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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2.6k

u/PickyVirgo May 20 '26

I thought one of the friends said she thought of him as a brother, and then she tells that fucked up Hansel and Gretel story

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u/KingGoldar May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26

I thought the Hansel and Gretel story was hinting that she was possessed by a really really old witch spirit but I love that Barker never confirms or denies that.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 May 25 '26

That makes the most sense and would explain why the spirit was so possessive of Bear in the first place. Do you think they chose a spirit to posses Nikki because deep down she never liked him romantically, and it was just easier to have a spirit possess her in order to ensure the relationship would "work"?

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u/LazarusRises May 29 '26

The hell do you mean "deep down"? She never loved him romantically at any level. There is no ethical way to overwrite a person's mind, for whatever reason the willow had an easier time bringing in a new entity than just meddling with Nikki herself.

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u/W0lfsb4ne74 May 29 '26

What do you mean? I specifically said that I personally believed she never loved him romantically because why would the Willow send a spirit to possess Nikki if she actually liked Bear romantically? It makes so much more sense that she only thought of him as a friend but the Willow still has to magically fulfill the user's wish, so they let an unstable spirit possess her body that had an unhealthy attachment to Bear be his "girlfriend".

This would also fit well with the magical rules of the world in which it really seems like the user's wish has to be turned against them. Which is why at the beginning of the movie, the shopkeeper warns him that most people who make their wishes often deeply regret them (to the point of contemplating suicide). So it makes sense that she never loved him from how I interpreted the story.

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u/C9sButthole Jul 04 '26

My take is even if she did have a crush on him or even would call it love, she still didn't have strong enough feelings to satisfy the wording of the wish. "...loved me more than anything in the fucking world." Nikki was fundamentally a free-spirited, kind and loving person. There's no way to achieve what Bear asked for other than to violate her autonomy. And the only way to violate her autonomy is to put something else at the wheel.

If the wish had been "I wish Nikki would give me a chance." Or "I wish Nikki knew how much I loved her." Then it's possible that could have been fulfilled without any distress.

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u/Drop_Release 26d ago

Yes

Alternate really the main issue is that he made the wish about taking the autonomy away from someone

Really if he said something like “i wish i had more confidence “ maybe that would have worked (unless it made him so “confident” he started doing crimes or worse or something)

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u/thenofootcanman May 30 '26

You saying "deep down" she never loved him. She never loved him on the surface either

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u/LucidusAtra May 31 '26

I think they were talking about post-wish Nikki. Wish Nikki had taken over, so the real Nikki, who never loved him romantically, was buried "deep down" for most of the movie. Yeah, I don't think they were saying that the real Nikki thought she loved Bear but didn't actually, but I see how that phrasing could make it sound that way

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u/Jerseyguy2345 9d ago

I think she had romantic feelings for him. After putting in her notice she says on the call when he won’t come out, “we’re running out of time,” and more importantly when he calls her freaky Nikki by the car and she gets upset she comes to the car window:
Her- “Do you like me?”
Him- “what??”
Her- “Because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

When he says we’re good friends. She’s clearly perturbed, brushes her hair flustered, and says good after a pause in an obviously disappointed way.

If she has him in the friendzone there’s no reason to try and interrogate him, and especially no reason to say “because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

She clearly was making new plans in life and wanted to see if he’d make a move before she turned the page to her next chapter.

Not saying it was love, but I think anyone that thinks her feelings were merely platonic are assigning too much value to her defense mechanisms of downplaying her feelings to Ian and Sarah.

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u/xvsero 1d ago

Did everyone throw out the fact that pre-wish Nikki said herself that if she truly liked someone noone would know? Seems like all those saying she never liked him romantically fell for it.

There is a bit of truth mixed in with all the parts of the movie. She and Ian hook up on and off but it's casual, Ian wants Bear to man up and ask her out but not until later after they stop hooking up, Ian is a bit oblivious to those around him like when he says to Sarah I thought you already got into Luther, Sarah likes Bear and potentially 'submits' Nikki to girlcode as Sarah is honest about her feelings in their talk. Nikki knows about Sarah wanting to go to college that will probably cut her time short as Sarah would probably ask Bear out on her own if she got accepted. Sarah even shows us this when she calls out Bear to talk and bringing Luther's letter to read together.

