Obsession (2026) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY61cz9Bn4Q

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I think the worst part about emotions is that we don’t always know the difference between genuine interest and Obsession.

PLOT

The 2026 film follows Baron ‘Bear’ Bailey who lives alone in a home passed to him by his late grandma Bailey. He works in a music store ran by Carter Harper (Andy Richter) and has good friendship with Ian and Sarah, the latter being Carter’s daughter who also works with him. With his pet cat Sandy accidentally dying after digesting his grandma’s oxycodone that he’s kept for his own chronic pain, he feels more alone than ever that he hopes to one win over his other coworker Nikki Freeman that he’s had a crush on for some time. Although Ian has given him the best advice he could, he does get along with her well after going out with everyone on trivia night. Throughout the night, Nikki shares her intent to leave the store and move out of town to pursue her dream of being an author. When Bear drops her off at home, she shares that she has a crush on someone and actually asks him if he likes her, which he denies. Not wanting to put up with potential rejection, he uses a novelty item, ‘One Wish Willow’, and makes a wish for her to love him more than anything in the entire world. He doesn’t think it will work, but once he breaks it, she starts becoming more interested in him to the point of asking to go home with him, telling her her father is sick. When she makes advances and starts kissing him in bed, there is a point where she panics and pushes him away before going back to him. She then takes things too far when making a shrine for Sandy and after their shift at work where Bear tells Ian how surprised he is of how much she’s changed without mentioning the shrine. He still chooses to be with her when she claims to have taken some MDMA/Molly recently. Eventually after a few weeks have passed, Ian would tell Bear about his discovery that not only is her estranged dad in good health, but that she was actually disinterested in him before that she only loved him like a brother. Bear does confront Nikki about it, but has to let it go when she gives a tantrum in public while having dinner. She would continue taking things too far when taping the front door shut, having outburstly nightmares that makes her feel inseparable to him and making a sandwich out of Sandy’s remains which he wouldn’t realize until at work. It is after work where he calls the customer service for One Wish Willow hoping to alter the wish if not change it. He finds out he can’t do either and that the wish will remain as long as he lives. Knowing that he has a moral obligation to be there for her, the customer representative asks him if he wants to talk to the real Nikki, only to hear her screaming in anguish, meaning she has no control of herself through the wish. The moment he returns home, Nikki is covered in vomit and bodily waste remaining in the same position he left her in. Despite his protests, she tags along to a party at Ian’s house and she makes everyone uncomfortable in more ways than one: Through a game of Drunk Jenga does she recite an incestuous retelling of Hansel & Gretel, ousts Sarah from kissing Bear and starts harming herself. When he takes her back home, he gets a text from Sarah to meet her for something important. As he leaves, he hears the real Nikki again for a moment begging for him to kill her so she can stop suffering; He refuses to do it when her pleas make it clear it’s wrong to be with him with or without the wish. When he meets up with Sarah, she reveals that Ian & Nikki were having an on & off relationship and even she remembers her saying she loved him like a brother (hence the poem during Drunk Jenga). Just when she hints her attraction to Bear, Nikki follows them and smashes her head with a brick after breaking through her car window. This would break Bear’s heart since she just got accepted to an art school. As she hides her body, Bear would buy more willows hoping to wish for his original wish to be undone, but is unable to do that because each person is granted only one wish. This leads to him explaining everything to Ian of what’s going on and begs him to make his wish of undoing everything, but because the latter doesn’t believe him, he wishes for a billion dollars and the money rains from his ceiling. With one willow left, he goes back home asking Nikki to make a wish to reverse it. Instead, he finds her dressed like Sarah and leaving her mangled body in the house. As she threatens him at gunpoint with the gun from the music  store, she would shoot Ian who would try celebrating his newfound wealth. Bear is able to calm her down long enough to take the gun from her and hide in the bathroom. He backs out at shooting himself, but then considers overdosing from the same pills that killed Sandy. He devours a bottle’s worth but just when he starts going back on it by trying to make himself vomit, he hears Nikki break her own willow confirming to have her own wish. Unclear of what her wish is, he comes out of the bathroom willingly and kisses her one last time before succumbing to the overdose. Heartbroken, Nikki considers shooting until her true self regains control and the film ends with her screaming in agony upon all the carnage she sees around her. 

