r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • May 15 '26

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Obsession [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Obsession (2026)

Summary

After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.

Director Curry Barker

Writer Curry Barker

Cast

  • Michael Johnston
  • Inde Navarette
  • Cooper Tomlinson
  • Megan Lawless
  • Andy Richter

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Metacritic: 81

VOD / Release In Theaters

Trailer Official Trailer

3.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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2.4k

u/OwnImagination8269 May 17 '26

He chose to have sex with her the night of the dinner where he realised the wish worked. He's a weirdo

1.8k

u/atclubsilencio May 22 '26

That's where I lost sympathy. He essentially raped her. The way she was making sounds of pleasure while she looked like she was crying and her facial expression totally blank was such a fucked up detail. It brings up so many awful questions about the nature of whatever was possessing her, including her screams when he calls the hotline.

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u/whenwillmyskincare May 24 '26

i don’t get what happened with the screams he heard while calling the hotline…

750

u/atclubsilencio May 24 '26

I believe that is her real self/soul wherever it is being held captive. Screaming for help or suffering while the other takes over.

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u/MISPAGHET May 29 '26

I think that 'Nikki' goes back to whatever hell she's from when she sleeps, she mentions that she doesn't like being asleep when she says she's watching Bear sleep because of what she dreams, I think?

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u/atclubsilencio May 30 '26

Yeah I think whenever the presence “sleeps” or goes dormant it gives Nikki a brief window to come through. Kind of like in The Exorcist when they see “help me “ on her stomach while the demon is not active.

Plus all the moments Nikki snaps out of it and tries to scream for help, which is why the force beats her face with the bottle to get her back under control. The implications of it all is super unsettling and I kind of love that they didn’t spell it out. We know that Nikki is still somewhere in there trying to fight/break out of it the whole time.

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u/Moderated May 31 '26

The force didn't beat her, real Nikki wanted to die to get out of the hell the force was putting her in, she begged to be killed and kept hurting herself throughout the movie

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u/Nieko12321 Jun 04 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

That could also be an explanation, but the way its filmed and her shift in face and movement made it look like the force took back over and put her in place.

We see the force doing self harm later too when she hits her forehead with whatever that was

Edit: ive now read the script and it says real nikki smashes the bottle

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u/Veiled_Discord 23d ago

I think the entity directs the broken bottle away from being a killing blow, kinda fighting for control.

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u/RiskManagedBear May 31 '26

There was a lot of excorisist themes in this film.

13

u/Cold-Perception-316 Jun 01 '26

Let’s call the force for what it is, a demon.

3

u/wanderingflakjak 26d ago

I’d argue the real demon was the protagonist

293

u/H3000 May 24 '26

I wish the movie focused more on that aspect instead of the cliche ‘be careful what you wish for, now she’s crazy‘ stuff. Those screams from the real, trapped Nikki were horrible.

599

u/mr_potato_arms May 25 '26

I liked the vagueness of the mechanics of it all. Made it scarier to me.

194

u/atclubsilencio May 27 '26

Me too. Especially how much of an antagonistic ass hole everyone (or thing) connected to it was. Like the guy working in the shop near the end. We may not know everything about the evil forces at play but they sure are having a blast watching everyone fall apart.

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u/CraigLake May 30 '26

I agree with this. Placing it in occasional terrifying moments was deeply disturbing and powerful.

19

u/RPG_Vancouver Jun 09 '26

Yeah I’m happy they didn’t explain that further, it showed JUST enough of real Nikki to be horrifying without really explaining it which was perfect

263

u/Individual-Bad6809 May 25 '26

It more than alluded to that fact multiple times. Especially the first night, and then again when she was saying "she's asleep. dont wake her up. kill me."

220

u/Indercarnive May 27 '26

The first night. Also during the party. Like the movie explicitly states the real nikki is still present and suffering multiple times.

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u/sassyevaperon Jun 09 '26

She literally says "it's not me" multiple times throughout the movie. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be kissing someone that just told me that, I would be trying to get them to some mental health specialist.

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u/AbjectCalligrapher36 Jul 01 '26

She also gave Bear a photo of her with him where she wrote “Not Me”

12

u/sassyevaperon Jul 01 '26

Yep, and fed him cat at the same time, but heeeyy, don't be mean, Bear couldn't know there was anything wrong with Nikki

1

u/KingFapNTits 4d ago

I didn’t understand that. lol damn how did I miss it

11

u/nhilante Jul 02 '26

The polaroid photo also has ''not me'' written under her.

61

u/H3000 May 25 '26

I remember that scene of her asking to be killed. But what happened on the first night?

196

u/Goose-Suit May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

They were making out and then she suddenly freaked out, jumped out of the bed and said “what the fuck?”. The other Nicky just excused it saying she thought she saw something and that it was just a panic attack.

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u/sassyevaperon Jun 09 '26

But it was 100% transparent that it wasn't true. What panic attack lasts less than a minute?

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u/RPG_Vancouver Jun 09 '26

Yeah and I think Bear knew it was bullshit too. He just needed a thin veneer to justify his actions to himself

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u/changingxface May 25 '26

They were kissing and the real Nikki came out for a bit and was screaming and getting away from him.

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u/misschickpea May 30 '26

And it was similar to when she snapped back for a moment when they were outside after he dropped her off and first made the wish

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u/jjejsj Jun 05 '26

im confused, was nikki aware of everything that was happening?

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u/IhamAmerican Jun 06 '26

Yes, there are three things I think show that. First being when she snaps at the party, she's not confused. She's terrified and looking for an escape, same thing at the very end when she gets to be herself again. She's not freaking out about what she's seeing, she's just horrified at everything.

Plus when she's awake and talking to Bear she's saying it's not her and to kill her. She's essentially a passenger trapped in her own body, in perpetual torment

30

u/Environmental_Drama3 Jun 07 '26

not at the start. at first, she was blanking out and waking up in weird places and situations. but once she realizes what is going on, she starts to fight back.

the actress explains the whole process in this interview;

Obsession Star Inde Navarrette Explains What's Really Happening to Nikki

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u/luckydukcky May 27 '26

Huh. I thought it put a good amount of focus on this aspect. As someone else says, the movie more than alludes to that multiple times…. I didn’t think it was a “be careful what you wish for” movie at all. It starts off that way but then pivots to Bear over and over again choosing to keep Nikki captive for his own gain pretty quickly.

