Obsession

Grade: B-

Screenwriters, novelists, and other storytellers have been re-telling variations of the Monkey’s Paw story for years and years. It boils down to: what if you actually get what you wish for? Chances are you’ll end up wishing you had never made that wish. Obsession’s tagline is “be careful who you wish for.” Another lesson the main character learns is to be careful how you word your wish. He gets exactly what he said he wanted. I’ve lived long enough to have learned that fantasy and possibility is often better than reality. However I’m envisioning it in my head is probably better than the thing itself if I ever got it.

The early scenes are so charming, and true to life – up there with any “coming of age puppy love” premise, like my beloved Snack Shack. Writer/director Curry Barker does a perfect job of capturing those evenings out with friends, where every last quip and mannerism from your crush gives you a melty feeling in your heart. The plot involves four co-workers who frequently hang out after work: Bear, Nikki, Ian, and Sarah. They work at a music store. That’s a nice touch. When I heard dialogue in one of the first scenes about how “you’re lucky you were off today, it was so busy,” I assumed they were in the restaurant business. That would have been too easy.

The opening scene is a clever fake-out. I won’t say exactly what the situation is, but it turns out to be Bear rehearsing something he wants to say, instead of actually saying it to the person. He has a crush on Nikki. Before meeting his three friends at a bar, he stops at a new agey psychic store in hopes of replacing a necklace Nikki just lost. He doesn’t find anything to his liking, but does pick up something called One Wish Willow. You say what you want, and then break the stick. After dropping her off at the end of the night, he makes the wish that Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world. “I wish Nikki felt the same about me as I do about her” would have been much better phrasing.

Instantaneously, Nikki is devoted to Bear. He’s initially freaked out, nervous, and skeptical. I once had a therapist who told me that if one of my infatuations were to suddenly feel the same way and reciprocate, it wouldn’t be all it was cracked up to be. It would give me pause, making me go “Wait. What?” That’s how Bear reacts at first. Once he gets over this, there’s a montage of happy times in their new relationship, with Bear on Cloud 9.

Nikki’s behavior turns increasingly clingy, disturbing, and robotic. The latter adjective is what hit me the most. If I had been able to wish for something like this, it wouldn’t take long for the realization to sink in that she’s only acting like that because it’s what I said I wanted. Once this plot point comes to fruition in Obsession, we lose the real Nikki from the earlier scenes. She’s a Stepford Wife. No more free will or personality from the appealing beginning. The true Nikki somewhat pokes through in a very interesting moment that I wish had been explored more. She’s talking in her sleep, and says something about being trapped, and “this isn’t me,” and “please kill me” – which makes Bear ask “what would be so bad about being with me?”

The zany Blumhouse gore, put in for shock value, does eventually take over, but most of the scariness and dread comes from the powerful choices made by Inde Navarrette as Nikki. Not just her delivery of lines, but her physicality convincingly takes her from a romcom prospective girlfriend to a nightmare. Michael Johnston, as Bear, has a great look and wonderful leading man qualities. He has to convey so many emotions. There is some comedy. My biggest laugh came when something starts raining for a long time. One of the best scary moments is a very well-timed shot taking place during a conversation in a car. You’ll know these when you see them.

By the end, it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to say, where it wants to go, and – in general – how the plane will land. The final shot that segues into the end credits is creative. An actor makes a loud noise that continues through the credits, and wafts out into the hallway. It will make moviegoers wonder what’s playing in there. I suppose it was inevitable that Obsession would ramp up into ridiculous Blumhousey business, but it’s one of their better offerings. The promising setup and the performances from the two stars are enough to keep it afloat. Shortly before Bear breaks that willow, setting everything in motion, Nikki says to him “Do you like me? Because if you do, now is the time to say so.” Boy, was it ever.

Grade: B-