Bear saying that Nikki would "hate" citrine. Citrine, which is sunshine and remarkable healing. Citrine, which supports emotional well-being, stimulates clarity, and promotes creativity. A crystal which is believed to dispel negative energies. To replace them with joy and optimism. Balance. Harmony. Vitality. Everything he refused to give her.
Tw: Sexual Assault (thinking about Obsession 2026)
I saw a post regarding an interview for the actor who played Bear in Obsession, and how he didn't see his character as a villain. The post said he tried to just focus on what his character wanted, and that he didn't see him as the "true villain" just someone in a bunch of morally gray characters
Tbh I think it's interesting that the man playing that character would say that, because low-key his portrayal screamed "Nice guy™️ who totally isnt a threat to anyone, Rape Culture isn't real" type guy.
In the first act, before any supernatural stuff ever gets confirmed, they go out of their way to frame the weirdness of what Bear's doing as potentially inappropriate at the LEAST. After he's made the wish and Nikki starts acting weird, his friend is like "she was drunk and on molly". The movie even repeats this later in the same day, with New Nikki coming to his house and swearing "I was drunk and on molly, but you didn't take advantage of me" or whatever.
And I think it's a really simple metaphor because later in the movie, Bear finds out that yeah, the wish DID work. Using magic to change somebody's opinion or perspective is bad, overriding the agency of someone is bad. But even worse, he finds out the Real Nikki is trapped somewhere, acting as a resistant unwilling passenger in her own body while some obsessed doppelganger is pretending to be her.
Nikki's personal life, boundaries, and agency are ignored, stepped on, and outright removed by the will of Bear in the movie, intentional or not. He has been having sex with this girl's stolen body, letting this doppelganger pull Nikki's body into all aspects of his home and life. He clearly is more invested in access to Nikki's body and largely not unconcerned with the consent or desires of the Real Nikki. It takes Nikki fighting through the possession, screaming from the phantom zone, begging him to kill her while her body snatcher sleeps, for Bear to really even care!
He goes out of his way to defend himself over kissing a clearly brainwashed Nikki! "I didn't take advantage of you!" When others frame it as him possibly taking advantage of a girl under the influence, taking a drunk/high girl to his house, he's so defensive! He's a nice guy, he wouldn't do that!
But like....for most of the movie after the wish, he does do that! Every kiss, every session of sex, every moment spent with that body snatched girl are unconsentual! He's unashamedly with Nikki's body, not admitting to anyone that he made a wish until the last 15 minutes of the movie. Despite Bear being largely played as this cowardly emotional man, he's playing into rape culture constantly. Not taking no for an answer, and essentially keeping this girl prisoner.
Bear screams "guy from college who gets charged with rape". He's this entitled guy whose guy friends will cry "he wouldn't do that!" or "he has a future, don't let this ruin it!". He didn't see his actions as villainous, his /actor/ didn't see the actions and villainous. Just "morally gray in a pool of morally gray characters".
The character fundamentally was a man who sought something romantic with a friend who was not interested. Nikki pretty concretely confirmed that before Bear made the wish. But even after her saying what no, after clearly being brainwashed, Bear didn't care as long as he had access to her and her body. Even when "Nikki" was acting incredibly bizarre beyond plausible deniability, shitting her pants and hurting herself, he was more concerned about her being weird and scaring him. Not ashamed or upset about what he did to her, just upset at how she was acting out.
It's clear from how he reacts to all of the things that happen, if the wish turned her into a Real Doll who could say affirming sentences to him, he'd be using it. If the wish made her unable to say no to him, he would exploit that. Despite being such a "good friend" to Bear, Nikki's agency didn't matter to him as much as his access to her.
Even to the point where she was literally unable to consent, he would still get what he wanted.
I think the interesting thing about Obsession is how subjective it seems to be depending on who you go into it identifying with.
There are some obviously incorrect takes - “bear is the victim”, and some takes informed by personal trauma that I just personally, didn’t see in the film - “bear is a clear cut perpetrator”.
I’ve been thinking more about it and reading other people’s takes and on my initial watch I wanted to like bear. I liked that they didn’t portray him as actively malicious. I think it would have been too heavy handed if they did. The more I reflect on it, the more I see him as almost the embodiment of weaponized incompetence, only I think he’s so fucking oblivious he doesn’t even know he’s doing that.
I think he’s selfish, cowardly and kinda dumb but I also think HE fully believes he’s kind with good intentions. At the beginning he doesn’t think the wish is real and he seems genuinely concerned about taking advantage of Nikki, then he thinks things are good. Until they clearly aren’t.
