I have a confession: I am not a horror movie fan. And before anyone yells or cancels me, yes, I am a film major, but I do not do gore.
I have always been a person who would rather watch a romcom or Disney movie that I have seen a hundred times than put myself through the torture of watching something that leaves me terrified and screaming bloody murder for two hours. So, when I sat down to watch Obsession, I was a bit skeptical.
I’m not going to lie, I was terrified while watching this film, but the story itself made me invested.
For a bit of context, Obsession follows Bear, a shy music store employee who has a huge crush on his friend Nikki. When he struggles to tell her how he feels, he obtains a mysterious, supernatural object called the “One Wish Willow” and makes a wish for Nikki to fall in love with him. At first, it was as if he was on Cloud 9 and his dreams came true, but reality hits when her love becomes obsessive and dark. Bear realizes getting exactly what you wish for can come with a seriously terrifying price.
The setup is what makes the movie so interesting to me. It is not about someone being chased by something scary. The whole premise revolves around obsession, love, and what happens when someone tries to control another person’s feelings. The more Nikki’s behavior changes, the more uncomfortable the situation becomes.
What I Learned From Obsession
One thing I learned from Obsession is that having a crush on someone does not mean you should try to control how they feel about you. Bear likes Nikki, but his feelings become so strong that he wants to make sure she loves him back without even confessing his feelings to her. Watching everything that happened afterward made me think, why didn’t he just tell her how he felt in the first place?
Of course, confessing to a crush can be scary, especially when you don’t know if the other person feels the same way. But even if Nikki rejected Bear, it would have been much healthier than everything he went through trying to force the situation and feelings. The movie showed me that you cannot control whether someone likes you back, and sometimes you have to take the chance, be honest, and accept whatever happens. It also made me realize that having a crush should not turn into obsession. It is okay to like someone, but you should not lose yourself trying to make them like you back.
Now, the film was still gory, bloody, and disturbing. And yes, I was about to throw up and cry from the gore and blood. If I had to choose, I probably wouldn’t watch this again because the cat scene scared me and I had nightmares for days.
Would I suddenly choose a horror movie for a movie night? Probably not.
Would I watch another movie like Obsession? Yes, but less gory.
If you are someone who usually avoids horror, Obsession might be worth the watch, just do not watch it late at night, like I did.