Obsession Analysis Part 1

2026-08-04

Hello Readers

It's one of the biggest movies of the year, and being a horror fan, I had to tune in. Obsession was a terrifying movie, both from the perspective we are given, and the one we could take. Before getting into things, I just want to take the time to talk about how cool it is to see an indie film perform so well. The only thing more impressive in cinema this year is seeing how much lore people built around a 4chan post. I am talking about the other major indie horror film of the year, of course. People talked a lot about both Backrooms and Obsession due to the young ages of the directors. I'm pretty sure both Curry Barker and Kane Parsons are younger than me, which is saying something since I'm also insanely young. Despite having watched Backrooms before and in theatres, in my humble opinion, Obsession blew it out of the water. I not only believe Obsession is the best movie of this year, but one of the greatest horror films of all time. I will include that I do not believe the Odyssey should have been adopted in film format so I will not watch it.

Obsession is the title of the film, and aptly describes what makes the film so terrifying. We start with a young man confessing his feelings to a women, in manner which can only be described as cringe inducing. The young man looks disheveled, as if he hasn't showered for several days, and projects a complete lack of confidence. We find out this young man is named Bear, and is practicing his confession with a waitress because he is too afraid to tell his friend, Nikki, how he truly feels. His friend, Ian, thanks the waitress for her time and starts advising Bear, giving him bad advice such as calling Nikki "freaky Nikki", a nickname that she hates. Bear asks Ian to get him and Nikki in a position where he can ask out Nikki but Ian tells him he can't. When bear returns to his house, he finds his cat, Sandy, dead after getting into his grandma's pills. He just says "how did you get in here", throws the cat in a trashbag, cleans up, and starts stalking Nikki on Instagram. Bear is crying as the title of the movie pops up, and you might think it's because of the loss of his cat, but listen carefully to what he says. "Why won't she love me". This line alone shows Bear is completely Obsessed with Nikki, who he receives a call from. She asks Bear to come hang out with the group tonight but Bear says he has stuff he needs to do. What Nikki tells Bear next shatters his world. She's put in her two weeks notice at the music shop they work at and plans to move out of town. This new knowledge makes Bear immediately change his mind, and he decides to go out for drinks with the group. During the call, Nikki told Bear she lost her crystal necklace, and Bear decides getting her a new one would be a good way to impress her. So Bear decides to go to this magic shop and checks out the crystal necklaces, but something else catches his eye, the one wish willow. Bear decides to get this instead, but is warned by the cashier not to come complaining. He asks if people complain because they don't work to which the cashier replies "they complain because they do work". During the bar scene, we are introduced to Nikki and Sarah. Nikki is the girl Bear has a crush on, and Sarah is the girl that has a crush on Bear. During their hangout session, Bear tries to make a move several times but is stopped by Ian. Due to this, he becomes upset. Only Sarah notices his low mood, and asks him what is wrong to this he replies that his cat died, but it is evident what the real cause of his distress is. Outside, Nikki is telling everyone that she needs a ride and Bear decides to give her one. Before going along with Bear, she asks Sarah for a 20 dollar bill, telling her she'll pay her back, and gives it to a homeless man. This is the last action Nikki takes, using her own free will.

Nikki and Bear talk on the drive home, and it becomes pretty clear that Nikki does not reciprocate Bear's feelings. I forgot to mention this, but Ian makes several implications about Nikki and Bear in the bar to which Nikki said "ew". When Bear mentions he got Nikki something, she does the same. Nikki talks about the book she is writing, a love story. To which Bear replies "like a romance". Nikki tells him it's a love story and not a romance, of which Bear is unable to tell the difference, or even know there is a difference. When Bear drops off Nikki, he messes up and calls her by the nickname she hates to which she replies "ew" once more. I truly cannot understand how people believe Nikki shared Bear's feelings. Others point to how Nikki told Bear that Sarah likes him in the car and how obvious it was. Bear agreed that it was obvious but said he only liked her as a friend. Nikki mentioned here that no one would know if she liked a guy. People point to this being a hint to Nikki liking Bear but there's stuff later on in the movie that really puts the nail in the coffin on this whole idea. Before heading inside, Nikki finally asks bear if he likes her. She says now's the time to tell her if so. However, as you'd expect, Bear chickens out. Due to his inability to confess his feelings, Bear is overcome with emotion. During this, he uses the one wish willow and asks for Nikki to love him more than anyone in the whole entire world. With this wish, the true terror begins.

This is it for now. I am cutting it short because I do not want to make this too long but the majority of the analysis will be done next week. We will be through the story and able to really dive deep into the ideas of others and myself surrounding this story. For now, goodbye.