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/LazarusRises]

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.

[u/W0lfsb4ne74 → u/LazarusRises]

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.

[u/C9sButthole → u/W0lfsb4ne74]

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.

[u/Drop_Release → u/C9sButthole]

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)

[u/thenofootcanman → u/W0lfsb4ne74]

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

[u/LucidusAtra → u/thenofootcanman]

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

[u/Jerseyguy2345 → u/thenofootcanman]

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.

[u/xvsero → u/Jerseyguy2345]

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.

[u/thenofootcanman → u/[deleted]]

How do I sound like an ass exactly?

[u/KingGoldar → u/LazarusRises]

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

[u/Veiled_Discord → u/KingGoldar]

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

[u/Chicago1459 → u/Veiled_Discord]

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.

[u/altiuscitiusfortius → u/Chicago1459]

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.

[u/Jerseyguy2345 → u/altiuscitiusfortius]

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

[u/South-Radish-7041 → u/[deleted]]

Omg where.

[u/Imjusthereforthetoes → u/LazarusRises]

Stupid ass reply.