Obsession | Film Review

After wishing for his crush to finally love him back, Bear (Michael Johnston) is delighted when the wish comes true. But as his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), falls deeper, Bear begins to realise that his wish has sinister consequences.

The way this film completely took over social media, there was no way I couldn't see it. As much as I was excited for it, I was also kind of sceptical about all the praise.

Thankfully, it was all warranted because I loved the movie!

There's a lot to say about this film. While watching it, the first thing I noticed was the sense of unease. Even before you know what's really happening there's a feeling of discomfort and unease through the entire film.

It was actually quite a stressful watch. We have no idea what's going to happen, we don't even understand fully what is happening. But without giving anything away, anticipation was what made up a lot of the scarier parts of the film, and this is what keeps you on the edge of your seat. 

The horror is completely based on the situation rather than jumps. This only really works well if the situation is actually scary, and it works so well here.

But speaking of jumps, when they were used, they were used at the moments where they'd have the greatest impact. Speaking for the cinema I saw this in, the few jump scares got really big reactions because they were used so sparingly, and were actually scary!

A lot was said online about the acting in the film, particularly Navarrette, and it's true that she was great in the role. All of the actors did a good job but she was the standout performance, and the most important performance in the film.

It was also original and creative. Yes, the idea of someone making a wish that doesn't pan out has been done before, but the way it was executed in this film made it feel incredibly fresh and new.

One of my main issues with the film was that I wanted to see more of Nikki before the wish was made. I feel like we don't really get to see a true change of personality because we don't know much about what she was like before.

I also felt like there were issues with the friend characters, Sarah (played by Megan Lawless) and Ian (played by Cooper Tomlinson). It is revealed that they both have secrets and agendas, and this makes their actions following the wish feel really odd. Once their secrets are revealed you begin to question their motives, and it didn't feel like that was the intention.

But that being said, they were still great characters and they added a lot to the movie.

At no point could I guess where things were going, and I thought the ending did a great job of subverting expectations and making you leave the movie with a variety of things to talk about.

So overall, I'd definitely recommend this film. I had a great time watching it and I really can't wait to see it again!

8.5/10