Obsession (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

• Inde Navarrette is incredible. I hope her performance is remembered when awards season rolls around.
• Curry Baker has crafted a funny, scary and intense film.
• Michael Johnston does some great work.
• The lore is wonderful. 
• This is the type of horror film that Blumhouse should be releasing. Fresh, new and cheap.
• Production designer Vivian Gray does some legit work.
• Watch it in a theater.
• Give Inde Navarrette awards.
• It’s fun that the film was partly inspired by an episode of The Simpsons.

The best thing about watching a lot of movies is when a film comes out of nowhere (or somewhere if you’ve been following the director) and provides a refreshing and exhilarating experience. The Curry Baker-written/directed movie Obsession is a thrilling horror comedy that has something to say and features an awards-worthy performance from Inde Navarrette. Most importantly, if this film succeeds, it will inspire aspiring filmmakers to take chances and not be afraid to put their work on YouTube or other streaming sites so it can be seen. 

From someone who has gotten all their paid writing assignments (Rotten Tomatoes, The Ringer, Cracked, Film Theory, Fandom) from dropping dumb movie data articles on Reddit since 2015, it was cool seeing Baker release his well-reviewed found footage film Milk & Serial on YouTube. The 72-minute horror film currently has 2.4 million views and opened doors for Baker to make Obsession. YouTube staples such as the Philippou Brothers (Talk to Me, Bring Her Back), Kane Parsons (Backrooms), Markiplier (Iron Lung), Michael Shanks (Together), Chris Stuckmann (Shelby Oaks), and Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Prey, Predator: Badlands), all made their name on YouTube and are currently making hit films. Watching creators taking non-traditional routes to filmmaking is inspiring, and the results speak for themselves. 

Obsession revolves around a twentysomething named Bear (Michael Johnston – great), who wants to express love for his coworker Nikki (Inde Navarrette). The problem is that the flawed kid can’t muster the courage to tell her and chickens out when he has the chance. After failing to express his love for Nikki, he cracks a One Wish Willow stick he bought at a crystal shop earlier in the day, and wishes Nikki would love him more than anything in the world. This wish takes away all her agency and plunges the duo into a horrible ordeal that involves duct tape, gross sandwiches, food criticism, face stabbings, terrible dreams, explosive violence that had to be trimmed for the film to receive an R-rating. The most interesting thing about the wish is that Bear isn’t wishing for a healthy relationship or happiness. Bear wants a woman to be totally devoted to him, and when she becomes wildly (and violently) devoted, he collapses under his selfishness. In another welcome touch, his friend group made up of coworkers Sarah (Megan Lawless) and Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) are skeptical of the new relationship because something is clearly wrong with Nikki, and it seems like Bear is exploiting her frazzled mental state. 

In the press notes, Baker explains that he wanted to explore concepts of love and wish-fullfilment, and his end goal was for audiences to consider what they would do in similar situations (which would say a lot about the person). The casting of Michael Johnston was smart because he comes across as a supremely naive sad sack whose selfishness is masked by his innocence. Baker’s script goes hard on making sure that he’s an ineffectual “nice guy” whose beloved cat dies after it eats pills left lying around his kitchen (things die because the lame guy can’t clean up after himself). Bear lives in his deceased grandmother’s home, and aside from setting up a gaming system, he’s changed nothing around the house because he has no ambition and can’t make decisions. By all accounts, Bear is the worst, and it’s nice that he isn’t treated like a teenage rom-com hero from the 1980s or 1990s. 

The MVP of Obsession is Inde Navarrette, who landed an audition after working with Obsession producer Christian Mercuri on the 2025 film Trap House (a bad movie with an excellent cast). His instincts were correct because Navarrette owns the screen with her physicality, humor, and ability to hold a creepy smile for minutes at a time. Due to the cursed nature of her character, Navarrette bounces between about 43 emotions as her character is forced to deal with an avalanche of supernatural shenanigans. It’s easily the most impressive and physically imposing performance since Naomi Scott in Smile 2. 

It’s wild that the film was shot in 20 days, and it’s a testament to the crew who put it together. Baker likes to live in his scenes, and it meant less coverage for the edit because he pushed for long takes which will allow audiences to settle into the scene. In the press notes, he admits that  long takes aren’t always ideal for the edit, but it’s neat that he pushed for them because he wanted the film to feel settled and oppressive. The lack of coverage, inserts, and over-editing help the movie because audiences need to live with the character to feel the danger of the situation. The final product is a handsome low-budget film that punches above its weight and will create interesting discussions. 

Final thoughts – I can’t wait to see what Baker does next.