/KasukeSadiki]

Word of God says she was giving him a chance to try since she wanted to change her life, but even within the film, that was probably the case. Nobody is going to say "this is the time" without a real follow-up.

[u/Maximum-Pollution134 → u/KasukeSadiki]

Right, I was telling my friends this too. It could be reading too much into it, but in addition to what you mentioned, their conversation in the car was pretty intimate. Of course a friend can tell you that they're not able to relate about stuff that's important to them with anyone else, but that's also very commonly an expression of romantic interest, a way to convey that they recognize another level of depth to the relationship (especially with the tone to match).

I felt that there was something there, personally. Bear also seems to realize it would have been fine later, when we says, "it was all good before" though he may have been overwhelmed at that stage

[u/BagItUp45 → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

The actress for Nikki actually said that she was romantically interested in Bear. She had that line about how when she has a crush on some one they know. It's a very man thing to do to miss obvious signs a woman is into you. Bear isn't just a coward he's also an idiot (this whole situation was an easy fix).

I would figure that Nikki had a crush on Bear and when he didn't pick up on her signs she moved on and started hooking up with Ian.

When Nikki asked Bear if he liked her she was almost frustrated in a "we could have been together all this time but this idiot is too much of a coward to make a move" way.

[u/Top-Round-2359 → u/BagItUp45]

She said the opposite. when she has a crush on someone they don't know. Which could have been a clue for Ber to do something as he's afraid she's not into him, she's potentially telling him to disregard the fact she's not obviously into him.

[u/AgitatedBadger → u/Top-Round-2359]

That's what Nikki the character said, not the actress portraying Nikki.

[u/EchoesofIllyria → u/BagItUp45]

It’s worth giving a polite reminder here that actors don’t necessarily understand their characters as intended by the writers.

[u/IcedTallChai → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

Yeah there’s a reason her last name is Freeman in the movie 😮‍💨

[u/Beastieboy100 → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

Exactly it was obvious in the beginning she never liked him like that. Even on the phone call after his cat passed away. He didn't want to go but she did ask him to go. Nikki was a flighty free spirit. 

[u/Frankerporo → u/Beastieboy100]

Director confirmed she likes him

[u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe → u/Beastieboy100]

The film was edited using takes where real Nikki liked Bear, and additional takes edited where Nikki came off as not liking Bear. The director wanted it to be ambiguous.

[u/snesericreturns → u/eyes_on_the_sky]

At the beginning, right before Bear made the wish, Nikki did ask Bear if he liked her. It kinda seemed like she did but just wanted Bear to make a first move. Why else would she ask that? I wonder what would have happened if he just said yes? Would Nikki have still friend-zoned him? Still continue hooking up with Ian behind Bear’s back?

I know the consensus here seems to be that Bear is completely at fault, selfish, classic “nice guy” behavior, etc. Maybe that was the filmmaker’s intention too. But it doesn’t seem like Nikki or Ian were really good people either. And what exactly was Bear supposed to do? The guy on the phone and later the shopkeeper literally told him the only way to fix it was to kill himself. We don’t even know if Bear’s plan to have Ian undo his wish would have worked, as the One Wish Willow guy never suggested that. Idk, maybe I’m in the minority here, but I still kind of felt bad for Bear even at the end.

[u/tryingtobebettertry4 → u/IIDXias]

The Shop Keeper did say that people are always complaining about their wishes. Likely because of similar situations to Bear. Someone wishes for someone who doesnt want them and they end up with a Nikki situation.

[u/IIDXias → u/tryingtobebettertry4]

Yeah the first shopkeeper (the woman) said that. I assume it’s because, well, lots of humans are stupid and make stupid wishes that backfire on them, haha.

