Things in Cages

If I had one wish, I would just have reading books and seeing movies be my job. 

Obsession (2025), d./w. Curry Barker 

I liked this, but I feel like I had to enjoy it very carefully. It was impressive, but still caused me to cringe inside forever at some of its messaging, because honestly, a lot of it was difficult to sit through. I'm also suspicious (based on many, many TikTok comment sections) that the film's cautionary pointing out of the relational problems that led to "the obsession" will be lost on most male viewers.

Problem 1: Bear is 100% the villain because he sees Nikki as a thing and allows her to be perpetually harmed. I cannot fathom that the main takeaway from this story could be "WOW, that wish really BACKFIRED!" but yeah, guess what. The horror piece focuses on Nikki and her obsessive outbursts, odd movements, and . . . voice, and those things are scary and jarring, but the bottom line is that Nikki is being coerced, controlled, and manipulated after Bear's wish on the One-Wish-Willow. Is the obsessed Nikki a whole new version of human wrapped in real Nikki's physical packaging with access to her memories, or is she still real Nikki just under the influence of the wish, like a drug that is 95% effective most of the time? It doesn't matter because Bear does not seem to give a fuck either way. He is met with IMMEDIATE evidence that Nikki is altered, moments after the wish is made, and he chooses to actively pursue his fantasy romance with her anyway. He knows just enough surface material about her as a friend, and he knows he is physically attracted to her, but apparently, he knows nothing substantial about who she really is or what matters to her as a person. He wants her, he wants to possess her, and that's enough for him. He ends up keeping her physically confined in his house when her obsessive behaviors get to be too much to handle, just as the real Nikki is locked away in the "cage" of the wish, unable to stop what is happening outside of yelling or shrieking out at random moments of lucidity. The horror here is actually real Nikki's total awareness, just like the guy in the Stephen King autopsy story with the boomslang bite who senses everything going on but is powerless to stop it. 

TW: SA/Coersion/Self-Harm/IPV (This discussion is not an endorsement of any of these elements).

1-800-656-4673: National Sexual Assault Hotline

988: Suicide and Crisis Hotline

1-800-799-7233: National Domestic Violence Hotline

Problem 2: Bear has several outs along the way that he does not take after being given several indicators that A., this is not really Nikki, or B., real Nikki is not consenting to this relationship. These outs would have allowed him to, at minimum, take responsibility for what he imposed on Nikki (and himself), and, at best, would have changed the outcome before other innocent people were violently roped into the mix. The first would be to NOT have sexual relations with her (he does anyway, and yes, that was a rape scene). The second would be to "end" himself after the phone call to customer service spells out that there is no going back from the wish, and suggests this as an option. The last out would be to "end" her when real Nikki begs him to do this just before he leaves to go to the park---leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that real Nikki is aware of what is happening and DOES NOT CONSENT. His entitled bitterness is on full display after she does this, too, as he snarls something back at her like, "Is being with me that bad?" Jesus fucking Christ.

Bear is Guy Woodhouse disguised as a sensitive, thinking guy.

Problem 3: Way to blame the cat for your own negligence, leaving your meds unsecured. She probably couldn't stand you, either.

All that said, the storytelling is solid, the acting is very impressive, and the whole thing works as a scary story. This reminded me very much of "Loved to Death" from Tales From the Crypt, and had me wondering if there might be a similar switcheroo at the end.