Obsession

Magic in all of its darkest forms appears to be in the zeitgeist again. Hollywood seems to go through phases of preoccupation with exploring the depths and potential costs of, according to the definition of magic, merging one’s will with reality. “Be careful what you wish for” has been a proverbial warning since time immemorial, traced back recently to W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” where the three wishes granted by a mummified bone come with devastating consequences. It’s as if messing with the natural order by inserting one’s desires is just frowned upon. In the new film Obsession, written and directed by Curry Barker, a naive but sweet young man, Baron “Bear” Bailey, played by Michael Johnston, is in love with a friend Nikki, in a performance by Inde Navarrette that owns the film. When shopping for a gift for Nikki, he finds a magic novelty item called One Wish Willow, an object that must be broken in half after making your one wish. Bear asks for Nikki’s undying love and breaks the novelty in half. Let the nightmare begin.

Bear and Nikki work at a music store with their friends Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Nikki’s immediate change in behavior catches everyone’s attention, but explanations and excuses are made. Bear, however, is sensitive from the start to unusual changes in Nikki and warily welcomes her intense advances. He’s finally getting what he wants, but something tells him it’s not quite right. He catches Nikki in lies, her proclamations of devotion are overwrought and publicly embarrassing, and she just doesn’t seem like herself.

The direction is steady and inexorable, not relying on tricks or cliches to keep the audiences’ attention, instead doing the old- fashioned slow build of increasing dread. As Nikki’s words and actions steadily grow in strangeness and extreme, Bear finds it harder to ignore or explain it away. His friends are concerned but of course would never guess at what’s actually behind the unfolding events. Nikki hides in the shadows watching Bear as he sleeps, waits in the same position in the living room while he’s at work, urinating and defecating all over herself, seemingly unaware of anything except Bear. She lashes out and screams whenever he leaves or wants space, but it doesn’t end there. It only escalates. And when Bear tries to find a way to back out of the wish, he quickly realizes the irreversible corner he has backed himself into.

Johnston delivers an endearing and earnest performance of a young man with a big heart but little experience or backbone, so enveloped in his desire for Nikki and then concern over what he may have gotten himself into that he tiptoes through the film observing the results of his wish while desperately clinging to hope that all will be well, despite shocking behavior by the woman he wants so badly to really love him. Navarrette held the audience around me in thrall, with all of us in turns laughing out of shock and unease and then recoiling in horror. She modulates her performance as it mounts into full blown madness, so that by the end it’s impossible to look away from what she is becoming.

The 1996 film The Craft, about four high school witches using magic to get what they want or seek revenge, has a subplot involving the main character Sarah (Robin Tunney) casting a spell on the boy she likes, Chris (Skeet Ulrich). She too gets more than she bargains for and quickly realizes the folly of her actions. However, Obsession takes this cautionary tale to new heights of terrifying violence and extremes. And it does so in measured, confident direction by Barker. Much of the film is heavy with existential dread, awkward silences, forced intimacy, and claustrophobic panic. We feel that we are living Bear’s nightmare with him, and we watch in anticipation to find out how – if – he will escape what he has created. It also makes one wonder if everything happens exactly as it should, until we mess with it.