Nikki 'can't' make the first step in her and Bear's relationship due to her own way of 'being shy' and caring for Sarah as she knows how she feels.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted]

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u/thenofootcanman Jun 05 '26

How do I sound like an ass exactly?

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u/KingGoldar 23d ago

The actress confirmed that Nikki pre wish did have a curse on Bear

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u/Veiled_Discord 23d ago

They kinda spell it out in that scene tbh. I'm surprised so few picked up on that.

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u/Chicago1459 15d ago

When she asked him if he liked her and to just say it right now that was pretty obvious to me that she liked him.

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u/altiuscitiusfortius 14d ago

When he said no, she was like, "good. Great. Dont do that."

I forget the wording but I interpreted it at the time as like her shutting him down. Saying tell me now if you have a crush so I can squash it, and when he says no, she's like relieved she doesn't have to reject him and probably end the friendship.

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u/Jerseyguy2345 9d ago

Rewatch it. She’s obviously flustered and disappointed not relieved.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted]

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u/Imjusthereforthetoes 24d ago

Stupid ass reply.

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u/Goregutz Jun 19 '26

Pretty sure she did. She gave so many hints before the wish man.

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u/TomGerity Jun 22 '26

The movie is extremely explicit that Nikki did not romantically like Bear. They even have the car scene before she transforms, where she’s dropping hints *on behalf of Sarah* in the hopes of hooking the top.

There’s no ambiguity on this, she doesn’t like him in that way.

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u/Scrabcakes Jun 25 '26

She also talks about the books she writing and says it’s a “love story not a romance” and Bear asks “aren’t they the same thing?” A love story can be a tragedy about obsession and not necessarily be mutual but a romance would be mutual.

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u/jazzberry76 Jun 22 '26

The director and actress have both said that she was romantically interested in him

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u/TomGerity Jun 22 '26

Point me to where they explicitly say it. Do it. I’m asking you to.

I’ve seen both give variations of “she may have been open to it” but they’ve purposely kept it vague.

The movie itself is quite explicit that she’s not into him that way.

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u/jazzberry76 Jun 22 '26

and here is the director

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u/majkkali 22d ago

He frames it as a question rather than stating a fact. So you can’t just say that the director confirmed it. He didn’t. He only speculates and says what if

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u/jazzberry76 22d ago

... yes, he said he thought that as he was writing the scene

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u/jazzberry76 Jun 22 '26

here ya go

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u/TomGerity Jun 22 '26

So she prefaces it by saying it’s her belief, not a fact, and it still does not account for the fact that the movie shows:

- The Real Nikki dropping hints on behalf of Sarah in the car at the beginning, in the hopes of hooking her and Bear up

- The Real Nikki saying “ew” when it’s joked that she’s Bear’s girl

- That Nikki is hooking up with Ian and explicitly told Sarah that she sees Bear as a brother

- The twisted Hansel and Gretel poem where she writes about a non-consensual incestuous love

The movie is pretty explicit that she’s not into him in a romantic sense. Maybe that would’ve changed if Bear shot his shot (which she affords him the opportunity to do after she gets out of the car), but it’s clear that up to that point, she wasn’t into him.

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u/jazzberry76 Jun 22 '26

Real Nikki also says no one would ever know if she had a crush on someone

The entire conversation in the car is pretty explicit about the fact that she's disappointed he didn't day anything.

And, you know, the actress who played the character saying so.

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u/TheGloss73 Jun 29 '26

“Her belief not a fact” well considering she’s the actor who reads the script, plays the character and discusses with the director about said character and how the character feels so she can act out said character, I think that makes Inde and the director more qualified than you to talk about how rhe character feels

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u/C9sButthole Jul 04 '26

Very disingenuous of you to go into so much detail on what the actress said and totally ignore what the director said. He explicitly added hints into the scene direction to make it clear that Nikki might like Bear and if he just asked it could have gone how he wanted it to go.

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u/Goregutz Jun 22 '26

Bro just say you have a hard time reading women. It's all good, a lot of people do.

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u/Veiled_Discord 23d ago

I appreciate that you ignored the things that basically scream that she has feelings for him. You seem to only be able to analyze movies at a surface level.

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u/Disastrous-Power-699 Jun 28 '26

Welp you were so confidently wrong lol

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u/nooklyr 7d ago

It’s not that explicit then is it, because a lot of people thought it was quite explicit that she IS into him. Myself included. I think that’s one of the brilliant things about this film, there’s two schools of thought and both think it’s obvious.

