This was fine, felt pretty by-the-book but nothing I can really think to complain about. The actress’s performance was better than the film as a whole - given how successful this is, I imagine this will be a big breakout role for her
Thinking I'm firmly in the camp that this is phenomenal. It is such a simple concept in many ways (careful what you wish for, the monkey paw object, etc), but it manages to make the other aspects of its storytelling—the lies we tell ourselves in the service of love, the pitfalls of codependency—so relatable, compelling, and simultaneously funny and terrifying. Barker being only 26 and already this assured in writing, directing, and editing this thing is so incredibly impressive. I think the editing might be most telling of his skill; in the rare cases where a director is editing their own work, I feel like they usually get a bit too precious with maintaining the entirety of their vision, and it clouds their judgment about what is entirely necessary. Not here. There's not a single wasted shot or moment in this thing. With only the handful of scenes in daylight, the immaculate use of darkness, blocking, spacing, and framing here is just a perpetual slow screw turn of tension throughout. That tonal high wire walk is absolutely a credit due to Barker, but probably even more credit due to this small cast—without all of them bringing it for the material, this thing would be dead before it even starts. Michael Johnston was great, but this Inde Navarrette really might be an instant classic performance of the genre; it's on the level of Isabelle Adjani in Possession, Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, or Toni Collette in Hereditary. It is that good. Her delivery when the real Nikki comes through in bed and pleads to be killed gave me chills. Beyond haunting. And for those keeping score and want to inhale some hopium: first-time writer/director, first-time cinematographer, first-time composer, all cooking like this out of the gate? Man, that's awesome.
I was trying to think of the last time a performer got this much buzz off basically their first performance where seemingly the entire movie hinges on them that isn’t, like, a child actor and was struggling to find one. Rachel zegler with west side story was kinda where I landed.
Definitely got Isabelle Adjani in Possession vibes. Shocked it wasn’t inspiration for the movie. I’ve only seen Curry & Inde mention Pearl & Midsommar as reference points
Reminded me much more of Naomi Scott in Smile 2, which is absolutely complimentary. I just think Adjani's Possession performance is otherworldly. Up there with Shelly Duvall in The Shining as all-timer stuff, and I don't think Im'm ready to declare this as being on the same level after one viewing.
One of the things she did best in the movie was creating this sense of dread and unease throughout based on her acting alone. That’s not easy to do and it came off so naturally in the movie, I was absolutely impressed with her performance.
Couldn’t stop thinking of this when Bear forced the door open without taking the duct tape off first:
I always loved the Nixon mask element, that the neighbor would be a total boomer and unjustly compare his neighbor with an incredibly dated reference.
Absolutely loved this. Wife and I were full on belly laughing at parts of this because of the absurdity and uncomfortability. The party scene is an all-timer in this regard. The more I think about what’s implied throughout makes this one of the bleakest films I’ve seen in recent memory. That ending was a gut punch but also felt inevitable the entire time.
Curry Barker and Zach Cregger Swap Horror Stories Bit late on finding this but this is a fantastic read that makes me really excited for both of these guys' next movies
The score for this is incredible and I'm glad it's on streaming but I think it's weird that like half of the tracks stop abruptly. Like literally mid-note.
https://screenrant.com/obsession-2026-movie-box-office-week-2-domestic-drop/ They need to push back the VOD date for this.