"Obsession" by Curry Barker
I want to start this blog post off by saying this will 100% be an unserious review of this movie.
Bear canonically smells reeeeallyyy bad.
The first time we meet him, we’re in the diner, watching him practice what he’s planning on saying to Nikki to confess his feelings; his hair is SO greasy, and he just looks disheveled and unkempt. I think it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the sweaters that he chooses to wear quite frequently might actually be his grandma’s. I really don’t think it’d be too crazy to infer, honestly!
Nikki walks into his Grandma’s apartment and literally says, “...smells like you.” Keep in mind, his cat that passed is literally sitting in a trash bag in his kitchen. Like, how bad does he normally smell for it to either not be noticeable or that’s just how bad a stench he normally carries around?
Is Sarah "innocent" or even a "good" friend?
I don't think Sarah was an innocent person in everything that happened.
You can obviously tell that she has some sort of feelings for just Bear. First example: when we meet the whole group at trivia night. She seems irritated that the 3 (Nikki, Bear, and Ian) were at the bar for a moment, GRABBING DRINKS LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD, but Ian inserted himself to cock-block Bear. Whether it's the right time for Bear to let out his feelings or not is beside the point; Sarah starts with a snarky comment and shoots Ian a weird look. Fast forward a few moments later, they’ve moved outside, and Nikki wants to go home for the night. Tell me why Sarah wants to start with "Ian, we can sing High School Musical together." In the words of Leah Kateb… SPARE ME. Then here comes Sarah with ANOTHER snarky comment when Nikki asks for some cash to give to the unhoused man outside of the bar. "I - didn't say you could have it, great, I just paid for a guy's heroin fill for the week", like- GIRL, you should've snatched it right back if you had a problem with it.
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| Bear, Nikki, Ian Sarah |
Fast-forward in the movie, she does her little hinting and gives weird looks the whole time. She all of a sudden decides that she wants to come forward with her feelings for Bear but only AFTER Nikki is already under the wish. I'm sorry, but if my homegirl went from telling me she sees a guy like a brother, then proceeds to come in the VERY next day all up on him, as her friend I'd ask her straight up "What the hell are you on??" there's no way as a true friend I'd be anything other than concerned for my homegirl. But no, Sarah decides to lowkey sneak diss and chat straight shit about Nikki to not only Ian (who she knows Nikki has been hooking up with, even more reason to intervene with your girl!!?) but to none other than Mr. Greaseball Bear.
GET. REAL. (Deena Nicole - MTV's Jersey Shore voice)
She meets up with Bear in the middle of the night, and that's to take her friend Nikki's man, like a little hoochie. I will admit I was one of the few in the theatre who did root for Nikki when things popped off, because, sorry, but what the actual hell was Sarah thinking? You already noticed that Nikki is acting off. Had she not offered and suggested to meet up with Bear, she probably would've been able to enjoy her little tattoo school. Now she can't. That's why you don't go after other women's men. I’M KIDDING.
Should Bear be given grace for trying to, at the very least, change his wish?
Personally, I would say no; Bear's wish wasn’t about getting genuine love from Nikki. However he would’ve worded his wish, its end purpose was to remove someone's autonomy. We will never really know if Nikki did or didn’t like Bear as more than a friend, and I like that there’s no clear-cut answer. I don’t think she ever did, especially after finding out that she had been hooking up with Ian for YEARS before Bear even checked for her like that. I think it spoke volumes that he had the lovely idea of replacing her crystal necklace that had fallen down the drain. Still, instead of taking a moment to think of a crystal to give her that had some meaning behind it (he literally picked up ONE, and didn’t like the power behind it), he went with a novelty toy that he ended up not even giving her because he chickened out!
It’s another show that he doesn’t really care about Nikki herself. All of his compliments to her are about what SHE can do for HIM, and has done.
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| One wish willow packaging |
Final thoughts:
All jokes aside, I think this movie is one of the most original and organic pieces of media that’s been created for this generation. I followed the clothing designer Blair James (@blair00111 - TikTok) on TikTok as she discussed the costuming choices. I also watched the special extras on the Peacock app for the movie as well for more behind-the-scenes takes from the cast and crew; it was honestly amazing to watch.
The thought behind everything, considering it was a very low-budget film (750,000 USD), I’m not surprised or shocked that they earned $17.2 million from 2,615 North American theaters on May 15, 2026 [1, 2] and totaled 450 times its initial budget.
It was also confirmed by director Curry Barker himself that he has already started on his adaptation of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As a horror movie lover since I was little, I am anxiously awaiting his portrayal of the story. I think Barker’s background working with low budgets and his desire to stay as close as possible to how Obsession was made will welcome a fresh take on horror movies in the next few years. The last name Barker will become synonymous with Craven in the film industry… mark my words. We are witnessing a new wave of filmmaking, and I am OBSESSED.
See you next week; I'll be doing a FULL album review of the much-awaited 8th album of Ariana Grande, “Petal,” dropping tomorrow, July 31st!
Don’t forget, I love you so so so so so so much
Xoxo, Layla ♡