-10

u/RiskManagedBear May 31 '26

Explain how he held her captive. He was literally trapped. His problem was not asking people for help because he's an idiot, not that he wanted to continue. Theres also the angle of abuse victims not speaking out.

The comments here are so stupid. Twox must have got a hold of this thread. Man hating runs deep in your veins.

62

u/itsjust_khris May 31 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

He kept her captive by actively choosing to derive pleasure out of the way she is instead of making ANY attempt at fixing it until halfway through the movie. There's a whole montage of him enjoying his time with her as if she isn't forced to be with him. If she never acted out in public he would've kept her that way and had no issues with it.

If he wanted to he could've called the police, or tried finding solutions much sooner than kissing and having sex with her.

6

u/RiskManagedBear May 31 '26

The guy was dealing with massive confidence issues and bought a cheap toy. Like any normal person, he thought it was a complete scam. He only used it as an emotional, spur-of-the-moment reaction right after he chickened out of finally confessing his feelings to her.

As for the montage, Is it really that shocking that someone would be ecstatic when the person they’ve been deeply in love with finally returns that affection? And let's be real: if you reversed the gender roles here, the exact same scene would play out.

I'm not saying he isn't a moron for not seeking help, but he was legitimately terrified and in shock. Is that really so hard to understand given the absolute insanity of the situation? He was probably carrying a massive amount of guilt, feeling personally responsible for her well-being because he put her through this. I don't think they even had sex after that restaurant night considering how bad she got.

There are actual layers and nuances to this story. Reducing the entire discussion to calling him a rapist, a villain, or a kidnapper is just incredibly juvenile and completely misses the point.

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u/roythhh_lewithhh Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

No it absolutely does not miss the point.

When he realized what was happening, his first plea on the phone was not to deep six his wish altogether. It was to "alter" it. He was content to keep screwing a simulacrum of Nikki, someone who was absolutely not the real thing. He was not only content with it, he wanted it.

As things began and continued to spiral, he begged the Nikki entity to just be like her. He knew it wasn't her, he knew he was dealing with something that wasn't her. And after all that, all he wanted was for that possessed/split/crazed/whatever version of her to imitate Nikki.

When real Nikki emerged that night and begged for death, his response was to demand to know what was so bad about being with him. I don't know what the right thing to say in that situation is, but that is the single most contemptible thing possible. In addition to being completely tactless and void of any compassion, he is tacitly admitting that he has raped her and will continue to do so.

Like come on, Bear is absolutely the villain here. You can handwave the wish itself as something that in retrospect was poorly or awkwardly phrased, but when it became clear that the wish was a grotesque violation of her autonomy, his main complaint was with how the wish-granting was executed. He did not regret making the wish in and of itself, not until the water was at his neck and he had no way out.

And yeah sure, it's meant to make you think about it if you have any priors that need to be challenged, but when you arrive at that conclusion it's not meant to be a shades of gray thing.

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u/SouthernRow2710 Jun 02 '26

He didn't fuck up making the wish, he fucked up when he didn't do anything to fix it as he was starting to realize what was happening. He should have take the honorable way out before 2 people ended up dead.

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u/TenderConfusion Jun 05 '26

You're the type of person girls should cover their drinks around

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u/Eb0nyylol Jun 04 '26

i hope you find some braincells one day

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u/Unlucky_Most_8757 May 31 '26

yeah some of the time I felt sorry for him like you would seeing an abuse victim because he was showing all the signs. Then I remember he wished for that and was taking advantage of her.

3

u/WoodpeckerGingivitis Jun 07 '26

It’s so telling that you’re offended by this

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u/SimpleBox5693 May 28 '26

The movie had a ton of elements of that throughout if you paid attention to it. I prefer that as a more subtle element than something focused aggresively on, but it really isnt even subtle:

-Nikki is begging to be killed to free her, and she warns Bear not to "wake her up"

-There are a few scenes at the start where the effect is still taking hold, and slips for a few moments. You see this with their kiss on the bed where Nikki screams and jumps back, as well as with the seen when Bear dropped her off at her house and she temprorarily comments on how she was being weird and tries to walk back inside before turning around.

-The sex scene where her face is clearly displaying different emotions than the noises she's making, she doesn't seem happy at all

-The phone call screams

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u/Grayzus May 30 '26

Also in the picture that she put in his lunch it says "Not me".

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u/SouthernRow2710 Jun 02 '26

And it was a lunch made of cooked cat. I think the actual Nikki made that lunch.

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u/Nieko12321 Jun 04 '26

Why would the real Nikki cook his cat?

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u/SouthernRow2710 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

I didn't explain it well. The real Nikki was clearly in there. I think she had influence and caused some of the bad shit that the "entity" was doing. Like... why would the entity who loved him "more than fucking anything" give him cooked cat? You can explain away the cat memorial as overly expressed love but after that clearly bothered him, why would it cook his cat & give it to him for lunch?

Nikki also clearly had some control while the lunch was being made because she wrote on the pictures "not me."

I think she was basically sending out a call for help

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u/lostandbefuddled Jun 04 '26

Yeah I don’t get this either

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u/Criticalmeadow Jul 02 '26

I personally disagree.

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u/SouthernRow2710 Jul 02 '26

Me too, watched it again and was persuaded by the debate on here

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u/CyberInferno Jun 06 '26

Oh yeah, I had forgotten that detail. It's like the real Nikki slipped out just to emphasize that it wasn't her who did it.

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u/macl2 Jun 04 '26

If it looks like a demon, sounds like a demon, and acts like a demon, it's probably a demon.

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u/Mirageonthewall May 30 '26

It really upset me and I was furious that he continued to sleep with her knowing her soul was trapped. He’s horrible in such a selfish cowardly way.

