Spoilers ahead!
On May 15th, 2026, “Obsession,” directed by Curry Baker, was released in theaters, and it shook the world. Produced by an upcoming director with a budget of $750,000, it grossed approximately $500 million worldwide. IMDb summarizes the film as, “After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.”
Obsession is definitely a horror movie, but the true terrors lie deeper than just the jump scares and gore.
Autonomy
In simplest terms, the true horror of this movie is a woman’s complete loss of bodily autonomy at the hands of a man. The movie focuses on Nikki Freeman and Bear, as well as their friends Ian and Sarah. From the start of the movie, we get introduced to Bear and learn that he has a crush on Nikki; however, we see almost immediately that those feelings are not reciprocated. Bear decides to make a wish on a “One Wish Willow” to make Nikki fall in love with him, and the horror begins.
The Nikki we see after that wish is made is slowly being warped into the classic obsessive girl we see in many horror films. This Nikki, though, isn’t the same Nikki we meet at the start of the movie. Bear never truly knew Nikki; he was in love with the idea of her, with the girl he saw on Instagram. Because of this, the effects of the wish begin turning Nikki into the girl Bear thinks she is.
There are multiple points where we see Nikki herself admit she isn’t who she used to be.
When she cooks his cat, which in itself is terrifying, she attaches photos of her and Bear with the sandwich in which she writes “You” (Bear) and “Not Me” (Nikki). She is telling Bear that the girl he’s been with isn’t the real Nikki, and again he ignores the signs. Of course, he’s more horrified by her cooking and feeding him his cat, but even that he brushes away after a “stern talking to.”
During the scene when Bear sneaks out to see Sarah, Nikki wakes up; however, she begins referring to the Nikki he’s been with as “her” rather than “I” or “me”, saying, “She’s sleeping. It’s me.” And says, “I’ve never been with you, Bear,” when talking about being in a relationship with him. Nikki never wanted this; therefore, to make the wish possible, the Nikki that has been with him can’t be the real Nikki.
During Ian’s party, which Bear ends up taking Nikki to despite being told not to, Nikki recites a poem she’s been working on. This entire scene is deeply uncomfortable, which perfectly portrays the entire theme of this movie. The poem reflects Nikki’s feelings about her and Bear, comparing them to Hansel and Gretel, but turning the classic children’s tale into something far darker and twisted. Nikki saw Bear as a friend, a brother even, but due to the wish, those feelings were warped and changed into that same darkness of the poem. We get another look into that loss of autonomy with the line, “A love only the branch of a willow tree could conjure,” showing that their love, their relationship, is only possible because of the One Wish Willow.
Later, around the climax of the movie, before the iconic and terrifying backwards walk, while she and Bear argue, Nikki says, “I can be Nikki…I can, I can, I can. I’ll be anything you want me to be…I’ll be, let me be Nikki.” Bear’s fully realized at this point that the Nikki he’s been with isn’t the real Nikki, and she confirms it here by admitting that she’ll be whoever Bear wants her to be, whatever version of Nikki he wants.
Now this one is purely an assumption, but most people who are into crystals would be happy receiving anything, and of course the gesture itself is sweet and romantic, but Bear doesn’t know Nikki; he doesn’t truly care about her, so instead of getting her a necklace, he picks something that would benefit him. The gift was never about her; it was about him making himself look good in her eyes. Bear was selfish, and that selfishness ruined Nikki’s life.
The Horrors of Man
I’ve seen some debate only, mostly from men, arguing that Bear is the real victim in the movie, and genuinely I don’t understand how anyone could come to that conclusion.
“I wish Nikki Freeman loved me more than anyone in the f*cking world.”
The director himself stated that the One Wish Willow itself isn’t inherently evil; the outcome of the wish is based on the person who made it, their intentions, and the way they worded it. We even get a glimpse into the more positive side of the wishes when the guy at the store stated he had already made his wish, and as far as we saw, he had no negative consequences. This shows that Bear, while maybe not starting off with bad intentions and no idea the wish would work, had some underlying darkness, and as the movie progresses, the actions he takes make this movie the horrific story it is.
