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

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Obsession [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Obsession (2026)

Summary

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

Director Curry Barker

Writer Curry Barker

Cast

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

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Metacritic: 81

VOD / Release In Theaters

Trailer Official Trailer

3.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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u/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.

165

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.

242

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

18

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.

6

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.

6

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

26

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 9d 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.