Obsession

 This summer, two horror movies by YouTube personalities have topped the box-office. Both easily made their budgets back within days. And I’m late to reviewing both of them. Let's first check out America’s newest horror obsession… Obsession.

Its aforementioned personality, Curry Barker, and this film’s co-star, Cooper Tomlinson, front the channel that’s a bad idea. His debut feature, Milk & Serial, debuted on YouTube just a few years ago. In his theatrical debut, we meet Baron “Bear” Bailey (Michael Johnston) as he’s being coached by best-bud Ian (Tomlinson) on how to confess to Nikki (Inde Navarette), their mutual co-worker at a music store. After he gets cold feet again, Bear buys a “One Wish Willow,” a toy branch that can apparently grant any wish if you snap it in two. He wishes for Nikki to love him, and it works.

Soon enough, Nikki becomes hopelessly devoted to Bear. Her personality, however, becomes increasingly possessive and erratic, to the point that she switches moods in split-seconds. It’s as if she’s been replaced by something that doesn’t even know how to pass for human. That’s pretty much the case, even if the film doesn’t completely spell it out. Sure, Bear likes his new relationship, but if he doesn’t get the curse reversed, “Freaky” Nikki will be the death of him and his friends.

Bear maybe the protagonist, but Freaky Nikki is the real star of the show. It’s surprisingly fun to watch Navarette go all out for Nikki’s mood swings. She spins unnerving monologues about death for minutes, then switch to calm like that. Her often-childish personality seems like a parody of someone like Alex in Fatal Attraction. Late in the film, however, you’re brutally reminded just how much of a danger she is to herself and others. That is, if her fascination with Bear’s dead cat didn’t clue you in sooner. She's an oddly sympathetic "villainess," while normal Nikki is more unquestionably sympathetic.

So, what about our actual protagonist? Tomlinson is so pleasantly dorky as Bear - refer to the opening - that it’s sometimes easy to overlook how morally deficient he is. Any sympathy you’ll have for him after his cat’s death evaporates once he fully comprehends what he did… and he barely cares. Even his ultimate heroic sacrifice is debatably heroic; let’s just leave it at that.

Sarah (Megan Lawless), the fourth member of Bear’s friend group, is significantly more likable. She’s mostly just there to be the cool wing-woman of the group with a little selfish secret. But she’s just likable when she gets to be alone with Bear at one point. Granted, I could tell from a mile away that she wouldn’t survive that scene, but not how suddenly and brutally it would happen. You probably won’t either. 

On a lighter note, Andy Richter also shows up as Sarah’s dad and manager, which is neat. Tomlinson, meanwhile, is fine as Ian, while Barker himself pops in as the voice of the unhelpful rep of the Willow’s makers. 

Now, we get to the technical stuff here. Cinematographer Taylor Clemons truly shines, ironically enough, when he obscures Freaky Nikki in shadows. One of her earliest scenes has her eyes seemingly glow in the dark. Special attention must be given to the makeup team that helped Navarette blend in with the dark. Barker, as the editor, usually leaves the camera running for quite a bit (sometimes more than anyone would ever want to see). These images are set to an unforgettably ominous score by Rock Burwell.

Just recently, Barker just finished his second professional feature, Anything but Ghosts, which sounds like a modern riff on those Golden Age supernatural comedies (or it might not be funny at all). I’m ready to see that, whenever that is. That anticipation goes to show how good a professional debut Obsession is. I think you might agree too. See it soon.