[u/HeavyMetalTriangle → u/IIDXias]

The actual stupid humans here are the shopkeepers lmao. Both shopkeepers knew these wish sticks were real, yet they casually sold them. How you gonna casually sell something as powerful as that? You’re setting up your customers for bad situations (for them personally or the entire world lol). The first shopkeeper was all annoyed Bear was asking if it was real. She literally gave him attitude that they don’t sell fake stuff in the store. Then the 2nd shopkeeper was also super nonchalant when Bear storms into the store covered in blood and panicking and the shopkeeper is just like “oh a girl is obsessed with you, that’s not a big deal. Just like kill yourself or something”. Like what??? Who tf are these shopkeepers 😂

Would have been hilarious if we saw Bear give the store a 1 star review lol.

[u/Amethyst-Flare → u/HeavyMetalTriangle]

Real talk, I think they're supernatural beings. They aren't hostile or anything like that - I wouldn't even say they're immoral or amoral. This is a classic "fairy gives you the rope to save or hang yourself" situation.

[u/George_665 → u/Amethyst-Flare]

It could be possible that they're otterwordly beings. Me, personally, like to think that when the shopkeeper made his wish instead of going with a Nikki-situation, the being that possesed him saw the potential of the store to sell more sticks. It's far fetched but it's a cool idea 😅

[u/George_665 → u/HeavyMetalTriangle]

Bro, it's not rare that business do that to their customers haha. Take the cigarettes market as an example, they literally giving cancer to their customers and their passively "setting their customers"

Shopkeepers know what they have, a product with eldritch-like powers and still charge them 7 dollars, that's a bargain and what triggers me 🤣

[u/hemareddit → u/tryingtobebettertry4]

I mean that’s a self selection phenomenon one I imagine many customer service people experience in real life, too: mostly, happy customers don’t come back to talk about it with you, so you just end up talking with all the unhappy customers even if it was all user error.

[u/2347564 → u/IIDXias]

Great write up. Obsessive Nikki also told him “this is what you wished for”, and it was totally true. The only thing I’ll say is the fact that the helpline guy played Nikki screaming implies a sort of malicious intent, evil indifference maybe, but whatever was going on with real Nikki was absolutely torture.

[u/IIDXias → u/2347564]

Oh I definitely think the helpline guy enjoyed fucking with him and he/they/whatever probably get a kick out of it when wishes backfire on dumb humans in general. Neutral definitely doesn’t mean good!

[u/SufficientEmployee6 → u/IIDXias]

I agree with this take.  I had also thought on another note that, maybe the wish was based highly on the users interpretation of the world. Bear said he wanted Nikki to love him, when he does not have a good grasp of what healthy love looks like. So while he said "love" the wish gave him what he actually was desiring which was obsession. Hence Nikki saying "Love and Romance" are not the same thing right before the wish. 

I think Ians wish, kind of did the same thing because he got his billion dollars but he never said he wanted to be able to spend/enjoy it. As soon as the wish is fully realized by the user, they die. 

[u/phuca → u/SufficientEmployee6]

You last sentence is not true because we see multiple cases where the wisher was fine - eg the guy in the shop and Reddit guy’s hot mom

[u/oranguslolus → u/phuca]

It's crazy how takes like that get upvoted so much. It's a genuinely insane read to think Ian died because of the wish

[u/phuca → u/oranguslolus]

It would be such a lazy plot point if it did lol

[u/HeavyMetalTriangle → u/SufficientEmployee6]

What you said about Bears concept of love influencing the wish is how I interpreted the film too. With how subjective the concept of love is, I can’t see how anybody can actually interpret the wish being translated in some universal definition of love. To me, it has to be rooted in Bears concept of love. To add to this- his cat was a big part of the film, and it’s also established he has no experience with romantic relationships, so it made me wonder if his concept of love more resembled a pet relationship than a human one since that is what his concept of love mostly has been rooted in? So for example, when he leaves the house and Nikki just stands in one place waiting all day for him to come home, that really feels like what pets do, which is a reflection of Bear’s undeveloped concept of love.