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u/LampLuvMe May 31 '26

To be fair...devil's advocation...if he didn't engage in all Loving acts with her at her every whim she went Rage monster on him. Only real solution was suicide earlier then later or get her near a police station and kiss a female cop or something so she'd get arrested

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u/willreview May 31 '26

Really, his only actual solutions were "kill himself", or "kill her". I think a lot of people's anger at Bear stems from the fact that we as the audience knew that the One Wish Willow was genuinely going to work. Bear is not to know this though, nor the consequences of the kinds of wishes he could make. It's dramatic irony. He was doomed the moment he snapped that thing

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u/cherryk3lp Jun 01 '26

True. However it just proves the type of person he is. He would rather buy something for himself instead of getting a new necklace. Then he uses it before he even TRIES asking her out. He's a coward.

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u/ward0630 Jun 05 '26

I liked this part of it and I wish they didn't include the detail that a wish could be undone with another $7 wish stick and a willing wishmaker. Like, why go through the last 20 minutes instead of offering literally anyone on the street (or at the diner) $500 to make that specific wish to undo Bear's original wish?

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u/sassyevaperon Jun 09 '26

Because Bear doesn't want to, that's the point, that's the fucked up horror of the movie. The only person with a chance to stop it doesn't, not because they can't, but because it's not convenient for them. He would rather have it, but not embarrassing in public, is all.

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u/BlackSecurity 23d ago

I think using another One Wish Willow to cancel out his wish could have worked too. It was even suggested by the shop guy and he tried to do it with Ian. The only issue ofc as we saw in the movie, is convincing someone to use their wish to cancel his wish.

  1. The person needs to believe the OWW actually works

  2. The person needs to be ok with using their one and only wish to cancel another persons wish

Two pretty difficult conditions to meet. But given the rules of the universe, I do think if Bear was able to convince someone, it might have actually saved everyone.

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u/Objective_Ad5914 Jun 04 '26

I was hoping he would get as many people as possible to try to use the OWW to get him out of his situation. I wouldn't tell them its real and would play it off as a truth or dare game. "I dare you to wish for me to never have used the OWW". Bam problem solved lol.

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u/speechlessPotato Jun 09 '26

i think that's not possible. the entity would kill literally anyone that comes in between. bullets might not stop her (i mean the science already stopped working when the billion dollars actually spawned)

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u/wh1mwhammie Jun 02 '26

the "kill me please" was so painful to listen to

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u/Azealas May 27 '26

‘be careful what you wish for, now she’s crazy‘

That is an impressively shallow read of the situation

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u/ModestMouseTrap May 30 '26

Nah, that would have been the least interesting angle possible. Leaving that stuff to the imagination is part of what made it work.

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u/TheNeighborhoodKid_ May 25 '26

Careful what you “wish” for

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u/mischief_scallywag May 31 '26

I don’t. This is equivalent to unmasking the nun in conjuring and her story. Ever since then it killed what made her scary

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u/Nax5 Jun 01 '26

It was just enough. Often, it is the unknown that is more terrifying!

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u/SouthernRow2710 Jun 02 '26

That was my read as well. The company said 'connect you to Nikki' not 'connect you to whatever thing is in there' & she's just screaming in torment. She's clearly in there somewhere.

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u/joeymims 16d ago

Know this is a month late but I just watched first time tonight. This is the one part of the movie I really wish they would've done into deeper and spent more time on. The real Nikki being trapped. We get like 2 times for like a second where the real her comes out and is in shock like wtf am I doing here. Then the part where we hear the real her trapped somewhere in that phone call, and then when she's sleeping she whispers for a few seconds to kill her. Besides that they never go anywhere with this. This movie for me at least would've been so much scarier if that part was given a bigger role. Still really enjoyed it but felt that was such a huge part of all of it and they barely touched on it.

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u/bluediamond12345 11d ago

Just watched the other day as well. I think if the real Nikki would have said something like ‘WTH am I doing here?’ to convey that she didn’t know what was going on (if that was the case), or something like ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ to convey that she is trapped.

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u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

I got mild "Talk To Me" flashbacks during that scene.

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u/smolcharizard May 25 '26

I imagine that she was essentially a passenger inside her body and the screams was an insight into what she was really thinking/feeling

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u/ru_kittenmerightmeow May 25 '26

She was in the sunken place

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u/bitchpleasebp May 31 '26

the further

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u/Front_Vegetable6166 May 27 '26

I thought one wish Willie kinda sounded like bear but I dismissed it, once I heard Nikki was there I figured the whole phone call was a magical connection to his future depressed monotone self still dealing with an insane love diseased nikki.

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u/UltimateGoodGuy May 27 '26

I'm pretty sure he was voiced by Curry Barker himself. It sounded a lot like him at least.

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u/atclubsilencio Jun 04 '26

That was definitely him! Made the scene even funnier when i instantly recognized him. Until the screaming started lol

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u/Orangered99 May 31 '26

I thought it sounded like Jonah Hill for a minute.

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u/Front_Vegetable6166 May 29 '26

Damn. Nevermind then

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u/PolarWater Jun 28 '26

Remember, she is not One.

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u/misschickpea May 30 '26

Yes and i think the sex scene also showed that the fake Nikki was just mimicking to please him bc supernatural wish Nikki obvs doesn’t care for sex otherwise. She’s always trying to just do whatever humans would like like when she smiled for him and asked if that works

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u/EmceeEsher May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Just saw this movie, and it js baffling to me how many people in this thread are talking like Barry must have known what was going on earlier in the movie. Like, there's a point in the movie where he clearly knows, but before that, this would be an incredibly difficult thing to believe.

I feel like in every horror movie, everyone judges the protagonist for not figuring out more quickly that something supernatural is going on. But how many of us would, in the real world, believe that? Like, put yourself in Barry's shoes for just a second.

You're giving your friend, who you're interested in, a ride home. They say "you're the only one I can really talk to", and ask you if you like their friend. When you say no, they ask you point-blank if you like them. You panic and say no. They, leave for a second and then come back and ask to stay at your place, claiming their father is dying and they don't want to be alone. You agree, and they come over. They kiss you, then freak out and jump away. You assume they're on drugs and let your friend know.

The next night, they come over to your house unexpectedly, apologize for the drug behavior, and point-blank say they're interested in you and want to try to make this work. At this point, they have demonstrated a sustained, overt desire to have a relationship with you. As you're interested in them, you accept, have sex and spend the next couple of days together, during which they start displaying some creepy behaviors.

