Obsession and Horror as Catharsis

A still from the movie Obsession (2026)

Assume all Trigger Warning before reading! Spoiler Alert as well!

Obsession, 2026, directed by Curry Barker, is a supernatural and psychological horror film that has become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. The film follows a boy named Bear who likes his friend Nikki but is too scared to confess his feelings for her. So, when he accidentally discovers a One Wish Willow in a crystal shop, he uses it later to wish that "Nikki loves him more than anyone in the entire world." The wish comes true but at a terrible cost, as Nikki is now no different from a possessed entity that is bound to him forever.

The movie is an allegory for loss of bodily and emotional autonomy and the evils of what is popularly called "incel culture" on the Internet. Bear represents the archetype of the 'nice guy' in society who everyone believes is a gentleman and is well-meaning while in reality he is a deeply insecure coward with deep-rooted prejudices.

The majority of women have experienced the horrifying feeling of having a male friend that confesses his feelings or chooses not to but continues making uncomfortable moves on them. They feel a sense of loss of control as their boundaries are breached while being objectified and dehumanized. Often, under the pretense of friendship, these violations can take many forms, from emotional coercion to physical and sexual boundary crossing. While such a situation can be sufficiently addressed if it happens with a stranger, in the case of a previously trusted friend, women often feel complicit or guilty that they misled or misjudged them and start to believe deep down that it was their fault.

From the moment Nikki turns around and walks back to Bear’s car, which is when the wish starts having effect, she begins to lose herself. She is conflicted and is fighting the version that is supposed to be deeply in love with Bear and hence starts her descent into madness. The constant apologizing, correcting her own words, crying one moment and snapping back into laughter the next, and inflicting self-harm are consistent with victims of abuse and toxic relationships. The cognitive dissonance they face while in such situations as they enter a survival mode is brilliantly depicted. The sex scene looks mechanical and almost tragic as though Nikki’s soul has left her body which is a common experience reported by victims during mental dissociation. Another aspect is the codependency in trauma bonds portrayed beautifully in dialogues like, “I'll be anybody you want me to be” and “I love you so so so much”.

During the scene where everyone is at Bear’s friend, Ian’s house party, Nikki narrates a piece of her recent writing. It is an incestuous retelling of Hansel and Gretel, reimagining the fairy tale siblings as lovers. The story serves as a disturbing parallel to the relationship between her and Bear that we see unfolding on-screen due to the wish. It is an uncanny reflection of the changing dynamics between the two, as Nikki had supposedly admitted earlier that she considered Bear only as a brother. There are other visual cues that make it evident that she is physically trapped and fighting her own body and mind, leading to jagged and puppet-like movements. In one heartbreaking scene, the real Nikki wakes up in the middle of the night and begs Bear to kill her while the ‘possessed version’ is still asleep. This kind of bifurcation of the self is a common trauma response. The tragedy of it is that the real self is there all along, however powerless and waiting to be rid of the self-preserving fake self. But even after the fake self has been expelled, the real self is left to deal with the consequences and aftermath of the disaster, as we see in the devastating end when Nikki snaps back into reality only to relive the horror of it all.

The "crazy girlfriend/ex-girlfriend" trope is particularly fascinating in that horror has often taken the stereotype of the irrational woman and turned it into one of the best depictions of the effects of assault, trauma, and the pain inflicted by the patriarchy. Movies like 'Midsommar,' ‘Gone Girl,' and ‘Jennifer’s Body’ provide early expressions of suppressed feminine rage. In Midsommar, Dani’s grief, which her ex-boyfriend completely dismisses, finds an outlet in the cult that makes her feel seen. Amy Dunne’s famous ‘cool girl’ monologue in Gone Girl perfectly captures the unrealistic expectations of men regarding women, and although Amy is one of the few examples of women in film taking matters into their own hands and questionably so, the injustices she has suffered are understandable. Jennifer’s Body literalises the consequences of male violence and sexual assault by turning the protagonist into a predator at large. Horror has always been the genre for female vengeance. While this seems problematic as it dismisses women's reclamation of power by labelling them ‘psychotic’ and the fact that a woman can avenge only when she is a ghost, a supernatural entity, or possessed spirit, artistically it makes room for the most accurate portrayal of emotional and psychological scars.

The online discourse on obsession is frighteningly telling of the state of our patriarchal society. A striking aspect of the conversation around the film is the divergence in audience identification. While many women seemed to understand and relate to Nikki, most men either felt sympathy for Bear and looked at it as a wish gone wrong or drew parallels of Nikki’s behavior to women in real life. This is why while much of the male audience was completely spooked by the movie, many female viewers found it to be an imaginative exaggeration of their personal and inner battles on screen.

While the rich and layered screenwriting deserves all the credit, it is the stellar performance of the actors that really sells the story. Inde Navarrette is effortless in all of the “Freaky Nikki” scenes, drawing inspiration from stalwarts like Betty Gabriel in “Get Out” and Mia Goth in "Pearl." Michael Johnston pulls off Bear’s character amazingly well. The set design and production are highly intentional, and the film score complements the emotions in the film wonderfully. It is a movie that stays with the viewer long after leaving the theater and begs to be rewatched, discussed, and shared with people, something that has been missing in Hollywood films for a while.

Obsession feels too palpable and real despite the heightened horror elements which makes it as much of a commentary as a horror film. This simply proves that horror is indeed a manifestation of our deepest psychological fears and scars. The monsters are no longer under our beds, but they force themselves into ours and walk and sleep among us, and often they come in the shape of a male friend. With themes like this that expand the genre, it is safe to say that horror is sometimes capable of penetrating the audience better than serious court-room dramas or art house films.

About the Author

Adithi is a computer science engineering student and writer. Her work has appeared in The Hindu, Thread Lit Magazine, and Sudha Kannada Weekly. She explores the intersections of cultural identity, technology, love and loss in her writing.