THOUGHTS

This is the theatric debut of Curry Barker, co-creator of the YouTube channel “that’s a bad idea”. Every idea he’s displayed leading up to this film on that channel turns out better than imagined because they just know how to become completely surprised no matter the severity. Curry can make you laugh, cry or just leave you in plain shock. In this feature, he is able to do all the above. I think it is a great idea of a psychological horror for a novelty item to work only for it to backfire based on not being clear as one would wish it. With him also playing the customer service representative, you can enjoy how calm & simultaneously unserious he is as an implication that Bear ain’t the only one who’s made a wish as bad as his. However the willows became possible to exist and work, it’s clear everyday is a shit show for whoever ain’t specific. And the way Curry edits is so effective because it goes on par to this tone of constant uncomfortable dread you become unfamiliar with from Rock Burwell’s score and Taylor Clemons’ cinematography. This movie is more than the tagline of being careful what you wish for because it also shows viewers there are consequences to not believing in yourself and using shortcuts to get what you want, not caring how it’ll affect others as it'll come back to haunt you exponentially. This is the exact case when following Bear because at first, you want to relate to the shyness Michael Johnston brings to the table as Bear. It is his biggest weakness because rather than taking a true chance of connection, he relies on magic that he doesn’t think to be real and refuses to try undoing his fantasy until it’s too late. I have been friend zoned before and know the feeling fucking sucks, but I would never stoop to the point of forcing someone to be with me even if I don’t think the magic is gonna work. It is definitely a fine example of toxic relationships when he tries making it work after seeing how wrong it really is, but it’s worse that he makes it about himself when she pleads to be mercy-killed after already knowing she’s in a mental prison in her own body and you can’t excuse that all. He doesn’t even wipe the blood off her face after she harmed herself at the party, nor does he ever tell her he loves her until she holds him at gunpoint, which pisses me off. Hell, he never asks about her dad until Ian tells him the truth about him. At that point, he becomes his own worst enemy because he’s more about being attracted to the idea of Nikki rather than the real deal, which backs why he puts up with it for so long. I don’t blame him trying to go to a friend for help since it would be hard to explain to the cops what’s happening, but it’s hilariously ironic that the last substitute he had backfires in creative fashion. Cooper Tomlinson, the second half of “that’s a bad idea”, definitely leaves you fuming as Ian because he’s not a good friend to begin with. He gives Bear bad advice to cover up the fact he was with Nikki, suggesting to call her ‘Freaky Nikki’ knowing she’ll hate it, rather than set her up with Sarah who actually likes him. He only tells him about Nikki’s dad just to get him back, which is the same reason he doesn’t want him around for trivia night. Had he truly went out of his way to hook him up with the right girl, he would’ve saved himself from a sooner death. The said irony comes from how we usually identify wishing for a billion dollars being a good thing but because of Bear, it’s a tragedy because the only option he has left to free Nikki is by dying. I had the most uncomfortable tears when it came to him in the bathroom during the climax as he had second thoughts, because it is very sad that the only time he gets to do the right thing is by taking his life and that’s why he tries backing out because he still wants to live. Before I can go any further, I think Sarah identifies enough of a victim the way we can all say with Nikki, which I’ll get to in a bit, because she is completely oblivious about the willow and really seemed to care about Bear. It wasn’t just about being attracted, but genuinely concerned about his predicament. The proof comes from how she is the only one to give him condolences about o and give him a hug when he makes a toast to the cat, while Ian & Nikki don’t even bother asking. I can go on that Bear is selfish to not ever consider giving her a chance until it was too late, hence knowing it’s his fault she died before her life can truly start. What I do want to say is that I think she liked him because she truly thought there was any good left to him, hence telling him how she felt about things with Nikki  and what was going on before the wish was made. Megan lawless had the most grounded empathy as Sarah and it’s a shame Bear didn’t see it until it was too late. With that being said, the one person we can all agree on suffers most is Nikki. Inde Navarrette gives an all timer of a performance due to having to go through so many layers of a character. You fall for her the way Bear does because you admire her down to earth personality and that’s enough to worship. The second she loses that to something she doesn’t consent to, things change for the worst in her predicament. It is left to interpretation on if Nikki really did have a crush on Bear in the beginning as implied because while Inde admits she portrayed her that way, the Hansel & Gretel reading makes it harder to decide. Seeing her as ‘Wish Nikki’ is where the tension feels endless because she’s trying to live up to the standards Bear wished for and she is constantly disappointed that it’s not enough, hence becoming ballistic as things close in for everyone with every tantrum she gives before she gets violent. Then whenever we see the real Nikki step out throughout, it’s just insane to witness. From panicking mid kiss, the fake moans during sex that straight up establishes she’s being raped especially when you spot her tears, walking backwards and seeing her smash her face with a bottle is just intense moments of her trying to regain control. Little did we expect that Wish Nikki is what led to her freedom since she does make her own wish. Since Bear willingly walked out of the bathroom, this has to imply the entity's alter ego wished for him to love him back, hence kissing her before drawing his last breath. It’s the most fucked up ending because you want to be happy Nikki is free form something she never asked for, but her hopes & dreams are out the window now that she has to be left with the mess Bear caused. If she does find a way out of this, I would totally sue the One Wish Willow company for not being serious in its own marketing to encourage customers to treat their wishes the same. In conclusion, Obsession deserves its box office success for proving audiences that good word of mouth can bring a community together, while also being a surreal horror thriller throughout. If you like to be part of something everyone is talking about, see this now.