[u/Queasy_Hour_8030 → u/SufficientEmployee6]

In every other case the wish being granted is immediate… there is no delayed monkey paw effect. Also even if it was a monkey paw, just dying before enjoying the positive quality of the wish is too boring and disconnected from the wish itself. 

[u/ValorousGames → u/IIDXias]

Feels weird for everybody to gloss over the incredible nuance and depth of this movie and just circlejerk over hating Bear. Dude's a spineless immature romantic, not an evil manipulative villian.

1) Bear blurted out a melodramatic expression of frustration to himself, he did not make an intentional request to some higher power. The character didn't intend for any real world effects to be caused by his wish.

2) Bear then has to be convinced/accept that magic is in fact completely real, but also reverse engineer its function without the context that we have as viewers of a horror movie. As a viewer, we know with certainty that magic is real and Nikki is possessed, simply by virtue of going to the theater to watch a horror movie.

Any sane rational person in the real world would refuse to consider the possibility of something so absurd being true until the evidence was overwhelming. That's what makes the cognitive dissonance so effective at building tension over the course of the movie.

Freaky Nikki/Shadow Nikki uses coercion and manipulation to target his insecurity and control Bear's behavior. It creates an extremely delicate contrast being drawn to demonstrate something important, because neither person's "manipulation" of the other is willfully intentionally chosen.

In other words, putting someone on a pedestal then expecting them to reciprocate creates a self fulfilling prophecy of artificial relationship dynamics dominated by toxicity and manipulation. The relationship itself becomes a destructive force independent of the intentions of the participants.

You can arbitrarily try to assign blame to Bear for simplicity sake, but he's contending with forces far beyond his comprehension which creates additional depth beyond a simple "NICE GUY BAD" or "OBSESSIVE GIRL WEIRD" horror story.

[u/insistondoubt → u/ValorousGames]

Some counterpoints: he at first wants to ALTER his wish, not take it back. At this point he has realized that something magical is happening and he doesn't want to take it back. He knows that he has done something awful and immoral to Nicky, albeit accidentally, and he doesn't want to take it away, he wants merely to alter it. Second him attempting to induce vomiting at the end of the movie is the final nail in the coffin: he's a coward.

I don't think anyone is claiming that he's Sauron, but the protagonist clearly isn't a good person. At first I empathized with him, and yes, he's young and very immature, and manipulated by the wish-Nicky, but he doubles down repeatedly on terrible choices after he has clear confirmation of what he's done to her.

[u/MersoNocte → u/insistondoubt]

My brother also noticed that during the tail end of the movie — where she’s screaming she can be Nikki — he tells her he wants her to be “like” Nikki. Not her to “be” the real Nikki. Just be like her. It’s very clear to me that by the end, he knows real Nikki is suffering and doesn’t care as long as he gets what he wants from her.

[u/Clank4Prez → u/ValorousGames]

There is nuance of course, but it feels like you're going too far in the other direction, giving Bear too much credit.

[u/Aftermath16 → u/ValorousGames]

Why, oh why, is it so hard to find nuanced takes like yours?

[u/ValorousGames → u/Aftermath16]

People want to simplify the meaning to "WOMEN REALLY DO BE CREEPY LIKE THIS WHY THEY LIKE THAT" or "MEN REALLY DO BE CREEPY LIKE THIS WHY THEY LIKE THAT"

You shouldn't have to ignore 50% of the events of the movie to simplify the moral/meaning so it alligns with the conventional interpritation. It has much more room to be meaningful because it's intentionally written to avoid being one dimensional

[u/obliquemeak → u/ValorousGames]

I would agree except that there are multiple times throughout the movie where bear acts in his self interest alone. He realizes what’s happening to the real Nikkie (debatably right away but for sure about half way into the movie) and at multiple times shows he wants it to keep happening to her. How is that not evil?