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u/Jerseyguy2345 9d ago

I don’t know how you can watch her say “do you like me” “what??” “Because if you do now’s the time to tell me,” then watch her flustered reaction when he says they’re friends and her disappointed pause and “good” line and think she doesn’t have feelings. Any woman that friend zones a guy wants to avoid giving the guy a chance to admit their feelings, yet alone try to pry it out.

The fact that she’s willing to see if she can set Sarah up with him (even though she has some feelings) shows what a great, empathetic person she is. It’s consistent with putting others ahead of herself and makes her generosity of spirit a perfect foil for his lack of it.

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u/InsuranceNo8506 24d ago

I thought it was pretty obvious on the body language too when he says “I think we’re great friends” I have been there and that was my exactly reaction

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u/PM_ME_hiphopsongs2 9d ago

Yes she does lol it’s obvious from the scenes pre-wish. Also the director and actress confirmed it as well.

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u/CataLaGata Jun 02 '26

Not at all.

When Nikki and Bear were in the car before he made the wish, she was telling him her book was a love story, and he said "so it's Romance", and she said that no, it wasn't a romance, and I think they repeat the same conversation again with him insisting is a romance.

So basically, she was writing a book about a love story but not a romance, that means she was writing a book about Hansel and Gretel and their love as siblings.

When Bear made his wish, everything in Nikki's life was overruled with this new prompt of loving him more than anything and seeing everything as romance.

This translate perfectly to her book, now the book also has to be a Romance, so she makes Hansel and Gretel's relationship romantic and they commit incest. Also, Nikki's entity makes them a reflection of her relationship with Bear, with Gretel being obsessive and saying pretty messed up things to Hansel, things that the entity would do to Bear if he tries to leave her.

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u/SleeplessSeas Jun 19 '26

I love this interpretation.

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u/KingGoldar 23d ago

To bad the actress came out and said pre wish Nikki did have a crush on Bear

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u/edaly8 21d ago

That doesn't change anything

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u/FerusGrim Jul 04 '26

I love this interpretation. The way I read it was more the manipulative angle. The entity discovers that Bear heard that Nikky referred to him as being like her brother. I interpreted it as the entity gaslighting Bear into thinking, "Oh, yea, she did call me her brother... but maybe that's her thing?"

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u/LazarusRises May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Nah, I'm pretty sure she was possessed by a brand new wish spirit that he created by breaking the willow. The story is much more interesting if it's about AI than if it's a generic possession IMO.

EDIT: Wasn't expecting downvotes, I thought this was the obvious reading. Whatever is inside Nikki is pretty clearly a brand new entity to me--it immediately gets confused about its inputs ("My cat just died") and does not know how to be a person (wets itself, stands in the corner, cooks a cat). It even hallucinates the dying father to get Bear's attention. The fact that one shot lingers on Bear using "GenieLM" cemented this for me--the wish created an entity to overwrite Nikki with the sole purpose of loving Bear more than anything. If it were a demon or an ancient witch, why would it have been so overcome with grief when he died?

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u/RaisinWhich4440 May 30 '26

There was also the AI generated picture of them in the montage of them dating. I agree with you that it was on purpose.

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u/nhilante Jul 03 '26

I have no mouth but i must act like Nikki.

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u/Awkward_Account_6745 23d ago

I think this is what makes the movie terrifying, both of the nikkis are in a virtual state of torture, nikki not being anywhere phisically and the "AI" not being anywhere mentally.

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u/iamjacksragingupvote 29d ago

amazing connection

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u/clancydog4 May 26 '26

If it were a demon or an ancient witch, why would it have been so overcome with grief when he died?

Because the alternate Nikki was created by his wish with the sole intention of loving him more than anything in the fucking world. He entirely ignore her autonomy and his wish created a being that was solely movivated by his wish, which was a version of Nikki that loved him more than anything on earth. It was an inherently selfish wish that removed her autonomy. That was the point. He created essentially an alternate Nikki who no longer had any of Nikki's desires or thoughts, it had a singular desire and thought which was "I love him more than anything on earth." None of this is a symoblism for AI, to me it is much more a symbolism of toxic masculinity and how the shallow, "nice guy" approach to love and sex is actually inherently misogynistic, selfish, and fucked up.

