You could say the world has an obsession with Obsession.

A young man cannot express his true feelings to the girl of his dreams, and resorts to a “wishing willow” novelty gift. But when his wish comes true, he gets a lot more than he bargained for.

Obsession has taken the movie business by storm. It (and fellow horror, Backrooms) have overridden the box office despite Disney’s own products. This teen horror movie has been in cinemas for a month, and it is still going strong. It has made perhaps quadruple its budget back. The film is directed by newcomer Curry Barker, and stars relatively new blood with Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, and Megan Lawless.

Is this movie all it has been made out to be, or is it as advertised: just an obsession?

We follow Bear (Johnston) as he practises asking a girl out with his friend Ian. He is hopeless. Completely unable to voice his feelings, and Ian isn’t helping. Bear works with his friends in a dead-end retail job, living in his grandmother’s old house, and to make matters worse… his negligence and air-headedness results in his pet cat dying.

At his wits end, he fails to confess his love to Nikki (Navarrette). On the cusp of losing her forever, he makes a wish. That she will “love him more than anyone else in the world”. As usual, the monkey’s paw curls: Nikki begins to act extremely strangely, and it doesn’t end with simple affection.

Coming late to this film, I am at risk of over-hype taking effect. I only heard good things. So I might be affected by this more than I know.

I think when it comes to Obsession, it is safe to say that it comes at a unique time in cinema. It advertises itself as a teen horror movie, which are popular right now anyway. But unlike a lot of this subgenre’s offerings, Obsession actually has good writing. Audiences so used to stories about brainless idiots are actually getting a character-driven horror story. Thus, the film is staying in cinemas and succeeding far more than its peers.

It is also well performed, and well directed from relatively new blood and on a tiny budget. Classic underdog story. The movie is a slow-build, the music is subtle. This is a horror that delves into social anxieties, awkwardness, codependency, and relationship strife. Which seems to be a popular theme these days in media. There are some good subtle rug-pulls in the third act that make earlier scenes add up.

Navarrette is a powerhouse performance here. The wish that curses her transforms her in a slowly escalating psychosis. It is small quirks and peculiar actions at first, then stranger, weirder things, to full-on insanity. Each escalation is very well realized from her performance; it is very hard to tell what is going on in her head. She delivers some properly unsettling monologues and speeches.

But boy, is it a grim film.

I always endeavour to not spoil movies when reviewing them. But Obsession is not your atypical horror. When you drill into it, it is a very depressing, harsh reality. Especially for Navarrette’s Nikki. Bear is an absolute idiot. The film has flirtatious flings with dark comedy at times, but it is ultimately a tragic tale.

In terms of scares, I wasn’t particularly scared, even with its jump scares. It was more an upsetting experience. There are unhinged scenes with Nikki and Bear that simply don’t track with the wish or as something Nikki would do. Even before things start going off the rails. If the wish is one of love, why on Earth would she do these things? The answer is, because scary movie needs to be scary.

It is somewhat in response to 2024’s The Substance. With someone emotionally vulnerable turns to an “easy fix” for their problem. Only for the fix to make their life a living hell. But The Substance was playing off of the real life satire of horrible people and elitist industries chewing people up. Obsession is just… a nasty teen horror. It is well-made, it is well performed. But I can’t say I necessarily enjoyed it.

Certainly one for horror fans. It is unique and has a stand-out central performance.