Review #38 - Obsession (2026)

Bleak and important.

Total Score: 17/23.

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T.W. Sexual violence, suicide and dead pets.

This is a very grim one.

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Straight out the gate the men are fucking weird in this film. Lovely music though. Then we get bummed the hell out by a dead cat. Pet Sematary reboot in disguise?

Anyway, our main man Baron fancies his colleague/friend Nikki. He gets her a nice citrine necklace and prepares to share his feelings. Except she almost certainly knows. And it’s not entirely clear if she’s thrilled about it.

He doesn’t tell her, of course. He is too much of a weirdo. And no - we don’t know that yet, but it’s true. That said, she doesn’t seem happy at the prospect of learning about his little crush - and you really can’t blame her. The gang we’ve met seem like a messy friendship group without this bonus awkwardness.

The thing is though, Baron, or Bear, has purchased a wish-fulfillment gimmick. He wishes for her to love him, completely, more than anyone else in the world. Straight away things are drastic. We’re talking brain fog, confusion beyond the alcohol in her blood, and more than a few disturbing moments of self-awareness as Nikki’s autonomy drains away from her.

Nikki stays at Bears after revealing that her father is dying. She kisses him (though looks absolutely appalled right after). He allows this to happen, because he fucking sucks. I won’t have any discussion on this - the audience doesn’t know it yet, but the fact remains that this is some Weird behavior. She is visibly off and he knows it.

What’s just slightly less weird is her retrieving his dead cat from the trash to make a little memorial. Lucky she didn’t go all Herbert West on the poor thing.

A note - the lighting in this film is stellar. Absolutely superb.

There is a surprise in store for us at this stage of the story - a compilation. Nikki and Bear begin dating. A second surprise comes in the form of a revelation - her father is just fine. But it’s ok, she bought him a Tiger’s Eye. Sweet.

Nikki’s change of personality has a horrible discomfort bubbling under the surface that is impossible to ignore. Bear, of course, ignores it, and rapes his new girlfriend. Thankfully he is going to die for this, but not unpleasantly enough. The scene is extremely distressing and is the final nail in the coffin for our protagonist.

By the way, Nikki’s physical performance is superb. Her shuffling in the dark corners has me genuinely looking out my window as I’m writing. Her little sequence with the vase is beyond unnerving. This whole thing is just nightmarish.

The increasingly erratic and strange behaviour of his new girl is too much for Bear. He insists she stop acting weird. She does not. Before long the front door is duct taped shut. She waits for him to get back from work for an entire day, standing stock still, caked in bodily fluids, face stretched into an unwilling grin. Somewhat hilariously, she also cooks his dead cat. It is only amusing because he takes so long to realise - and, yes, because he sucks (of course, the cat didn’t deserve it). I’ll die on this hill.

Bear gives customer service a ring, only to find there are no easy fixes. It’s like The Substance, but worse. Also, we have a frankly HELLISH insight into what’s happening to Real Nikki - in the form of unbearable screaming. Some serious Get Out (2017) shit.

Now, a few people have clocked that this is a weird situation. Nikki makes this extra clear with a creepy recital of an incestous Hansel-Gretel story during a game of Jenga (with dares?). I might pull this one out next time I’m stuck playing a drinking game.

Bear uses his supreme intelligence to decide to read his own Jenga dare.

“Kiss the person on your left.”

The person on his left is not his new girlfriend, so obviously this is a fucking stupid move. He probably hasn’t even digested the bite of cat he had yet. Also - the lady imminently in danger of a kiss from a creep, friend/colleague Sarah, certainly fancies him. This goes about as well as you’d imagine, and Nikki very publicly self-harms.

Nikki moves to get her kiss.

For some baffling reason nobody calls a doctor. I found myself wondering, what if this was gender-flipped, would they have checked in more thoroughly? Or, you know, called the police? Something uncomfortable to ponder in this series of increasingly uncomfortable events.

By the way, Nikki has had one or two more moments where it seems the real her is there. Keep this in mind.

Note - Inde Navarrette had better be a final girl SOON. Her movement is uncanny and her facial control is… well, creepy as hell.

As if things couldn’t get grimmer, we get a taste of what it feels like to be Obsessed. When Bear isn’t showering attention on her, Nikki shares that she effectively feels physically dead - except, of course, that she is conscious. Isn’t that the worst?

The fact is, no, it’s not. What is worse is that, while asleep, Real Nikki implores her man to kill her. That she is not ok with all this. In an act of pure evil, Bear takes no action - by the way, at this stage, we know an option to fix things is for him to die. Obviously he is both too afraid and too fine with the situation to act. So, the nightmare continues.

Bear secretly visits Sarah. Obviously he doesn’t care much for her safety. This makes more sense when we hear from her that Nikki had previously been sleeping with the other man of the group, Bear’s confidant. This is never 100% confirmed, but it doesn’t seem unbelievable. Either the other guy is manipulative, and a liar, or Sarah is. Nikki, I can’t really say, as we didn’t see much and what we did see was a bit all-over-the-place. One thing is clear though, these people don’t trust or respect one another.

At this moment, my first real moment of terror happened. In an instant Sarah has her face smashed to bits by Nikki. There is a ploppy eyeball intact after the sudden violence, but most of her features are paste. Nikki makes sure to remind Bear this is his fault. And you know what, it kinda is.

We get a repulsive closeup on the smashed-in face. Props to the FX team.

Finally, at this stage, Bear buys another One-Wish Willow. At last, we hear that word, obsessed. And, like a stupid idiot prick, he tries to break the totem himself. It won’t break, of course, which is awesome, so he asks his backstabbing man-friend to assist. The friend, Ian, doesn’t believe a thing about the situation, and wishes for a buncha cash. It rains down, but instead of leaping into action to save his friend, he proves that he is as selfish as rumour claims and does nothing.

So, Bear returns to Nikki. Perhaps she will wish against her own very nature. After all, it’s been changed once, eh?

At home, Sarah is laid out nude and mutilated. This is depressing, as she seemed the best of the bunch. When Ian turns up at the door, he is quickly shot dead by a distraught Nikki, who is grappling with the idea that Bear will never love her because she isn’t the Real Thing. The only remaining route seems for him to commit suicide. But not with a gun, no. Pills. More easy to get out of, should you decide you’re ok having a lifeless sex slave after all.

As Bear begins to vomit the pills, making that exact disgusting decision I just referenced, something comes over him and he swallows. His lady love has used a wish. The two embrace, and kiss, and then he succumbs to the overdose. The obsession we have seen destroy four lives fades like smoke on the wind, and Nikki’s eyes de-glaze. This is, perhaps, the second most horrific moment of the entire film, and her screams and sobs are just utterly appalling.

And that is Obsession. Jesus, what a stressful, nasty, and thought-provoking ride that was. I will say, I was REALLY thinking it’d go a bit Pet Sematary, with Bear getting supernaturally wished back from beyond the grave, and Nikki (freshly released from her curse) putting a bullet in his brain, but alas, he just died quick and easy. Scumbag.

I’ve done a little wider reading after watching, and been baffled by the mixed thoughts. It seems like a clear-cut story and set of morals, with some interesting under-the-surface ideas at play.

Most of all it seems undeniably geared to paint Bear as a bad guy, with bad intentions, and Nikki as the victim of all victims.

However, misogyny rears its ugly head at times like these, and this film, like many, is an unwilling litmus test.

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

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Disclaimer - I own none of the images used here.

They are being used solely for review purposes. Thank you.