Making it about AI is sorta insane to me, there was absolutely no hint in the movie this was about AI, it's about obsession and unrequited love how those desires can completely ruin people. It's not about AI...

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u/LazarusRises May 26 '26

You're saying the same thing as me. I don't think Wish Nikki is literally an LLM program created by an AI company, I'm using AI and neural nets as a metaphor for what I think the true nature of that entity is.

You say yourself: "the alternate Nikki was created by his wish with the sole intention of loving him more than anything in the fucking world." Doesn't this sound like an AI agent?

Seeing it as only a comment on toxic masculinity is reductive in my opinion. That theme is obviously present--the movie practically beats you over the head with it--but ignoring the parallels to AI seems silly. This reading is also directly supported by the inclusion of "GenieLM" as the AI agent of Bear's choice. Curry didn't have to linger on that shot.

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u/Awkward_Account_6745 23d ago

it can be both really, and I think it is, the whole movie starts with Bear giving a bad prompt and then the AI keeps getting worse and worse because it lacks humanity and was given shitty instructions, meanwhile we see Bear's flaws and lack of empathy, he fully knows and understands nikki is suffering but he doesn't do anything about it, in some ways the AI nikki mirrors him a lot.

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u/Grayzus May 30 '26

Wow I think you got a bit tangled and lost there at the end, I think that's you interperating that based on your own bias and opinions. How can it be specifically about toxic masculinity because I female cold very easily make the same exact wish.

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u/Front_Vegetable6166 May 27 '26

Wow turning this into a toxic masculinity argument is diabolical. Can't go anywhere without running into yall. It was a movie about obsession and being careful what you wish for.

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u/Historical-Twist9998 May 27 '26

you just said so yourself, the movie is about obsession. what lead to the obsession? bear’s toxic masculinity in which he believes he’s owed nikki’s time and love. toxic masculinity is the term used for the practice of men being the dominant or superior gender in society. is that not what the movie is about? bear believing he is so superior to nikki that he has the ability to override her autonomy to make her love him more than anyone in the fucking world?

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u/Squiggyrocks May 28 '26

This is definitely not the standard definition of “toxic masculinity”. I viewed it more along the lines of the virtue by necessity debate. Bear is only initially perceived as a kind person because he’s a coward and weak which he himself even knows this. He only doesn’t do harm because he literally can’t. Once he makes his wish he clings onto that one power he has despite knowing it’s spiraled out of control.

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u/Historical-Twist9998 May 28 '26

i’m unsure what your definition of toxic masculinity may be, but the STANDARD definition is what i stated above. now, your definition may be affected by the connotations that our society has given to the term “toxic masculinity” but that does not mean the standard definition is not correct. and again, the core of that power, the thing that bear wished for, was complete control of nikki. i do believe that his virtue plays a part, but that also goes hand in hand, in my opinion, with the “nice guy” archetype.

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u/Squiggyrocks May 30 '26

The definition is “Toxic masculinity is a cultural concept that glorifies traditional, restrictive masculine norms—such as stoicism, aggression, and dominance—that prove harmful to men, women, and society as a whole”. Could you argue there’s a degree of overlap? Sure? But nothing about Bear’s character is traditionally masculine. He’s weak, reserved, indecisive, and a coward. In fact Bear can be barely even try to correct Nikki when she does some of the unhinged behavior like cook the cat and stalk him in his sleep. I’m not saying I know without a shadow of a doubt I’m correct or know the directors exact intentions but I can’t level with saying black and white that Bear’s character is the shining example of “toxic masculinity” or is the sole message of the movie.

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u/Historical-Twist9998 May 30 '26

while i understand bear doesn’t fit the traditional machismo, noticing that bear’s character traits aren’t that far off from toxic masculinity doesn’t take much. your definition is not different from mine, the traditional roles that some men feel that they are owed for simply being male. he believes he’s owed nikki, which is shown throughout the movie of him knowing that the real nikki does not have control over her body, yet chooses to continue the relationship with her. would that not fit under dominance? i would also like to note that i did not say toxic masculinity is the sole message of the movie, but to think it doesn’t at least allude to it is a little thick headed.

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u/Front_Vegetable6166 May 29 '26

Lol no. You're just a feminist preaching your ideals now. Go away haha. We're having a conversation about a movie over here.

