Obsession

Bear (Michael Johnston) wishes that his crush Nikki would love him (Inde Navarette). When that wish is granted, things quickly go awry.

Even though this could have been just a monkey’s paw story, thematically it’s a little more nuanced. Yes, it’s about ‘nice guys’ who would rather rob women of their agency than be emotionally vulnerable.

However in its setup it also captures that myopia as a guy of having a crush on someone but being too paralysed for fear of rejection to do anything about it. Maybe Nikki is stringing him along, maybe she is really interested in him? It doesn’t matter, Bear is too emotionally scared and stunted to find out.

Barker is very careful to set up this dynamic where he’s not looking for us to sympathise with Bear, but also wants us to understand his frustration and why he might have made the wish (albeit without knowing it would come true, which further muddies the water). There’s no click-your-fingers moment where Bear becomes the villain but his spinelessness at some point has quietly turned him into a horrible person, and led him to his horrible fate.

Beyond that, I struggled to care about the actual horror aspects of the filmmaking here. Maybe I am getting too old or too numb but the ‘crazy’ imagery never really moved the needle emotionally for me.

This has become a box office smash even though it was made for under $1m and although I don’t see that it really stands that far above some of its peers, I can see where the hype is coming from. The high-concept premise gets people in and Inde Navarette’s excellent performance keeps people in their seats.