From the start, we know Nikki didn’t reciprocate his feelings and is being changed into the girl he wants. As she grows more deranged, we see Bear grow more and more fearful of her; however, all he does is tell her that what she’s done isn’t okay, and then continues going on with his life, ignoring the unnaturalness of her actions. When he finally gets to a breaking point, he calls the number on the Willow and asks first to alter the wish, not cancel, alter. Only when he realizes he can’t manipulate her to become what he hoped for does he try to cancel the wish.
The movie depicts a sex scene that, when viewed in the context of the movie, is most definitely a scene depicting sexual assault. Bear doesn’t seem to ever look at Nikki during it, and despite sounding like she is enjoying this moment, we as the audience see Nikki’s blank and horrifying stare as she silently cries. This moment happens pretty early on in the wish, where Nikki is repeatedly having moments in which the “real” her returns to consciousness, so we can assume that Nikki is trapped here, trapped in her body that is being forced to love him while the real her inside is crying. While Bear might not realize this, the fact that he’s seen multiple times that Nikki will freak out and back out of the romantic actions/moments she is being placed in, and yet he continues to place them in moments like this shows his selfishness and disgusting lack of concern for the person he supposedly loves.
She quite literally begs him to kill her, and instead of showing any remorse or guilt, he asks, “What’s so bad about being with me?” Even when being shown, again, that Nikki isn’t truly herself, he ignores her pleas and makes everything about him. He then leaves her to meet Sarah, leaving Nikki for another girl, and during that scene in the car the two are essentially flirting. Bear never cared about Nikki; he just wanted someone to love him, and he didn’t care what it took to get that.
When Bear makes the call to alter his wish, he learns that the only way to “cancel” the wish is if the person who made it dies. In the final scenes, Bear attempts to overdose on pills, the same ones his own cat died from, and ends the horror. However, he ends up changing his mind and tries to make himself throw up to prevent himself from dying; this, of course, doesn’t end up working, as Nikki ends up making a wish that pulls Bear out of the bathroom, and he ends up dying in her arms. In an interview with Bear’s actor, Michael Johnston, he shares that originally Bear didn’t try to throw up, but Johnston asked to do the scene again and shared his idea. I truly believe this was the best decision they could have made, as the simple act of him changing his mind proves that his intention was never to save Nikki but rather to save himself and escape the situation he put himself in. This scene was that final punch that proves Bear never cared about anyone but himself.
Bear is the villain (this shouldn’t be a debate).
The Incredible Details
This movie has so many little details that just make it so much better than it already was, so here are some of my favorites.
We’re first briefly introduced to Nikki when she calls Bear at the start of the movie, during which she drops her necklace, a protection crystal, down the drain. This small moment is what leads to Bear going into the shop and eventually buying the One Wish Willow. Her loss of protection inevitably leads to the horror that pursues.
When Bear is driving Nikki home, the two discuss Nikki’s story, and she corrects Bear that she’s writing a “love story”, not a “romance”. She makes it a point to state that the two are not the same, which is a great opening to what is to come in this movie. What she and Bear have, he would consider romance, but that doesn’t mean it’s love.
Less of a detail and more of a major scene, but as we see Sarah grow closer to Bear and her crush develops, Nikki grows more and more possessive, eventually killing Sarah, due to the fact that she has to love Bear “more than anyone in the world”.
Bear’s name. A play on the question, “Man or bear,” which is typically asked of women on which they’d rather encounter, maybe when walking, traveling, or just in general. In this case, the main character is both.
He is a man, and he is a bear, and both will kill you.
“If you’re gonna make a wish,
then you better be specific
You’re gonna have to live it every day”
– Haunted by Phoebe Bridgers