I think reason it works is because in his mind he never set out to destroy or possess Nikki. I didn’t see bold-faced darkness until the “what’s so bad about being with me” scene. That’s the point where he can absolutely no longer deny it. And arguably maybe the phone call.
But I think it works because he’s not hateful and malicious, he’s stupid and selfish and puts his wants above Nikki’s personhood - ultimately finally doing what he needs to do and only leaving her alone with the horrible mess he created. Like this dude isn’t a monster, he’s anyone who isn’t careful to check their biases and their wants.
I think the thing that is the most disturbing to me about Obsession is just how quickly it becomes totally clear that Bear not only never loved Nikki, but that he never even liked her.
In the little time we spend with Nikki before she becomes possessed “freaky” Nikki, Obsession goes to great lengths to establish Nikki as a person.
In just the first 15 minutes of the film, we learn that Nikki loves writing, she’s laid back, and that she cares very deeply for others. We see that she’s funny, she likes to gently tease her friends and joke around. She has ambition and wants to pursue her writing seriously. She has her own goals and thoughts and opinions.
She’s also characterized very well by her wardrobe, how she talks, her body language and expressions (courtesy of Inde Navarrette’s absolutely STUNNING and brilliant performance).
In a VERY short amount of time, the audience is given a VERY clear picture of Nikki’s personality and usual behavior.
Which makes her “transition” into “Freaky” Nikki all the more horrific when Bear makes his wish.
Because even if we give Bear some grace, and acknowledge that he couldn’t have known that the One Wish Willow would do what it did, and even if we treat his kissing her on the first night she comes over as morally grey (although in my opinion he absolutely did take advantage of the fragile mental state he believed her to be in), there is no way to excuse Bear blatantly ignoring that Nikki changes so drastically from the person Bear claims to be in love with.
After the wish, Nikki starts speaking differently and using a higher pitched voice, she starts dressing completely differently and wearing more traditionally “feminine” clothing. She suddenly drops her plan to quit working at the music store and pursue writing, she stops showing any care towards her other friends and the people in her life. She defers to Bear in every situation, with the only exception being any time Bear shows any sign of moving away from her emotionally (or physically).
After the wish, Nikki becomes a completely different person.
And Bear does not care or show any concern regarding this at all.
Everything that makes Nikki who she is, everything that makes Nikki, Nikki, is just gone after Bear uses the One Wish Willow.
And Bear couldn’t be happier.
We get a whole montage of Bear and “Nikki” as a “happy couple” hanging out together and ignoring everyone around them.
It’s not until Bear starts seeing actual consequences to his wish, such as “Nikki” causing a scene on their date or feeding his dead cat to him, that he begins to worry about her behavior.
And even then—EVEN THEN!!!!—Bear STILL adamantly refuses to accept that Nikki is not behaving rationally or how she used to in any way. While he eventually acquiesces to canceling his wish, he first tries to just “alter” it to make it so Nikki still loves him, but is just less intense.
He would rather use “Nikki” to satisfy his own desires and ego.
If Bear loved Nikki, hell, if he even just LIKED her for who she is, he would be horrified by “freaky” Nikki. He would have recognized and acknowledge extremely early on in their relationship, that something was deeply wrong. He would know that the woman he was with was not Nikki.
But Bear would rather have a bootleg version of Nikki that he can feel validated by, than have an actual relationship of any kind with the real Nikki.
He does not love Nikki. He does not even like her.
He likes the idea of Nikki. He likes the image of Nikki that he’s constructed of her, the image of her that only exists in his head.
He likes the fantasy of what Nikki would provide to him emotionally and physically.
From the beginning of the film, Obsession shows us exactly who its villain is. Nothing that “Freaky” Nikki does horrifies me as much as Bear’s treatment of Nikki and his refusal to see her as an actual person with autonomy.
For me that’s the most disturbing element of Obsession. That the people you trust the most and care about may be so obsessed with the version of you they’ve created in their mind that they’ll actively ignore your personhood and autonomy.
God. Obsession is so fucking good. I love film. I love cinema. Thank you Inde Navarrette. Thank you Curry Barker. Film of the year, if god hates horror fans why do we keep winning.