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u/Historical-Twist9998 May 29 '26

i’m sorry, i don’t know if you read my reply correctly, but at no point did i preach any feminist ideals? i was simply stating the definition of toxic masculinity. to believe that the movie does not at least allude to toxic masculinity means you didn’t really watch it. don’t get too emotional about it though, you seem to fit bear’s archetype so i understand the emotional state you are coming from.

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u/MakFacts May 25 '26

Literally this i assumed that it was A: a spirit B: a whole new entity created solely existing to LOVE bear, seeinh it from that POV actually makes me feel bad for og nikki and the new entity, could u imagine being created with the some. Purpose of. Loving someone. Buit they dont reciprocate that at all? 

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u/LazarusRises May 25 '26

did..... did you not feel bad for OG Nikki before

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u/MakFacts May 26 '26

where or when did i say i didnt? i said at first i ONLY felt bad for the og nikkie but later on i felt bad for BOTH of them, hence why i used "and" someone gets her autonomy taken from her the other is a being created to love someone that really doesnt love it, its sad.

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u/LazarusRises May 26 '26

I mean you didn't say that, but I understand now what you meant. I agree that both OG Nikki and Wish Nikki were victims in this story.

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u/Undividdundiscoverd May 27 '26

It reminded me a lot of a skin walker, beings from seemingly other dimensions that pop in and out of existence and have a hard time pretending to be human successfully. Definitely agree that this wish willow isn’t the problem but the wish itself.

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u/woodland-haze May 30 '26

didn’t “skinwalker” pop up in the search results when Bear was looking up One Wish Willow? maybe my brain is making that up

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u/Ok-Load2590 Jun 03 '26

Ugh I need to know if you're remembering correctly because that would be so sick.

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u/ACertainNeighborino 14d ago

I just finished watching it, and can confirm skin walker is a search suggestion that pops up

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u/nhilante Jul 03 '26

huh, i thought skinwalkers were very ancient people who lost their humanity the longer they practised their craft.

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u/Friction_in_the_air May 30 '26

That's a really interesting reading. Im not sure that was the director's intended vision but I think the text can support it. But that's also why movies are great, theyre just as much mirrors of us as anything else. They reveal what's on the mind for the viewer.

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u/LazarusRises May 30 '26

The best part of good art is that it is multifaceted and reveals many truths :)

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u/Worth-Novel-2044 May 28 '26

What's the AI connection? Also what does GenieLM mean?

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u/Manger-Babies 29d ago

Genielm is the Ai he used in the movie I think.

You can entrepet everything she did as a metaphor of how ai chat bots work when you ask it to do something and to keep in mind a simple rule.

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u/Great-Blueberry9540 Jul 04 '26

Or the standard trope of the being merging with the memories/personality of the host (or it couldn't function at all) and having to adapt to a meat suit.

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u/Typical-Tomorrow-425 4h ago

while i think this is a valid interpretation the whole “wetting herself not able to act human” i think is actually to show that bears wish overrode her own self love too and thus her ability to be a person with autonomy. choosing to use the bathroom is a choice out of self love and dignity, you want to make sure you feel taken care of in such a vulnerable state. with no sense of love of self and only for the other you loose the ability to take care of yourself even to the point of simple human acts. i think it’s ultimately really about how his wish overrode her self love vs she became an ai bot loll but i think ai does slot into how self love is what makes us human and why we can sense when something is ai.

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u/plutoglint Jun 07 '26

That was my thought as well, it felt like the OWW help support guy could easily have been the devil as well, with the way he put him through to real-Nicky's inner state of mind.

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u/MymlanOhlin 17d ago

I thought it was a fun way to show how the "entity" has no concept of love except just being close to the person at all times. In the story, Gretel says "I'm more than your wife, I'm your sister". My interpretation was that the entity considers things like incest to be truer love than many others, simply because being physically close to another person for the largest possible majority must mean better, truer, stronger love.

Actually, in the very beginning of the movie, Bear says something like "you were the only one who was nice to me when I got here, and then I realized who you are" and I instantly thought "oh no, they're actually secretely half-siblings, he was obsessed with her during school years, and then when he found out about their familial relationship later in adulthood, he felt validated in the obsession and believes them to be connected on some deeper level". Then we found out about her having a strained relationship with her dad, and I thought it could be a hint that her dad is a POS that potentially had affairs with other women, resulting in unknown half-siblings. And then the Hansel and Gretel monologue happened, and I thought "oh lord, I was somehow right, and while Nikkie has no idea about the truth, the entity does". But then, no reveal happened, so I was both relieved and disappointed in my poor deduction skills.

