OBSESSION

Therein lies one of 'Obsession's best qualities; the film has a simple concept but it wants to actually say something with it, lampooning the male loneliness epidemic that has been sharpened by our skyrocketing screen times. Through sheer persistence (and with a lucky wish), Bear clearly believes that his dream love story is achievable, seeing himself as not a dangerous force but simply a good guy who deserves to be noticed and appreciated. This unsettling notion is so successful thanks to how sympathetically Johnston plays Bear, the desperate best friend prototype whose incel tendencies are plausibly deniable. Even when he becomes the villain in his own love story, it's never difficult to still root for him.

What 'Obsession' also nails is not only the anxiety of men being "friend-zoned" by a woman, but the dangers women feel once they've "friend-zoned" him, the fear of repercussions, the dancing around brutal honesty when feelings aren't reciprocated. In fact, 'Obsession' has quite a lot on its mind for a debut feature, additionally dipping its toes into drug abuse, the stigma of mental illness and consent. While it doesn't quite get the chance to delve into each subtext equally, it's really promising for Barker's future works. Maybe he has a horror epic à la Luca Guadagnino's 2018 'Suspiria' remake in him.

To Barker's credit, 'Obsession' very rarely pulls its punches. Even as Nikki's love deepens, Bear becomes progressively more pathetic and uncomfortable to watch, with no attempt to soften him as a quirky protagonist in search of love. Barker is happy to critique Bear's disguising of entitlement as sensitive vulnerability - something it's unclear if he's aware that he's doing - even if the film at times stops short of interrogating the darker implications of this mindset. The film would much rather have fun where it can, and boy, does it want to. For all of 'Obsession's' commentary on horrifyingly toxic romantic behaviour, it's still wildly entertaining. The scares work every time; my nerves were so shot that a minor jumpscare had me yelping. The gore is also flamboyantly fun, and Barker turns awkward intimacy into a collectively painful experience for everyone in the theatre. Some scenes are genuinely difficult to sit through, and not just because of the film's graphic violence (cat lovers everywhere, this is your warning!). See it in the most crowded cinema you can to really amplify the experience.

In fact, I loved this movie so much that all this praise hasn't even yet mentioned its crowning jewel - the mindblowing performance from Inde Navarrette. Barker's camera adores her, and as Nikki morphs from romantic heroine in flirty dresses, to beady-eyed monster, to weeping, powerless victim (and back again!) it's not hard to see why. Nikki becomes less a character and more a warped projection of Bear's desires, and Navarrette pulls off moves with her voice and body that are destined for horror clip compilations. Putting her in conversations about the best performances of 2026 - and the horror performances of the decade - is more than warranted.

Equal parts nasty, hilarious and emotionally intelligent, 'Obsession' marks Curry Barker as a major new director to keep an eye on. Much like other horror classics, the film acknowledges that monsters are often born from everyday emotions like heartache and longing, inadvertently twisted into something truly grotesque. Even if 'Obsession' sometimes stops short of fully examining its thorniest ideas, it is still a remarkably confident debut film, recognising that there are few things more horrifying than getting exactly what your heart desires. If you're brave enough, it makes for a fabulous date movie.