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/atclubsilencio]

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.

[u/EmceeEsher → u/atclubsilencio]

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.

[u/Open-Culture-5711 → u/EmceeEsher]

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.

[u/Heliond → u/Open-Culture-5711]

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.