“She’s obsessed with me.”

“Oh, that’s not so bad.”

You know, it’s only taken me a month, but I’ve finally watched Obsession, and can consider myself one of the people that has contributed to its massive and historical box office success. This movie has been out for several weeks now, and people just can’t stop talking about it. It’s literally the cultural zeitgeist of the year, so much so to the point that even movies like The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, and even Avengers: Doomsday have a lot to do to hit with audiences as much as this has. Obviously, those movies are going to do incredibly higher numbers at the box office, but I think there is a very good chance that the people who saw Obsession are going to be talking about it more than any of the people who see those other three films I just mentioned are going to talk about them. This is literally a movie made for less than a million dollars and has grossed almost three hundred million, making it one of the most profitable movies of all time when comparing it’s gross to its budget.

I completely and totally understand why this has been such a big hit. It has such a great premise about a guy named Bear that gets a sketchy collectible from a gift shop that allegedly allows whoever uses it one wish, and out of a moment of desperation, he uses it so that a girl named Nikki, whom he is obsessed with, becomes obsessed with him. The absolute worst things come from this, and the entire rest of the movie is completely bonkers from start to finish in the best possible way. The story creates so many insane and terrifying moments that entirely capitalize on the premise. It’s to the point where I really wish I could talk about them here, but unfortunately, this is a non-spoiler review. Just trust me; it’s crazy.

With this comes plenty of comedic moments, but it doesn’t mess with the horror of it all because it’s not the type of comedic bits you’re used to. Most of the laugh-out-loud parts come from sheer awkwardness, like Nikki, after the wish has been fulfilled, doing completely absurd and downright disturbing things in front of and to both Curry, as well as his friends. I honestly can’t even remember a time when a horror movie was able to make me laugh, while also having me incredibly creeped out at the exact same time, where both elements don’t end up stepping over each other. It just simply works.

Of course, the star of this movie that people are talking about all the time now is Inde Navarrette, who plays Nikki. I give praise to both Inde and Curry Barker (the director) for this because this was a downright brilliant performance, and not just considering the budget and everything, no, it’s one of the best performances of the entire year so far. Everything that I mentioned earlier with the horror and the crazy moments, that pretty much all rests on her shoulders, and she absolutely nailed it. She’s disturbing, creepy, unsettling, insane, funny, and literally all of the above in those categories. She even perfectly conveys some pretty sad and actually profound moments, though I’m not going to say why or how in order to avoid too much detail. Just like the director Curry Barker, I am fully rooting for Inde and can’t wait to see where she goes in the future. It goes without saying, but this is the breakout performance of the year, because even though we are just barely halfway through the year, I’m almost positive it’s not going to be topped.

One thing to definitely add to her performance is the cinematography surrounding her. Not only is Obsession shot wonderfully, but it is also shot to maximize the horror and most shocking moments as much as possible. The way Nikki is lit a lot of the time completely engulfs her in darkness, to the point where all you can really see of her is her silhouette, and it only further makes everything that is happening even more unsettling. The best shot of the entire movie, in my opinion, of course, is one that has to do with the way her eyes are lit, where they almost look like they are glowing.

As far as the main character Bear goes, he is also played extremely well by his actor, Michael Johnston, it’s just that unfortunately for him, Inde definitely really does steal most of the spotlight. If this were any other movie, we’d be talking about his performance because it’s still spectacular on its own. He perfectly resembles a very troubled guy who frankly just needs to see a therapist at the end of the day, and you pity him (at the very beginning, at least); he just can’t stop obsessing over Nikki. His weirded out reactions caused by Nikki are not only well done, but make you feel pretty much the exact same way his character does, and when he finally has his big realization moment, he fully sells a man who has absolutely no clue what to do. Everything that he has inevitably caused has messed him up so much psychologically, that you can only help but feel the stress that he is feeling.

With that, one of the things that surprised me the most, and honestly probably the thing that did surprise me the most, was how many moral questions this movie raises, which, again, is unbelievably impressive for a new director. I’m obviously not going to spoil anything that has to do with plot points that aren’t already known from either the premise or marketing, so don’t worry about that. There are plenty of questions this film throws at you, but not in an on the nose way, about certain ethical dilemmas raised from the story. For one, my friend and I couldn’t stop talking about the ending and how it could have gone differently, but the big question that Obsession raises is truly this: who really is the “villain?” You can either blame whatever is possessing Nikki, the people who made the “One Wish Willow” device, or, of course, Bear himself. There is a pretty clear answer, but not so clear that it stops any kind of discussion from taking place.

It seems fairly obvious to see Bear as the villain of all of this because he is the one to blame at the end of the day, but at the same time, his situation is still very much one rooted in sympathy (at least at first), and even a little bit of empathy for those who have had a fondness over someone the way he has before. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy at the beginning because of how insecure he is, so when that point comes where he desperately wants for Nikki to be with him and makes the wish, you also find yourself wondering in a pretty terrifying way, “Would most people, maybe even me, do this if they were desperate enough to make that impulsive decision?” That’s what makes everything so blurry. Obsession is very much a real thing people struggle with and can cause us to make decisions that we otherwise wouldn’t make.

And for this being only Curry Barker’s second directorial effort, and let’s be honest, really his first big one, not only was it impressive for all the reasons I described, but the fact that he was able to make a movie that raises so many questions that still have audiences talking is pretty incredible. And while this might not be the best movie of the year because of how much competition it has coming up, I would be very surprised if we don’t look back at the year afterwards of 2026 movies and not call it “the year that Obsession” came out.