SPOILERS!!!!
This is like when Jordan Peele came out with GET OUT, or Ari Aster dropped Hereditary, a new voice in horror has arrived and it feels DIFFERENT. Obsession needs to first be experienced in a theatre because Curry Barker has seemingly found a way to already master the art of jump scares and making you feel so uneasy with lighting, sound design and terrifying imagery. Rarely do horror movies live up to the absurd levels of hype that are put out there for them (see Longlegs), but Obsession did it. Earned every bit of hype discussed around it being one of the scariest and well done horror movies in recent years.
This is the best horror movie I have seen from top to bottom since Hereditary and I mean that with every fiber of my body. This movie is acted at the highest level a horror movie can achieve in my opinion, the writing is so tight and layered that it did not feel like a first time directed feature length film, and the effects and sound are stuff from nightmares. What a debut by Curry Barker. Let’s get into some of the details.
FREAKY NIKKI CAME WITH THE SCARES
Enough cannot be said about how scary Nikki came across in every scene. There are obviously terrifying scenes that stick out, like the bedroom scene, the car scene, and the walking backwards scene, but a lot of the fear came with being on edge anytime you thought Nikki was going to go crazy because of something. The way a Barker used lighting, sound design, and certain body movements for Nikki was absolutely horrifying and made you feel like you were watching something you shouldn’t. Looking back at this film after watched it a few days ago, there aren’t just scary scenes, but a ton of unsettling scenes. Her waiting for Bear to get home from work, the whole Jenga scene at Ian’s and so many night time scenes. Especially one that fucked me up was when real Nikki was talking to Bear before he left asking him to kill her. It’s heartbreaking and terrifying all at once.
This feels like Curry unlocked a new way to hit the audience with scares and that’s what was so insanely refreshing about this horror film. The sound of a shower turning off shook my theatre, the reading of a Jenga piece shook my theatre, and a backwards walk literally had people screaming bloody murder in my theatre. I have read there was a dancer body double that helped with some of the creepy movements, but they were just movements of nightmares. Her body movements in the bedroom as the initial big scare of the film got everyone tensed up, the stop motion walk at the climax was brief but freaky, and then the backwards walk made my entire body feel chills. That scene felt like it was about to let you off easy like they were going to just go off to bed, then she walks backwards into dark lighting and the sound and scream just completely wreck you. It’s truly stuff of nightmares throughout.
Let’s not forget the best jump scare and most brutal scene in the whole film, Sarah’s death. This was one jump scare that I really had a feeling was coming but wasn’t sure what would happen. The scene went on for a bit though so you could not measure when the jump scare would hit you like you could with other films. Then you get absolutely fucked when Inde does run through the windshield and smash Sarah’s face against a break with the honking of the car horn going off 10-15 times. It’s so brutal. It’s the scene Curry had to cut back on the head smashes to avoid a NC-17 rating. Unreal stuff. It left me feeling like when Charlie got her head knocked iff in Hereditary. Just so much sadness behind her dying and how sad it was in such a brutal manner.
SMALL CAST, HUGE IMPACT
The Academy has a chance to right the wrong it had made when not nominating Toni Collete for Hereditary. We received some restitution with Amy Madigan winning an Oscar for Weapons last year, but it feels like Inde in Obsession could bring us back to glory with getting a Best Actress nomination for her work here. I know some will argue Bear is the main character, but I really think you could argue it is her film and performance that elevates the film so much she should get the big nomination. There is obvious praise happening all over with Inde Navarrette, and she truly carries the horror of the film, but Michael Johnston as Bear had so many layers also to his performance it should not go unnoticed.
Michael Johnston found a way to be the nice guy you root for at first to get the attractive girl, then turn into the actual villain of the film when you look at it. Also, huge credit to Curry Barker to have the balls to keep him from reverting to a character that has a redemption arc. The attitude Bear has to try to make the wish work out for him still so he can keep dating Nikki under the wish is insane, controlling, and downright cruel when you think about it. Michael Johnston perfectly displays someone that knows he did something wrong but is trying to make it work somehow in his favor, walking the line if you want to see him have a happy ending or not. Ian and Sarah were also great supporting characters. They had layers to their friendships and relationships to both Inde and Bear, which added so much to the well rounded dynamic that the cast made up. Cooper Tomlinson getting a chance to show his acting chops under his buddy Curry Barker was a really cool thing to see rather than trying to cast an established actor. He did a lot to make this feel like a Curry Barker project. Also, poor Sarah. Megan Lawless gave us a girl we started to root for in all of this mess and she had a bright future about to start before she got her face absolutely annihilated by Inde and a brick.
CURRY BARKER HAS FILMMAKING FIGURED OUT
This movie is deserving all the praise it is getting because of what Curry Barker was able to do with a small budget and how much work he put in to make this film into exactly what he wanted. To do the some of the tricks he did with lighting, sound design, and camera work to really scare and mess with the audience is true veteran director work. So many directors and studios should take note of how Curry manipulated lighting and used shadows to make the audience scared of what they can barely see. Nothing on screen can be scarier than what you as an individual person can imagine, but Curry lets you live in a space of imagining what could happen in certain moments and then hitting you with other tricks to catch you off guard. It’s such a well polished horror film it’s so hard to believe he achieved this with the first major release film he did.
Sound design in this film is terrifying. Whether it is escalated screams, background noises, or cuts to silence they all have the impact of sending chills through you. Whispers in the dark, silence after a Jenga block is read, and the shower handle being turned actually made my theatre gasp and panic. I completely forgot the impact sound design (that isn’t a cheap jump scare loud noise) could have to elicit fear in an audience. You truly felt like you were in the room with them when those sounds happened and you felt the impact. The combination of all this plus a tight script that he was able to find the perfect cast members to portray his vision is how this film has succeeded so much. Him having complete creative control of Texas Chainsaw Massacre I think is the best thing because he will do the source material justice and be able to showcase his skills and vision without restriction.
FINAL THOUGHTS
One amazing takeaway from this film is it’s going to be a MASSIVE box office success. The first weekend was a huge success, and I’m writing a blog also to break down just how insane the numbers are after the second weekend. The word of mouth of this film has caused theaters to be packed for this film on a second weekend, many people seeing the film for a second and third time. Obsession is what seeing a film with original scares and stories feels like. This is what happens when you get an indie filmmaker a chance to cook. You may at times end up with something that is just okay (see Iron Lung and Shelby Oaks), but you also end up with Obsession. This is seriously the best horror film I have seen since Hereditary. It made me feel things in a theatre I thought I had become desensitized to. This film proved there is a level that no matter how much you watch horror, a film can come around that will scare the shit out of you and make you remember the heights horror can be taken.
The Cinema Speakeasy Theatre Room 
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