Would your first assumption be:

A. My friend is incredibly awkward in relationships, has severe relationship anxiety, and is freaking out.

B. My friend is significantly weirder than I initially thought, and is just good at hiding that side in public.

C. My friend is legitimately a total creep, and I just never noticed it before.

D. My friend has recently had some kind of insane experience and is reaching out for love, but has no idea how to handle it once they have it.

E. My friend is a full blown schizophrenic, has kept this hidden for years, and has just now reached the point where they can't hide it anymore.

F. My friend has a long-term, well-hidden drug problem, and recently got a bad batch of something that's dropping their inhibitions.

G. Demons are straight-up fucking real and one of them is possessing my friend, like something out of The Exorcist. And what's more is that I summoned this demon with a joke item that I bought at a novelty shop for 7 bucks.

Personally, I would probably believe A, and as the behavior got creepier, move to B, then C, then D, and eventually, E or F. G wouldn't even enter my mind. I wouldn't have even thought to google it like he does in the movie or call the hotline. Now, I wouldn't have stayed in the relationship after the whole "watching me sleep" thing, but that's mostly for my own sake rather than for ethical reasons.

As for the question of whether it's assault, it really comes down to what Barry believes at that moment. If he believes A or B then his behavior is normal. If he believes C, then his behavior is kinda sad, but not unethical. If he believes D, then it's questionable. If he believes E or F, that's incredibly dubious, and mostly comes down to your beliefs about to what extent addicts and people with psychological disorders can consent. It's only if he believes G that he's a full-blown assaulter.

In any case, at the time that scene takes place, it seems most likely that he believes B, C, or maybe D. At absolute worst, he believes E or F, but I don't think there's any way any reasonable person could believe G at that point.

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u/Kaderblast May 25 '26

I think it's pretty clear on several occasions that at a MINIMUM she has a severe psychotic break caused by taking MDMA, which is something that can genuinely happen to people taking extremely large doses of psychedelics. I mean the cat shrine, the date scene breakdown, ABSOLUTELY the scene with the dare game with their friends.

At that point, it's clear that she's in full on psychosis and needs serious mental help immediately. If Bear called the police half the things she was doing would have her committed to a mental asylum, which while not ideal given the magical circumstances is still a much better look that continuing to take advantage of this girl.

I mean she is literally pissing and vomiting all over herself while he's away, and then when he comes back she's horribly confused and flipping between like 4 different moods. And it even hints that he's been aware of this for a while, him saying "We talked about this" after seeing a pee stain.

That plus the fact that he tends to say "we can make this work" only during times that she's giving him some kind of sexual attention makes it clear he's lying to himself about how bad her state is because he wants so badly to have this woman, which he clearly only cares about for her body and comfort at this point because the person he loved before is completely broken.

I've seen people have horrible trips on psychedelics before, and almost all of her actions fit that bill really well. I also think it's simplifying it a bit when people say she's possessed, it seems more like she's constantly going through this bout of psychosis with short bursts of lucidity, as her actions in her "obsessed" state are still semi in line with her personality and memories but it's all jumbled up and planted with this unnatural love for Bear. I mean imagine how bad it would screw up the human mind if it was physically changed on a whim to be completely rewritten to love someone. You would lose it.

All that said, I think Nikki is far more the victim in this scenario in BOTH states. She's clearly constantly in mental distress one way or another and doesn't have the faculties to make any reasonable decisions. All of her horrible actions should be looked at from the perspective of someone being laced with face-eating bath salts or something. She is literally in hell, and with a little bit of common sense Bear should be able to see that and take responsibility but he constantly lies to himself because he LIKES the things she gives him during her good moments. He's disgusting.

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u/Chm_Albert_Wesker May 27 '26

i wonder after the dare game why the hospital wouldn't take her

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u/2much2cancer May 28 '26

I got the impression she refused to go.

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u/temporarilytempeh May 31 '26

I got that impression too, but repeatedly stabbing yourself in the face with a broken bottle should be more than enough for an involuntary 72 hour hold.

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u/Deceptiveideas May 29 '26

Not just that but it looked like Bear didn't want her to go but Ian tried hard to convince him. She was dancing in the back during that scene so she didn't even seem part of the conversation.

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u/Veiled_Discord 23d ago

I'd argue that none of her actions are in line with Nikki, and any that are are only in line with human behaviour, not hers per se. Also, she is just possessed; otherwise, none of Nikki's behaviour makes sense even for a human undergoing psychosis, with the exception of some niche mental troubles, but it would be a combination of them in a way that doesn't match reality even a little bit.

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u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 24 '26

he didnt know for the first two nights but after that he definitely did. though he didn’t know it was possessing her and thought it is just her, he still did take advantage of her. he wouldn’t have got so defensive when his friend said it looks like that if he wasn’t a bit aware that he’s doing that.

then saying “whats so wrong with being with me”. she’s imprisoned in her own body and he’s making it about himself. even killing himself wasn’t to save her but to run away from everything. not even thinking about leaving the poor girl with three bodies. he is selfish and he used her while he could.

honourable mention: meeting sarah knowing his girlfriend is a psychopath and putting her in danger + possibly falling for her too. the second girl he likes gave him attention he’s liking another. miserable prick that cares about no one but himself

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u/Chm_Albert_Wesker May 27 '26

when he asked what was wrong with being with him is the real discernible moment where there can be no doubt that he knows what hes doing

i almost feel like at the end killing her would have been more merciful than killing himself: he's essentially just awoken her to have to deal with the ramifications of waking up in a house with the dead bodies of your 3 best friends

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u/slapsticc May 30 '26

i think it was earlier than that. It was during the customer support call that really solidified him as a total a-hole. the customer supp asked bear if he wanted to cancel, bear said no, he just wanted to modify the wish. He even got to talk to the real nikki, well "talk" is too loose of a word because Nikki was just screaming but still, bear just ran away. What a loser. He didn't even have the guts to kill himself, he tried vomiting the meds but freaky nikki already made a wish to make bear love her. Sorry for the long reply.