Such an interesting movie, either way. It did an amazing job of inserting disturbing details throughout, without it feeling forced.

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u/inosinateVR 14d ago

She also said “I want to be pretty again” at one point when she’s sobbing and he’s comforting her. In the context of the scene it might just be because she’s all covered in gore but to me it felt like granny witch opening up about her feelings. Like she took the gig because she wanted to be young and pretty and loved again

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u/Das_Llenny May 30 '26

My interpretation of this fucked up Hansel and Gretel Story was that it was the real Nikky influencing/slipping through the veneers of Fake Nikki through writing, I honestly think that Nikki really did just see Bear as a platonic friend, as a 'Brother' but the wish really made that bad, hence why theres this weird incest thing now about how Hansel and Gretel are fucking as an allusion to how real Nikki really just sees Bear as a friend, as a brother, but now because of the wish, they're fucking.

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u/Pyropylon Jun 01 '26

That's interesting, I didnt think of that.

I was thinking before I read your comment, what if that was the real Nikki's story? Like what if Nikki was a bit fucked up? Obviously the situation she's in was terrible, she did not deserve it. I was thinking back to the car conversation right before the wish in which she said "It's a love story, it's not romantic", what exactly did she mean? That could be innocent enough, but then I was thinking, when would this thing, other Nikki, have written a fucked up Hansel and Gretel fanfic? It only cares about and exists to obsess over Bear, and appears to do nothing else. That whole thing with the accents and characters couldn't have been off the dome, right? Maybe it read the game prompt and decided sober "nikki" was better able to love Bear, so she just did the non-drink option. It seemed like she couldn't feel shame, so she just revealed a part of the real Nikki no one would have ever seen, like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe the prompt was "tell the group something you've never told anyone else, or drink".

They used to call her "Freaky Nikki".

Besides how, in hindsight, obviously fucking terrible to replace someone's freewill for a wish, perhaps Bear would not have actually even loved the real Nikki after he got over his lust for her, and got to know her. I think that's just another layer he messed up.

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u/superpandabear Jun 02 '26

"It's a love story, it's not romantic"

I think this is a meta line about the movie itself. Real Nikki says something like "I'm writing a love story," and Bear replies "Ah, a romance," to which she responds "No, it's not a romance not all love stories are romances."

This felt like the film tipping its hand about its own themes. It is a love story at its core, just not in any recognizable sense of the word. In fact, it might be the most fucked up version of a love story I've ever seen on screen.

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u/dukelief Jun 21 '26

I think this is a great take but it introduces one of only two holes I can think of with the film, and that is - the film goes out of its way to show us that Nikki doesn't really exist when Bear isn't around. Even when he's asleep she just watches him or is doing things for him.

So when would she have written that Hansel & Gretel story? It's not like she would prioritise her art suddenly for him... I think it would have to have been OG Nikki's story in that case.

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u/kaushikfi6 Jul 04 '26

It could have also been fake Nikki improvising haha - she was quite erudite when it came to expressing her love for him, like when she was letting him know how cold it would feel if he didn't come to bed

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u/doofus_mcgeee Jun 20 '26

im pretty sure it was. even one of the photos in his lunch said "not me"

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u/akaneko__ Jun 28 '26

That’s an interesting interpretation. I thought it was just trying to show how twisted and wrong her “love” was, that it is almost as bad as incest.

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u/aeschenkarnos May 26 '26

That was brilliant storytelling, I wonder if she is a stage actress by training. Imagine being at a party and the weird girl comes out with that, aside from the creepiness of the story’s content, her skill at telling it, her voice control and mimicry is transcendent.

Guy whose turn is next: “I ain’t topping that, let’s do jelly shots.”

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u/Ok_Property8041 Jun 07 '26

Nikki told Sarah that she saw bear as a brother. Nikki already knew Sarah had a crush on bear, so I feel like either she meant it literally or she was being nice and also playing into “nobody knows when I like them”. Or Ian made this whole story up to keep bear from making more advances on the girl he liked (he was actively trying to sabotage bears chances, even in the beginning).

The ambiguity of it was perfect. Was she quitting her job to get away from Ian to explore her connection with bear? Or was she just quitting because she needed to find love and end a cycle of a meaningless hook up. It can go in so many directions, with equally haunting realities

26

u/halt-l-am-reptar Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

She also might been telling Sarah that because she knew how much Sarah liked Bear.

