On Screen: “Obsession”
Obsession
Hollywood history was made on Memorial Day weekend as “Obsession” became the first movie since “Shrek” to earn more at the box office its second weekend than its first — without the help of a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Boosted by impressive word of mouth, enthusiastic reviews and a social media blitz, Curry Barker’s creepy horror movie is bringing youthful Gen Z audiences back into theaters. With a budget of under a million dollars, “Obsession” cost less than the catering for “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
So what’s it about?
Shy, insecure Baron ‘Bear’ Bailey (Michael Johnston) has an unrequited crush on Nikki Freeman (Inde Navarrette), a co-worker at a musical instruments store.
Awkward and unable to verbalize his feelings to her, Bear confides his anguish to mutual friends Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless), who yearns for Bear herself.
When Nikki accidentally loses her crystal necklace, Bear decides to replace it but, instead, buys a $6.99 One Wish Willow novelty stick that — when broken in half — promises its user that it will grant one wish.
Wanting Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world, Bear not only impetuously invokes that fervent desire but subsequently realizes that, as a result, he must suffer the deadly consequences.
FYI: When Bear calls the One Wish Willow helpline, the voice that answers is Curry Barker’s.
While Michael Johnston evokes sympathy as neurotic Bear, it’s Inde Navarrette’s volatile transformation into alternately docile and aggressively dependent Nikki that’s most memorable.
If the Faustian premise seems familiar, it’s a cautionary tale that can be traced back to W.W. Jacobs’ short story about a cursed Monkey’s Paw, published in 1902.
After “Obsession” premiered as part of Midnight Madness at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, Focus Features acquired it for $14 million. Talented 26-year-old writer-director Curry Barker, whose inventive camerawork has been compared to Roman Polanski, has already finished his next film — “Anything But Ghosts” with Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard — and is set to direct A24’s upcoming remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Jason Blum of Blumhouse Atomic Monster believes “There’s a new generation of moviegoers who are declaring a very specific taste for horror movies that’s quite left-of-center … There’s a lot of concern about theatrical and this is a real new growth area.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Obsession” is a shocking, suspenseful, supernatural 8 — playing in theaters.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.