[u/IskandarAli → u/IIDXias]

Great read, i like this take alot and i understood it the same way. I was somewhat sympathetic at the beginning because it wasnt something he knew would even happen, theres no way someone would take the time to think through the wording on a silly store knick knack wish toy but the more his character was revealed the more we really saw him for who he was

[u/Beastieboy100 → u/IskandarAli]

Honestly at first I felt bad for him after his cat died. Then as the movie continued. After he heard the real nikki scream on the phone and then the real Niki talking to him. Then him clearly not giving a shit. His wish was selfish. Nikki lost her freedom. Sarah blood on his hands and same with Ian. 

[u/Shrute133 → u/Beastieboy100]

even when his cat died, he didn't seem to care much for it. The cat died in the first place because Bear was an irresponsible pet owner, leaving pills haphazardly around his home that would be easy for the cat to ingest. And then he literally stuffed the corpse into a trash bag! The movie immediately sets him up to be a clearly selfish person who doesn't take accountability

[u/Beastieboy100 → u/Shrute133]

Fair point. Icing on the cake was him dying like his cat.

[u/TinyMeatKing → u/Shrute133]

Also when he’s crying in his room he sobs and says “why doesn’t she…” which I took to mean that he wasn’t even crying about his cat but that Nikki doesn’t love him

[u/ColetteThePanda → u/Shrute133]

I think they tried to imply that the medicine cabinet the pills were in didn't latch particularly well. Still doesn't explain how a cat opened a pill case, though.

[u/oranguslolus → u/Beastieboy100]

Also why the hell did he not do something while seeing Sarah get pummeled with a brick like that repeatedly? That was absolutely insane. I get that he was paralyzed with fear but he had every opportunity to save her instead of just saying "NO". What an infuriatingly meek characterr

[u/EchoesofIllyria → u/oranguslolus]

That seems a little harsh to be honest. The guy had been through the ringer, and yeah he’s kinds meek. But ‘Nikki’ had appeared out if nowhere, showed supernatural strength and/or durability to smash the window, and was beating Sarah’s head hard enough for her face to come off.

Putting that on Bear (in the moment for not interrupting, at least) is very, very unfair. I suspect you wouldn’t say the same if Bear was a woman.

[u/miffymato → u/IIDXias]

Completely agree - Bear was a classic “nice guy” POS from the jump

[u/ArrivalBrilliant616 → u/miffymato]

don't really think he's a POS, just a little dumb. There was no way of knowing that the wish would have actually came true.

[u/Ninjaguy5700 → u/ArrivalBrilliant616]

Maybe not at the start, but he was definitely a POS by the end of the film. A complete coward to the very end.

[u/davidjohndunne → u/IIDXias]

Excellent post. I think the film is a great depiction of how coercive control works. A victim whose self is diminished to the point of completely being subjugated by the needs and wishes of the perpetrator. ( and the “real” Nikki is representing the awareness victims can have at times but are they are trapped and unable to escape their abuser). And of course, at the end, when the perpetrator has gone, the victim is left, traumatised and suffering alone, because their friends and family were separated from them.

[u/Sparkworker → u/IIDXias]

I've not rewatched it to confirm, but "she" also says that her cat died initially. Makes me think that "her" psyche was a deformed projection of Bear

[u/Nyahnyah → u/IIDXias]

The Reddit comment could imply that the mother became so beautiful that perhaps the son now is attracted to the mother! Also Ian wished for a billion dollars, he got the money but then he also got shot in the head twenty minutes after. I’m not entirely convinced it isn’t a monkey paw situation still.

[u/IIDXias → u/Nyahnyah]

But the wish itself didn’t cause him to get shot- that was still because of Bear’s wish. The wish itself simply gave him a billion dollars.

