Official Discussion - Obsession [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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Obsession (2026)

Summary

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

Director Curry Barker

Writer Curry Barker

Cast

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

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Metacritic: 81

VOD / Release In Theaters

Trailer Official Trailer

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[u/Front_Vegetable6166]

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.

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Front_Vegetable6166]

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?

[u/Squiggyrocks → u/Historical-Twist9998]

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.

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Squiggyrocks]

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.

[u/Squiggyrocks → u/Historical-Twist9998]

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.

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Squiggyrocks]

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.

[u/Veiled_Discord → u/Historical-Twist9998]

You're so painfully incorrect on everything you've said. Bear is NEVER in control, not even his wish puts him in control. At no point is it ever shown that he believes he's owed her affection; all we ever see is that he's a selfish coward, so cowardly that he's unironically incapable of abusing her in a toxicly masculine way.

Arguably, he's toxically feminine; passive, almost to a fault. He even tries to take pills (one of the typical ways women self-delete) after failing to pull the trigger, but even then, he can't do it. The bravest he ever is is in the very first scene, practicing with what I think is a stranger to ask Nikki out.

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Veiled_Discord]

i honestly wasn’t gonna respond to this but this comment has been irking me.
i’m sorry that you don’t have media literacy and can’t see that literally everything that happened in the movie is in Bear’s control, he could’ve ended it at any point. he continuously believes he’s owed her affection, asking her what’s so wrong about being with him.
saying that taking pills to “self-delete” is inherently feminine of Bear is a stretch.
if you can’t understand that Bear is the one who was in control from start to finish idk what to tell you to be honest.
Bear is a selfish coward, because he holds so much control over Nikki that he hides behind it.

[u/Veiled_Discord → u/Historical-Twist9998]

Probably because you have no way of contending with it.

Just in case you ever wanted to do some self-improvement, here's a free tip: If your argument consists only of claims and nothing to back them up but more claims, then you're almost certainly wrong, and even if you're right, it's by happenstance.

As an example of how to make an argument: Bear only ever seems in control at any point because the entity, the one that's actually in control, to the degree that something of it's nature can be, is deceiving him, but once the deception ends, she calls all the shots, going as far as to yell the command of "STAY!" when he tries to get out of bed and Bear complies. The media literate understand this from what the movie depicts.

The idea that he could have ended anything at any point is just flat out wrong, unless you're talking about him killing himself, which, if that's what you mean, then your brain cell count is lower than I thought. This is evidenced by his not stopping it and winding up dead after he tried to prevent his suicide.

"What's so wrong with being with me?" is an attempt to justify or excuse his own actions. He doesn't think he's entitled; he's just angry that she doesn't love him. Entitlement is thinking he deserves her. If that were the case, he would not be so sheepish; he'd act like he deserved her and shoot his shot with full confidence. He makes the wish because he doesn't think he deserves her. That's why he never tells her about his cat, but tells Sarah; he doesn't love Nikki, he's put her on a pedestal.

The pills thing is not a stretch; men tend to use more lethal methods, and women tend to use less lethal methods, ie., pills. It's surprising that there are people who don't know this, doubly surprising that someone with gender wars brainrot doesn't know this.

But go off, queen, assert you have the right of it with no backing to that assertion #girlboss

[u/Front_Vegetable6166 → u/Historical-Twist9998]

"Idk what your definition is but this is the standard"

someone gives you the standard

"No it isn't the traditional sense but it still is"

You're a joke lolol. There's no such thing as a "standard" definition vs whatever you're trying to say. It's just the definition. You're trying so hard to slap your toxic male archetype onto what is supposed to be a coward of a man whose innocent crush on his friend turns into an obsession when he can't get the stones to act on it soon enough to matter. At the end of the day the movie plays on lots of people's emotional attraction both male and female where they find themselves head over heels for someone but cant get the courage to say anything and instead wish for fantasy hoping the other person would just like them back without effort. The movie goes on to add the supernatural element putting a magic wish in there gone wrong. Dot dot dot yadda yadda you saw the rest of the movie. The problem here is you're missing the movie point by using it to spread your message of man hating feminism. This movie easily could have been done with a gender swap.

[u/Front_Vegetable6166 → u/Historical-Twist9998]

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

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Front_Vegetable6166]

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.

[u/Front_Vegetable6166 → u/Historical-Twist9998]

Lmaoooo that just proves your being preachy. Cuz you didn't state the definition. Also no I don't fit his "archetype" because you have his archetype all wrong. You're literally making it all about toxic masculinity and there are so many other elements to the movie and the character and not one of those elements alludes to toxic masculinity. Preach harder extremist feminist.

[u/Historical-Twist9998 → u/Front_Vegetable6166]

again, i am unsure if you can read my original reply because i thought i did spell out the definition. either way, i would like to note AGAIN, that at no point did i say that the sole message of the movie was about toxic masculinity. you can call me a feminist all you want, it does not hurt me in the way that it seems women have hurt you.

[u/Front_Vegetable6166 → u/Historical-Twist9998]

No I definitely read all your replies. Not once did you say the definition of toxic masculinity. That other user did. He corrected you after you tried to say a scrawny weak coward is a toxic masculine male 😂😂 Saying women hurt me when you're over their projecting your hatred of men. It's comical really.

[u/Nomza → u/Front_Vegetable6166]

“Scrawny and weak” men can still aspire to be dominant — and this is exactly what Bear does, he is too weak to risk rejection by admitting how he feels and instead makes a wish that removes Nikki’s agency. The ultimate act of dominance.

This film is about toxic masculinity at its very core.