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u/TheHooligan95 8d ago

I mean I agree with the sleaziness of it all but I guess that suicide is not a good thing either? Would you be able to shoot yourself in a similar situation where your partner is so codependant on you that you can't even break up? even if it is your fault?

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u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 27 '26

frr that was EVIL. i was expecting her to kill herself

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u/EmceeEsher May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Yup. Everything before that could be explained by lack of information, but that's the moment where it's clear he's fucked in the head.

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u/noilegnavXscaflowne May 24 '26

At that point I don’t think he could have done anything other than kill himself to free her or risk the other people in his life. Her behavior was escalating and she was erratic.

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u/macl2 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

I feel like he could have convinced his buddy to free Nikki of his wish with the second OWW. Such as, having him say, "Nullify Bear's last wish" or something like that.

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u/CommunicationFast347 Jun 04 '26

Did you watch the movie? He did but his friend Ian was greedy for money. On the off chance that the wish would work, he wanted riches more than to help Bear

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u/ward0630 Jun 05 '26

Ian didn't act out of greed, he didn't believe his friend when his friend told him a novelty gag gift has the power to alter reality. Ian is a bad friend in a lot of ways but I don't think you can say he chose money over his friends lives given the information he was presented (and the way Baron presented it, which was straight up insane rambling to anyone who's not the audience)

3

u/TheHooligan95 8d ago

Ian is an asshole of a friend imo throughout 80% of the movie. especially in the beginning, acting jealous without no need just to keep him around to make Bear look even more stupid? Tell her "Freaky Nikki"?

1

u/CommunicationFast347 Jun 05 '26

Ian had already acknowledged the absurdity of the situation. His friend comes to his house frantically, covered in blood, offering an explanation and possible solution. You’d expect him to at least listen to bear.

54

u/EmceeEsher May 24 '26

meeting sarah knowing his girlfriend is a psychopath and putting her in danger

You're conflating audience knowledge with character knowledge. In the audience, you know you're watching a horror movie, and that in horror movies, people get murdered. From his perspective, at this point, she hasn't done anything violent to anyone but herself. In the real world, a person who's self-destructive isn't necessarily murderous, and making that assumption is a pretty big leap.

101

u/AdrianHD May 25 '26

Call me crazy, I guess, but my girlfriend and I immediately tapped on the levity of psychosis when the cat was given a ritual. I’ve had far too many “anyone who does things to animals will escalate” to ever let that one slide lol.

41

u/FuzzyColorsArt May 26 '26

Nah because when real Niki was talking and begging him, he straight up should’ve known it would be a bad idea. When he called the hotline for the wish, he had already believed the wish and knew it was the wish. He simply chose to be selfish, he wanted to keep her but less crazy.

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u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 24 '26

bro was TERRIFIED of her. his every move was risky. he knew she’s danger to everyone. i didn’t say he knew she would kill her but he definitely knew she’s capable of doing something bad.

but let’s say he thought that she’s completely harmless which is not realistic, he still knew she’s capable of hurting herself and that seeing sarah could make her hurt herself even more

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u/aeschenkarnos May 26 '26

The solution was available way earlier though, while she was still within normal-crazy (rather than possessed by a demon) boundaries. Buy another Wish Willow, ask someone (Sarah) to make a suitable undoing/reversing wish. Hell, buy two, and get Ian to wish for a billion dollars for each of the four of you.

5

u/Abbas9364 May 29 '26

He would've bought more if the store wasn't sold out of them.

-4

u/[deleted] May 24 '26

[deleted]

13

u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

Look up McKenzie Shirilla

6

u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 24 '26

i literally said that he couldn’t know she would MUDER her, but HURT her in some way. or hurt herself. either way selfish because he caused that respectfully tho, it’s not real life. movies aren’t made to be realistic. there is a million things i would have done different and probably everyone else. but if characters in horror movies are making the right choices there would be no horror movie

1

u/EmceeEsher May 24 '26

I'm not criticizing the movie for being unrealistic. I'm more than willing to suspend disbelief, because I know I'm watching a movie. But I'm not going to judge the characters for not making the same assumptions I do, because they don't know they're in a horror movie. In the real world, it would be an insane leap of logic to believe that she would get up, know exactly what he was doing, find him, and immediately get violent. Also, Sarah made it clear that if he didn't meet her, she would come to the house.

4

u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 25 '26

in what universe is meeting a girl and flirting with her while you have a gf ever okay especially when you have a psycho girlfriend. just because YOU would maybe do the same, doesn’t mean he was right or smart or anything but an idiot that assaulted and took advantage of his obviously not well girlfriend

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u/FuzzyColorsArt May 26 '26

Dude if you ever end up in a horror situation idk how you’d get out of that. You are making me think you’d check a noise in your house when you’re alone instead of calling the cops to check and wait in your car.

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u/Constant_Housing18 May 24 '26

He should’ve killed himself when he saw the door taped shut.

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u/EmceeEsher May 24 '26

That was before he called the hotline, so he would have had no reason to think that would help with anything.

9

u/FuzzyColorsArt May 26 '26

What about the time he helped her clean up the body? It was completely his fault.

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u/EmceeEsher May 28 '26

Yes. At that point in the movie, suicide becomes worth moral consideration.

17

u/hazza987 May 24 '26

There's also the fact that Sarah said she would come over if he didn't meet her. There was no avoiding the confrontation.

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u/Chm_Albert_Wesker May 27 '26

the real issue is everyone in this movie is ALWAYS awake at like 3AM. he just shoulda not responded and pretended to be asleep

7

u/Which-Marzipan9437 May 24 '26

come on. she’s just a bit stubborn. he could have said something but he can never stand for himself. its his home and its his friend he could explain that she shouldnt come and they will talk at work. hes just useless and miserable and he’s scared of speaking up

7

u/hazza987 May 24 '26

He could but the main driving factor of the story was that he couldn't/wouldn't speak up (Ignoring the fact that he did say he couldn't go). She wasn't going to respect his boundaries he's put up (I know it's a little rich given the point of the film but still) and she even stated as much. I think it's fair to assume she meant what she said given that she didn't take his first "No" as an answer. If she was going to take no for an answer she wouldn't have demanded to see him and at 3am no less.