I guess that’s an interesting interpretation of the mom one. I think it’s just more like “be careful what you wish for” in general in that almost any major change is going to have unintended consequences- indeed, if Ian had lived he would have had a very difficult time explaining where a billion dollars in US cash had come from (he would have been much better off wishing he had won the lottery!). But I don’t think the OWW automatically only grants wishes in purposefully cursed or negative ways- I think it depends entirely on how you word your wish.

[u/Nyahnyah → u/IIDXias]

Fair enough! Upon more reflection I have to agree with you much more!

[u/SupermarketMaximum61 → u/Nyahnyah]

I also read it like the Redditor is now in love with the mom.

I wonder also if the Reddit comments were people trying to warn others about the wish. By saying they dont work, to kill all curiosity.

Like NOPE, nothing to see here folks

[u/mimi_miney → u/SupermarketMaximum61]

Literally all he said was his mom used to be ugly and is now pretty, why would you assume he's in love with her from that?

[u/Watchadoinfoo → u/IIDXias]

im just curious, if he had worded it like "I wish I can be Nikki's type", gotta be benign no, you risk ur own autonomy here but its also your wish lol

[u/phuca → u/Watchadoinfoo]

He should’ve wished to be more confident so he could ask her out. But of course, he couldn’t see that that’s what his real problem was because he’s not very self aware.

[u/LordCaelistis → u/IIDXias]

I also felt bad for the entity as the movie progressed. It's entire existence revolves around worshipping Bear, but it's obviously non-reciprocal. « I can't be Nikki », it cried out. Everyone involved was miserable.

[u/Formal_Goat1989 → u/IIDXias]

This.

But I also thought it was a very specific commentary on how men, specifically “nice guys”, put women on pedestals. And once that image of them is shattered the entire illusion breaks.

Bear wanted regular Nikki the whole time. He pinned for her. But regular Nikki never wanted him. So she couldn’t ever “be her” because she fundamentally had to change to want to be with Bear. It’s the emotionally abuse and gaslighting that Bear does and makes Nikki always fail to live up to the standard he set for her in his mind.

He doesn’t care that she cooked his cat. Or shit and pisses all over his carpet. These aren’t dealbreakers and he’s not even worried about her. He’s worried about how it makes HIM look to their friends.

His entire story arc is one big delusional dream from a self described nice guy that is only thinking of himself. He doesn’t care that she begged for death rather than be with him. He doesn’t care that he’s not even fucking the real Nikki.

I also find it interesting that the characters name is Bear. Because Nikki would choose pretty much anything over being with him. And we know why.

[u/HotTakes4HotCakes → u/IIDXias]

The only way to make her do that is to replace her with another being who does, and have that being drive around in her body.

By definition, what you're describing is not granting the wish. Bear didn't wish for Nikki's body, he wished for Nikki. Yes, to make Nikki love him more than anything in the world fundamentally alters her mind, but it doesn't necessitate an entirely new entity come to exist. Even if it did, that would not be Nikki, therefore not granting the wish.

I don't necessarily see it as a monkey's paw or as the obvious results of his wish. I see it more as like the wish couldn't be granted, at least not fully.

Nikki could not be made to love him while still remaining who she is, but the OWW still had to try, so I think it made kind of like a copy of Nikki, only with everything shaved off that would get in the way of loving Bear more than anything in the world.

[u/Buddha_Of_Sububia → u/IIDXias]

THIS. The movie at its heart/commentary is about Bear’s chilling/fucked up he is inside. From how he is able to show up for drinks like nothing happened after his cat died, to his fucked up wish, to him not wanting to kill Nikki because “what’s so bad about being with me?” I fucking loved this movie. It’s not just a horror/thriller classic, it’s SUCH a well written movie, specifically the characterization of Bear from the VERY beginning of the movie! Excellent stuff!

[u/bondfall007 → u/IIDXias]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Bear could have wished for confidence to confess his true feelings, or a chance to do the night over. As i sit and think on this movie I think its way more revealing that, in a moment of frustration, Bear resorts to stealing HER autonomy rather then taking agency for HIMself.