As terrible as I feel for Nikki throughout obsession (a different, not better or worse but different, movie would have the movie told by her, flashes in and out of consciousness, taken over by one entity and under the will of somebody she trusted and loved), I also feel so so bad for the other Nikki. She’s born to love Bear, but she isn’t born to actually like him - she can’t even say that she likes him! She loves him but has to change him: has to cut his hair, has to protect him from other women and not let him have friends, can’t leave him for a second. She loves him more than he loves her because that's how she was made and all he does is ask her to change when he made her that way. She doesn’t even know who Nikki IS. She's trying so hard but she doesnt know how to be human, never mind be Nikki. Even if it wasn’t his initial intention, even if he didn’t mean to make her that way, he fucking did it to her! And knows it isn’t her!!! He begs her to be a different person, the person he wants, but he refuses to let her go when he cant even love her!!
There’s multiple parts in the movie where I can’t tell which Nikki is which - which Nikki wrote that story? Which Nikki cooked the cat? Which Nikki cowers from him in the bedroom? They all seem like the Other Nikki in some ways but like - why would she do that? Why would she feed him his cat if not just malice? Why is she writing incest if not as an outlet to how she considered Bear a brother? why does she run scared from him and refuse to look at him, covering up with a vase (i do think this example isnt the strongest tbf bc i can understand another motivation but still)? Is other Nikki threatening to kill herself when he tries to sleep at Ian's so he doesnt leave or does she know that the other Nikki will try to kill herself if she's alone? Is that why she’s paralysed when he leaves?? can't go to the bathroom where the medication is? Is that's what's happening to her body??
Anyway I really liked obsession but i don’t think I’ll ever be able to rewatch it fully
the thing about obsession re: the cat sandwich, is that the common interpretation I've been seeing is that its an instance of real Nikki's anger manifesting through the entity, but honestly I saw it more as an instance of the entity not understanding human conventions, and having a "cannibalism/consumption as a metaphor for love" moment. Like I genuinely could imagine the entity's thought process as:
Bear loves the cat -> consumption is one of the ultimate acts of love. by eating the cat, its essence lives inside him. -> he will love me for this wonderful gift I've given him :)
it sort of reminds me of Where the Wild Things Are, when the monsters beg the protagonist to stay with them. Please don't go. I'll eat you whole. I love you so.
That moment where Nikki tells Bear that she's writing a love story that isn't a romance, and he doesn't get it. Can't recognize the difference between the two things, and the way it dooms them all. ugh. UGH. NOBODY TOUCH ME
nikki breaks my heart so bad because in the brief moments we see her before the wish kicks in, she's so cool and funny, clearly kindhearted, very driven about her future (telling bear about how she was going to quit her job to focus on her writing), and also very sure of herself as a person. ive seen people describe this movie as "mean-spirited" and I think thats so apt because it was a 2 hour long tragedy of the torture of this innocent girl, taking away everything she's ever had, including her own sense of self, putting her through unimaginable horrors, and leaving her with nothing except the three dead bodies of her friends, with the one who she trusted most being the one who did this to her. nothing for her to look for hope in, because she has nothing before her except a lifetime in prison or in an institution. it would be one thing if the movie ended on a note like weapons, where everything was over and there would hopefully be recovery somewhere down the line, but here, not only was the evil not committed by a random stranger but her closest friend, but she doesn't get any chance at recovery either. so goddamn tragic. on that note, if anyone can come up with some sort of fix-it for nikki please link it to me because I will be crying about this girl forever.
I need to see it again to pinpoint the details but I really like how the opening scene of obsession (2026) is Bear practicing his confession with a diner waitress... like already you have a woman (who is not Nikki) fulfilling the role for her, saying the response she thinks Bear would like to hear, but the moment this woman gives her own opinion, offering genuine advice to Bear (something along the lines of buying Nikki something she likes, like her favorite candy, flowers, etc)... Bear disregards it... but then ends up using Ian's recommendation from this same conversation (calling Nikki "Freaky Nikki")... like god its all already right there
Just saw the interview where Curry Barker explained that it's totally possible to get a normal wish from the One Wish Willow, and I love the way they did that so much. The reason Obsession happened isn't because it's trying to twist Bear's desires into something evil. It's not even because he phrased his want wrong. Obsession happened because Bear got his hands on a magic item that could do anything in existence, and chose to force someone to fall in love with him, which is an inherently evil thing to do.
I genuinely appreciate how obsession doesn't try to frame bear as morally grey but just fully leans into how deplorable he is. a lesser movie would have tried to give him redeeming moments along the way but no, at every single crossroads bear makes the wrong choice. when the customer service rep asks him if he wants to cancel his wish, he says no, and asks to alter it. when nikki, the real one, begs him to kill her, he asks her "if it would be so bad to love him", and right at the end, backs out of killing himself and tries to throw the pills up. he is the villain, not another victim, not a confused, cowardly boy, the villain.
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