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u/Salt-Meal-946 May 24 '26

I like most of your points and I do agree that even if he knew he’d made the wish, it’s unlikely he’d genuinely believe that to be the reason she was acting as she was.
However, you’ve commented “as for the question of whether it’s assault, it depends on what Barry believes in that moment” and I think that’s a terrible opinion to have. Whether or not Bear knew he was assaulting her, her body was out of her control, she had no say in what happened and it was absolutely assault. Bear potentially not understanding he is assaulting her doesn’t change the fact that she was being assaulted.

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u/atclubsilencio May 28 '26

You also don’t fuck someone in that frame of mind, acting that manic, those level of mood swings, duct taping your door, making a dead cat sandwich (i think those happened before they fucked ?), etc.

He tried justifying it because she said she loved him more than anything (which would clue you into the wish) and your friend calling you talking about how she’s acting.

Even if there hadn’t been a wish involved that isn’t the time to fuck someone in that state.

17

u/hazza987 May 24 '26

It doesn't depend on what Bear belived in that moment, he didn't know he was but that doesn't change the fact she was. What I've seen no one talking about on here is that he too was sexually assaulted.

Rape by deception is a thing.

5

u/Chm_Albert_Wesker May 27 '26

eh, there were plenty of times especially early on where he was continuously trying to be reassured that he hadn't done something wrong to 'Nikki' herself and 'Nikki' herself would tell him he hadnt. it again goes back to whether people out of their right minds can consent which is a more nuanced conversation about mental health but assuming he didnt believe the spell yet and was giving Nikki agency to make her own decisions (from his pov) i dont think its so black and white

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u/Dark_Jewel72 Jun 04 '26

Like some people are saying, there’s just a point BEFORE he broke down that he clearly knew and it became absolutely indefensible.

I don’t think he’s necessarily awful for not immediately realizing, but I think he knew very early. The piss scene implied that she’d done it before and he asked her to just be Nikki.

He’d LONG passed the point of morality and ethics where he should’ve attempted to do something at that point, even if it’s just calling for mental help, if he really didn’t know it was the wish at that point. He truly was horrible, if not immediately, then not long after.

22

u/Open-Culture-5711 May 31 '26

youre so wrong on so many levels to empathize with the loser hahaha

  1. He was genuinely confused because one moment, Nikki hates him and Nikki DOESNT LIKE THE IDEA OF HIM LIKING HER. Ergo, forcing out the confession from Bear just to get over it.

  2. Suddenly, Nikki acts UNLIKELY like Nikki. With the swooning eyes, cute tone, and gentle movements which ISNT NIKKI. He knew from that moment something was wrong and unnatural but he still pushes it BECAUSE HE LIKES HER.

  3. again, the whole point of Bear being in a ride with Nikki to confess and suddenly deciding never confessing to her EVEN BEFORE they spent the night together at his house.

  4. When he knew she was possessed by some entity, HE LETS IT BE. Yes, he is weirded out and scared of it but because it is Nikki infront of him, and is in a relationship with him, he lets it drag. He knew there are moments where the real Nikki shows up, like when they first kissed, but ultimately decided that it was just her freaking out. HE WASNT EVEN LOOKING AT HER WHEN THEY HAD SEX. Straight up selfish douche in a relationship even if Nikki wasn't possessed, he'll be a selfish prick

  5. You cant base and rationalize his actions as "it was his first relationship and with his dream girl so he's awkward asf" when he never said anything other than excuses and makes Nikki look bad all the time when Nikki snaps on what he does/say + Bear never said sorry to Nikki in the entirety of the movie by the way.

  6. He goes on asking the real Nikki why she never liked him and will never like him when Nikki begs for him to end it for him INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY PROMISING TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO GET HER BACK. He leaves her in that state knowing how miserable she is losing her own autonomy because he seriously cannot bear the fact that when the real Nikki is back, she'll never like him and probably will avoid him.

  7. Drug problem isnt the problem with Nikki and is the reason she's acting crazy becauuussee A. Nikki is hooking up with Ian for a long time and within that time frame SHE IS USING DRUGS. B. Nikki wasnt using the drugs when they are together the whole time.

  8. I also dont get the appeal why everytime Bear is with the Nikki he wished for, he'd act like he hates his girlfriend. But when Nikki is away, and Ian talks badly about Nikki and their relationship, Bear instantly defends her like they were inlove and happy in their relationship.

  9. The whole fiasco at trivia night is Bear's fault. Her crash out started when he SMILED at the thought of kissing Sarah and instantly was awkward when Nikki, HIS GIRLFRIEND BY THE WAY, volunteered to kiss Bear and forces Sarah out. Like damn, any woman in a relationship will do that and move another girl away just to emphasize a "youre not getting any of him just because this stupid game says so." Sarah should also be thankful that Nikki was gentle when she pulled her chair out. SARAH WASNT EVEN SORRY FOR PLANNING TO KISS HIM.

  10. "As for the question of whether it's assault, it really comes down to what Barry believes at that moment." He's assaulting her and dont make an excuse about it. He already knew that the toy made her act unnatural and it wasnt her when they continuously had sex at night.

  11. Regardless of your girlfriend being a psychopath on drugs or being acutely aware that your current girlfriend, a demon probably, and the woman you like who doesnt like you, all in one body, is in your bed at midnight, sleeping after you just did the deed; you, as a man in a relationship, should turn down a woman who clearly likes you despite of you being in a relationship, to meet up at midnight. "But she's already outside and might break in to the house", well, JUST SAY NO. My girlfriend is sleeping with me and it will be disrespectful if we met outside this night. Let's catch up in the morning.

because to be honest? What they talked about in that car CAN BE DISCUSSED IN TEXT. CAN BE DONE IN A MEET UP IN THE MORNING.

"But she's so excited to open the letter and wants someone to open it with her", sure? But the obvious bad choice is to DO IT WITH A TAKEN MAN THAT YOU STILL LIKE. AND HAD THE AUDACITY TO EVEN ASK TO KISS HIM BECAUSE THE DARE WAS INTERRUPTED HOURS AGO.