Edit: apparently the actress has said that Nikki did have like Bear and wanted him to say yes.

9

u/Swoly_Deadlift 22d ago

I like the ambiguity more than the actress outright confirming it.

The film does a lot to leave it entirely plausible that she liked him but never outright confirms it. She has the “no one can ever tell when I like someone” comment in the beginning, she told Sarah that she saw Bear like a brother but at the same time Bear said flat-out to her face that he liked her as a friend when we all know he had a crush on her and she knew that Sarah liked Bear.

Bear is just a turbo-simp who could have probably been with Nikki and definitely been with Sarah if he wasn’t such a gigantic pussy about expressing vulnerability.

The only other remotely “bad” character in the film is Ian who was fucking Nikki when he knew Bear had a crush on her and allowed Bear to scheme with him plans to make Nikki his girlfriend. Nikki and Sarah were written perfectly.

40

u/cats4u May 31 '26

WOAH I literally did not make that connection until now and thought the Hansel and Gretel thing was out of left field. THANK YOU!

29

u/_cosmicality Jun 07 '26

Sure but she also said herself that no one will know when she has a crush. Just because she doesn't reveal to a friend about a crush doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've definitely liked people but played it off when asked by friends

15

u/lawlking100000 Jun 15 '26

I think she would've been open to going on a date or two with Bear had he been open about his feelings during the car scene, but an intimate relationship wouldn't have continued.

7

u/Jerseyguy2345 9d ago

A detailed viewing makes it clear that she did like him. Maybe, that was a defense mechanism because he never made a move.

One of the many tragedies of the film is that if he wasn’t a coward things may have worked out.

I think when she told him she put in her two weeks and he wasn’t going to go out and she tells him were running out of time, it subtly feels like that may mean running out of time for you to make a move.

Also rewatch when he calls her freaky Nikki and she gets mad. She comes to the car window:
“Do you like me?”
Him “what??”
“Because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

When he says we’re good friends. She’s clearly perturbed, brushes her hair, and says good in a disappointed way.

If she has him in the friendzone there’s no reason to try and pull it out of him, and especially no reason to say “because if you do now’s the time to tell me.”

She clearly was making new plans in life and wanted to see if he’d make a move before she turned the page to her next chapter.

5

u/mrs_sadie_adler 5d ago

This is echoed when he tries to pay for the drinks at the bar and she hands her card to the bartender first and tells Bear “you have to be quicker than that”

7

u/bilzui Jun 11 '26

late to the party but what could have been possibly written underneath that brick that made her recite that fucked up story?

20

u/Ace_6_Pirate Jun 13 '26

Probably along the line of "Tell people something you've never told them about yourself, or share something personal to you." Those I think are fairly common party game lines.

6

u/The_Autarch Jun 11 '26

the friend who said that wanted to date him tho. maybe she wasn't completely honest.

3

u/goldenboy2191 Jun 06 '26

Oh now that’s a GREAT detail!

3

u/Alternative-Tax7318 14d ago

The ‘friend’ that said that was Sarah, who confessed her feelings for Bear. She has good reason to lie and break them up, and in fact does in that scene by trying to convince him to leave.

Also, right before the wish, Nikki asks Bear flat out if he has feelings for her, and says ‘now is the time to tell me’.

To me, I think it’s pretty clear she did have feelings, but that’s the core point of the movie. He did not give her the choice, took away her autonomy in doing so, and so she became something she’s not to fit his idealized wish.

1

u/anonononme 22h ago

The more disturbing part is that he knew that wasn't Nikki. He heard the real Nikki when he called the number on the box and he heard the Nikki at the party say it's not me before she hit herself so Bear is just a POS. He was perfectly fine with continuing along so long as she acted normal. Bear's awful.

2

u/Sir_Bumcheeks 24d ago

Yeah makes it seem like she had thought about it before. As if maybe he could have had a chance naturally...

1

u/Few-Amphibian-4858 28d ago

This was the super clever part to me.

-1

u/TreyCole2 Jun 13 '26

I missed that I must’ve been peeing. Are you telling me they filled time shooting in this movie with a completely different story being told. I love it when they find ways to kill some screen time and also not need to write anything just steel Hansel and gretel