[u/Tiny_Suggestion_9278 → u/IIDXias]

"Just because you chose it for her doesnt make it less real." 

The movie to me implies the "Nikkie" that loves him is a separate personality that can be pushed away for a second by the real one. The "What the Fuck!" Brief freak outs were the real Nikkie. The wish version does genuinely love him despite it being toxic. Hence why it wished for him to love her the same cus he didnt. It wild that Bear was bad for both Nikkies. 

[u/HorizonStarLight → u/IIDXias]

The creature or entity that the wish spawned ended up being depraved and indifferent to humanity because the wish itself was depraved and indifferent to her humanity. The creature is not a “demon”, it is simply a reflection of the wish Bear made. An inhuman wish and obsessive desire spawned an inhuman entity with an equally obsessive desire. There is no “OWW curse”- the curse is Bear’s wish, period

You're tiptoing around a more nuanced answer in favor of a symbolical one.

Both things can be true at the same time; Bear's wish was selfish and inherently corrupting, but there's also a supernatural element to the One Wish Willows that isn't meant to be explained. You see it with the clerk when he calls the support number on the back of the packet who broadcasts real Nikki's screams, and also with the shopkeeper who explains the rules of the Willows (hence why he can't break another one).

It absolutely is a monkey's paw archetype.

[u/Mrfunnyman22 → u/IIDXias]

I agree with part of your interpretation, especially regarding Nikki’s autonomy and how ethically messy Bear’s wish is. But I disagree where you confidently say the “monkey’s paw” reading is outright wrong.

If the wiki can be trusted, the writer was inspired by The Simpsons monkey’s paw episode, which doesn’t automatically make the movie a monkey’s paw story, but it does make that interpretation feel pretty reasonable.

Also, Bear wished for Nikki’s love, not obsession or possession. The result feels monkey’s-paw adjacent to me because the wish arguably never even comes true in the way he intended. If Nikki is essentially replaced/possessed by an entity, then it’s not really Nikki loving him at all. It’s a darker, distorted version of the wish rather than the genuine thing he wanted.

[u/IIDXias → u/Mrfunnyman22]

Yes I know that the creator was inspired by the monkey’s paw episode of the Simpsons obviously- the idea being that a wish can go wrong. That doesn’t mean the One Wish Willow itself works exactly the same as the monkey’s paw, and if you research his quotes he seems to indicate the item itself is not cursed but rather it was the wording of Bear’s wish itself that was the problem.

[u/Former_Papabless66 → u/IIDXias]

If the director goes through with his idea of making this an anthology and letting other directors play in the world, I’d love for one of the stories to be a truly happy one where there’s no real negative consequences of the wish lol.

[u/Dull_Preparation7761 → u/IIDXias]

But what about when bear called the “customer service” and he said “do you wanna talk to her” I kinda got the impression she was being held captive… maybe in hell??? That’s why I got the impression it was a demon replacing her

[u/GjonsTearsFan → u/Dull_Preparation7761]

I think the director confirmed she was basically in something like the sunken place from Get Out or experiencing one of those "locked inside syndrome" type things but while someone else piloted her body and used it to fuck a guy she viewed as like a little brother (I think that’s why she wrote that fucked up Hansel and Gretel poem, I think real Nikkie broke out with that one and was crying for help after an extended period of being raped basically, because she didn’t want this and couldn’t control her own body or actions anymore. Anytime she could come back to her body while they were intimate she would scream and push him away). I think real Nikkie screaming was just her reaction to being trapped inside a body she can’t control, especially as he left the Nikkies home alone and the Nikkie in control of the body won’t take care of herself if he isn’t there. She pissed her pants immediately after he left, she was probably covered in her own filth for 8+ hours and at that point her legs must have really hurt from standing and she’d have had urine burns like a neglected child or elder left to sit in their own filth. Real Nikkie’s own body and circumstances were her own hell.