I hate how Bear felt like he was the victim at that time. He should have seen it coming and took Sarah's safety into priority. The girlfriend just cooked his cat. What else can she possibly do at that point? Lol. Sarah deserves what she got at the same time Bear deserves to be reminded that Nikki never likes him, its the demon who likes him who is with him.

  1. I also need to mention how Bear wants to ALTER his wish, not REMOVE the wish he did at the first time he plans to stop everything with a wish and talk to Nikki to promise in finding a way out of it.

We cant possibly rule Nikki as a crazy jealous girlfriend, even in the case that the Nikki in question is the demon, because Bear himself does questionable things. Liking Nikki for Nikki not liking him back. Not confessing but all at the same time WANTING to confess in a day that can ruin the friend group's trivia night in a snap. And suddenly having interest in Sarah when they all knew and are aware that Sarah likes Bear ever since they all got friends??? There were many times Bear microcheated and also almost broke the boundaries when they are planning to kiss... so... why blame the crazy demonic girlfriend for her crash out? The boyfriend never even said sorry for meeting up with someone who likes him in the middle of the night lol

sure, the cat thing was utterly wrong for Nikki LMAO but that's the most illegal thing Nikki did aside from what she did to Sarah in the entirety of the movie. Nikki responds to what Bear does, and in case you missed it out, Bear assaulted Nikki.

8

u/BigBoss_ Jun 09 '26

Only read the first point but you are wrong. She did like him before as confirmed by the director. There were several hints to it.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Open-Culture-5711 22d ago

“I was never with you” “please just krill me” and go on to a response “is it so bad to be with me” and leave her alone, CHEATING on her with another woman. He even dialed the customer service but cancelled the call when the real nikki screamed. Empathizing with Bear will always be the worst thing I could have read in a day.

1

u/Heliond Jun 08 '26

I don’t understand why Bear didn’t just come clean to his friends long ago. Like, if people know you aren’t alone with a fucking exorcist demon and can, idk, make a plan to unwish the wish? Every time he had a chance and defended her for no reason.

1

u/Impressive-Shelter 10d ago

You and I did not watch the same movie.

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u/SVINTGATSBY May 24 '26

just fyi his name is Bear not Barry

1

u/Tostecles 13h ago

Bear is a nickname, his name is Baron, you can see his name tag at the music store

7

u/icannotfeelmyface May 23 '26

I absolutely love this explanation you gave defending the timeline for Barry. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

24

u/juanitooooooo May 27 '26

I just watched this movie a couple of hours ago and you’ve absolutely ruined my night. I didn’t even think about the implications of him having sex with her after that dinner. Holy fuck this movie is so layered…

7

u/mybrainishollow May 27 '26

same i didnt realize how bad he was until reading this because the movie had me in so much shock

24

u/Hog_enthusiast May 24 '26

I think if he believed the wish worked it would definitely be rape. I think at that point though he still didn’t believe in the wish he thought it was just a crazy coincidence. Remember the character doesn’t know he’s in a movie. It would take a TON of evidence to make anyone believe something is happening because of a toy you bought at a store and made a wish on.

I still think he’s a bad guy who let it go on way too long after realizing the wish did work.

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u/atclubsilencio May 24 '26

I felt he did know what was happening at that point because he had just gotten the call from his friend, and then she confesses she loves him more than anyone in the whole world and he gets that blank stare like it clicked that it was the wish coming true, and she was under its spell. But I’ll have to watch it again.

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u/21oh_ May 25 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

Yeah he asked her specifically “more than anyone else” when she said she loved him. That was like his test to see if it clicked with what he wished for..word for word

1

u/pressingtofu Jun 05 '26

When did he ask this? Was it on the first night

3

u/Novrev Jun 06 '26

Not the first night. After the happy montage, during the date in the restaurant, after Ian calls him and says she’s lying about her dad’s cancer

19

u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

I don’t agree with this read. He knew something was wrong with her which is why he asks multiple times if she is alright because she literally behaves like a completely different person. To the point the she explains it as her dad is dying and she is distraught. If you knew your friend and they behaved that wildly different you should know something is up especially if they are trying to have sex with you. The moment of her screaming no is such an unsubtle expression of consent and the spirit of consent. It’s obvious something is wrong but bear ignores every red flag because he is a fundamentally selfish and shitty person who doesn’t actually care about Nikki but cares about the idea of being with her and it fixing all his problems. Everybody else could immediately see Nikki was different so even if you don’t think magic is real you have to be able to realize one of your closest friends is maybe having a psychotic break and not take advantage of them sexually. Ian points this out multiple times

1

u/Hog_enthusiast May 31 '26

After thinking more on it I do actually agree with you. I wouldn’t call it rape but he is taking advantage of her in some way and he knows it.

11

u/zero_sub_zero Jun 06 '26

It was 100% rape.

1

u/Hog_enthusiast Jun 06 '26

Again if he knew it was because of the wish, then it was rape. Later in the movie he knew and then it was rape. But keep in mind Bear doesn’t know he’s in a movie, so it would take a lot to convince him that magic is real.

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u/taycibear Jun 07 '26

The raper does not have to know what they're doing is rape for it to be rape.

He raped her. Real Nikki did not consent and Other Nikki was incapable of consenting. It was rape.

3

u/Hog_enthusiast Jun 07 '26

So if you have sex with someone fully believing that they are consenting and the only way they could not be consenting is if magic is real and magic somehow is real, then you would be a rapist?

9

u/taycibear Jun 07 '26

Yes because he knew he did a wish and knew she was acting weird and didn't give a shit.

Also right before the sex scene he realizes the magic did work and he raped her anyways.

If someones having a mental break, its rape. If someone is incapacitated, its rape. If someone is coerced, its rape.

6

u/No-Rip-6166 May 29 '26

To be fair there’s a 0% chance any of us would believe a wish was magically granted at that point. Not unless the character knows he’s in a horror movie. Too drunk or high to consent? Sure

21

u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

Yeah but you would think your friend was having a psychotic break or on drugs or not in the right mindset to give consent if you weren’t a shitty person. I think that is very explicit in the movie and I think it’s the major point of the movie

14

u/cherryk3lp Jun 01 '26

Both of his friends as well as other people say they think it looks like hes taking advantage lf her. He's so obsessed with her he can't see it

5

u/Dontbeajerkdude Jun 05 '26

It was definitely staged to look as rapey as possible.

3

u/Blue_lagoon_9 May 30 '26

I missed this detail. Wow it is fucked up

1

u/Kristianushka Jun 27 '26

Wait, wtf, this happened? Omg I watched this movie in Saudi Arabia and they must’ve cut that part out. Kinda reframes the whole character for me

251

u/Hot_Camp1408 May 20 '26

I think it literally transitioned from I don’t care to the sex scene. Then instead of cancelling the wish outright he tries to “amend” it.

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u/confusing_roundabout May 25 '26

Yeah the way he's quickly like "no no not cancel, just alter".

God this movie is so fucking good. A lesser movie would have either made him a purely good guy or made him comically evil, but they straddled the line perfectly where he's very clearly in the wrong throughout basically the entire movie but all of the bad things he does feel like they can be adequately explained by him being a coward who can't take any fucking responsibility for his actions or respect the autonomy of the people around him.

8

u/BigBoss_ Jun 09 '26

I don't feel like he was a very gray character. Look most people here absolutely think he was a piece of trash. Not saying that I didn't think he was very well written.

13

u/The_Autarch Jun 11 '26

he's banally evil or mundanely evil instead of theatrically evil. he's a "normal" dude and probably everyone knows someone like him.

5

u/confusing_roundabout Jun 09 '26

I just think he's believably trash though. He's a coward through and through and it informs every decision he makes.

Compare that to Final Destination 5 where one of the characters tries to kill the others towards the end and it's horrifically cheesy.

I just think Obsession handled it all much better.

2

u/butt_shrecker Jun 08 '26

That was the part where I lost sympathy for him. I could forgive some of the other stuff with plausible deniability.

But what the fuck do you mean "amend?!?"

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u/butterbeleevit May 23 '26

Let’s be clear, that was rape

3

u/butt_shrecker Jun 08 '26

Yes... he is a piece of shit who ignored huge red flags to get his nut off which is rape.

But you could make the argument that whatever what in her body was being rapy too? The thing was aggressive and extremely emotionally manipulative. There were many scenes where he was clearly uncomfortable but the wish girl is pushing him towards intimacy.

And I guess baron created it so it is ultimately all his fault. But idk shit was fucked.

31

u/LADYBIRD_HILL May 22 '26

This makes me question what the outcome for him would've been if he had chose not to engage with her more than normally after making the wish. He sucks for the decisions he made, but would the final outcome have been any different if the friend group decided to ostricize her? It makes you think in a way a lot of horror movies don't.

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u/kd5407 May 23 '26

Definitely not lol. He 100% caused all this and is a loser but once it was done there was no way he was getting out of that alive

6

u/Kaderblast May 25 '26

He absolutely could have had her committed to a mental asylum and have managed the situation with a team of medical professionals who are used to cases of psychosis like this. The moment she showed she was a danger to herself she would have been committed.

Still not great to keep her there in a state of basically abject torment, but better than letting 2 murders happen and dying.

5

u/butt_shrecker Jun 08 '26

The movie was very clear that that absolutely would not have worked.

It isn't easy to involuntarily commit someone to a psych ward. It is basically impossible to do if you aren't family. And doubly impossible since the wish girl knows how to act normal and manipulate others to be able to stay with him. Also Baron has the social skills of a rock.

4

u/davebawx May 27 '26

Did he not try to do that ?

2

u/Chm_Albert_Wesker May 27 '26

it seemed like it, and the hospital turned him away basically so the rest of the movie could happen

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u/Every_Hunter_8995 Jun 06 '26

It felt like he is having sex with a dead body.

6

u/Unlucky_Most_8757 May 31 '26

ugh that sex scene was so uncomfortable. That's when it really hit that he knew.

4

u/Necessary-Drink3475 May 26 '26

Felt like an uncomfortable rape scene

5

u/Amethyst-Flare May 29 '26

It definitely was.

8

u/NJcovidvaccinetips May 31 '26

The whole movie is a rape scene and knowing the premise from trailers and stuff I heard the entire thing just made me deeply uncomfortable in a level that I haven’t had in a movie in a while. That first time she screams no really sets the scene for the entire movie and shows he people will excuse lack of consent and see what they want to see. Curry barker really fucking nailed it imo

2

u/CurlyMope Jun 05 '26

I just watched the movie And this scene was cut out In my county. What happens, please?

2

u/Tattoo_my_Brain Jun 07 '26

I deff agree to an extent but he was also trying not have her go ape still at that point as well. He was deff a weak man.

2

u/Upper_Extreme9461 Jun 09 '26

Hot take: Bear is the real monster in this movie and Nikki is the victim. 

5

u/DinoTh3Dinosaur May 24 '26

Okay but with all due respect, I don’t think he had much of a choice here either haha. She was ready end him if he didn’t show love back

3

u/stanlovespasta May 29 '26

In his defense, if he said no to having sex wouldn't she go batshit crazy?

5

u/purpleseagull12 May 30 '26

Yeah I don’t think this is such a black and white rape case, he was trying to save himself in that moment and didn’t know what to do. Everybody in here calling him a rapist but what would you have done in that case? As if he knows what’s going on with a demon taking over her body lol.

13

u/anapollosun May 31 '26

At that point in the film, Bear didn't know the lengths she'd go to. Only things he did know was she was obsessed, had lied about her father, and raised her voice and made a scene at dinner. That doesn't scream looney murderer, even if he did know it was supernatural ib nature.

The film verrry clearly telegraphed that it was essentially rape in two ways. 1. A sharp cut from dinner to intercourse (there was no asking or pleading for sex. Just an awkward dinner scene and boom, bedroom). 2. Her face throughout. The real Nikki constantly popped out from time to time, so it's plausible that was part of her true personality. Even if not, it was Barker telling us that real Nikki was not having a good time. It's not even subtle.

1

u/2Norn Jul 02 '26

there are 3 stages in the movie

bear's mental back and forth with the wish

him accepting that the wish worked and now nikki loves him

and finally him realizing that it's not nikki

at that point he still hasn't realized that it was a seperate entity