Obsession Movie Review Psychological Horror

A Disturbing Independent Horror Debut (Warning Contains Spoilers)

Obsession by Curry Barker is highly related to his experience as a filmmaker on YouTube and making horror content. Before making full-length movies, he gained popularity as a horror director by creating videos on YouTube.

In these videos, there was a combination of uneasy humor and sudden horror. This is reflected in the way the movie Obsession is made.

The film revolves around Bear, an emotionally unstable and insecure music store clerk. Upon encountering a supernatural toy, Bear makes a wish that his childhood crush Nikki will love him more than anyone or anything else.

As this movie progresses from a fantasy story into psychological horror, the emotions become increasingly disturbing. This is a film about unhealthy obsessions, lust, and loneliness set within a horror movie genre.

Instead of concentrating on scaring the audience, the movie focuses largely on emotional uneasiness and instability in relationships. Such an approach contributes greatly to making the movie different from other supernatural horror movies made recently.

Obsession is personal, unusual, and very emotional from the first scenes through to its disturbing ending. Despite its shortcomings, Barker’s ambitious nature can be seen in many decisions regarding the movie.

Curry Barker’s Directing Style

What makes Obsession stand out is the distinct directorial style of Curry Barker. Modern horror movies all seem to look similar, but Obsession creates a distinctive atmosphere.

The director employs long silences and uncomfortable conversations to generate tension in an organic way. Several instances in the film become terrifying before any supernatural element enters the plot.

This approach seems very much influenced by the filmmaker’s earlier YouTube-based horror endeavors. In his early content, he would delve into themes of awkwardness and emotional instability through horror comedy scenarios.

Obsession takes all of that to a new level, providing a feature-length narrative of an emotional nature.
The film takes the audience deep into Bear’s emotional state and unstable psychological condition.

This results in an intimate viewing experience, although not without its own moments of emotional fatigue for the viewer.

Barker makes it obvious that he wants people to be uncomfortable more than entertained by his film. There are times when this strategy is executed perfectly, giving rise to some emotional tension.

However, at other times, the movie turns out to be emotionally stagnant due to its repetitiveness, as certain scenes go on for too long. Even so, I would say that the direction is competent, though perhaps better done if tighter pacing had been used during some emotional scenes.

Overall, one must appreciate Barker’s attempt to create some emotional discomposure instead of doing horror the usual way. Obsession may not always succeed, but it consistently feels like a filmmaker expressing a personal creative vision.

Cinematography And Visual Style

It is through the use of grainy visuals that Taylor Clemons makes the film extremely disturbing visually for its entire running time. Instead of using studio-quality lighting, the cinematographer uses rough lighting in order to give the film its distinct look.

Most of the scenes seem quite claustrophobic as there are always shadows around the characters which hide important visual elements. This is due to the fact that Bear is emotionally unstable and obsessed with his victim.

Finally, the graininess of the visuals also adds to the realistic aspect of the film. A number of instances employ practical lighting from streetlamps, corridors, and shop lights to create visual tension.

Normal places take on an ominous quality due to lighting and filming decisions that permeate the whole movie. Use of close angles creates psychological discomfort by placing viewers into Bear’s disturbed psychological world.

The style is particularly effective in scenes of quietness centered around loneliness and desperation. At the same time, there are times when cinematography can become frustrating since some shots are hard to follow.

A few essential elements are hidden in the darkness, causing a few scenes to be more difficult to grasp emotionally. Although the lighting creates atmosphere, it may divert the viewer’s attention away from the story.

The grainy look often takes precedence over the image quality, resulting in diminished clarity during key dramatic scenes. Yet, the cinematography makes Obsession visually unique among horror films.

Despite the visuals being too dark, there is a sense that it was done intentionally for emotional effect.

Themes Of Obsession And Loneliness

The primary theme in the movie is obsessive behavior and its negative consequences. It is easier for Bear to appear desperate as he is already lonely, especially as he becomes more deranged.

The wish symbolizes his inability to cope with his fear to be close to Nikki, in case of rejection. Instead of romanticizing love, the movie delves into the issue of possessiveness and emotional manipulation in an eerie way.

This thematic angle adds significant emotional depth to the supernatural horror in the movie. There is another theme that runs through the movie, namely isolation and the fear of not being recognized emotionally in the present age.

Certain scenes in the movie become quite uncomfortable to watch since they portray genuine emotional vulnerability.

Obsession is most effective when based on emotional unease rather than horror elements.
Unfortunately, there are themes that do not develop as well as they could due to the emphasis on mood.

There is one case where Nikki seems to be lacking emotionally when compared to Bear. A number of emotional elements are presented but not examined before moving on to the horror element.

For this reason, there are times when the emotional elements seem to lack impact before any conclusions are reached. Nevertheless, the themes remain compelling since they are based on realistic human behavior.

Even once the supernatural elements end, the emotional discomfort continues to linger.
conclusions.

Performances And Characters

Michael Johnston is highly committed to his role as Bear in the increasing intensity of emotions shown during the movie. Johnston portrays awkwardness, loneliness, and an unstable emotional state in a rather uncomfortable way.

With the increasing obsession of Bear, Johnston makes him an emotionally threatening and unpredictable character. However, Bear is not an easily liked character for most part of the movie.

His self-centered behavior results in an emotional distance from his own problems. This sense of detachment seems purposeful on occasion, but can detract from one’s emotional commitment to the entire plot.

Inde Navarrette imbues Nikki with an emotional sincerity in more subdued scenes. In particular, her performance is key in giving credibility to some of the more fantastical elements within the movie through emotion. It’s a pity that Nikki doesn’t receive much emotional development in comparison to Bear.

In this way, the dynamic takes on an unbalanced and incomplete emotional quality at times.

The other characters work well with the awkward and realistic feel of the movie. Even small performances add to the emotionally awkward experience that Barker is trying to create.

While the performances are technically good, there is still a lot of emotional distance. This could be problematic for those seeking a more emotionally powerful experience.

Pacing Problems And Structural Issues

The major flaw in Obsession, without doubt, is related to its pacing and momentum. A few scenes go on longer than needed without developing any emotional connection or suspense.

Obviously, the movie intends to make viewers stay within their emotional discomfort for quite some time. At times, this strategy works and creates suspense and emotional tension between the characters.

Sometimes, however, there is a sense of repetition that does not do much for the plot development in terms of drama. Pacing was a problem for the second half, with multiple losses of narrative momentum.

Emotionally charged discussions often reiterate ideas without bringing any additional emotional value. This sometimes makes the film appear to be longer than its actual length. Shorter editing would make it more dramatic and emotionally effective.

The slow pacing suits intimate and emotional scenes well, but sabotages some effective horror sequences. Once the suspense is lost, it is difficult for the movie to gain back momentum fast enough.

Though there are issues with pacing, the atmosphere of the movie is usually interesting enough not to lose the audience. It does not become mundane or unimaginative at any point of its plot line. Such creativity makes up for many other flaws in the plot structure.

Final Verdict

All in all, Obsession is an interesting attempt at psychological horror with its own distinct style. Obsession successfully builds upon many themes that Curry Barker has explored in his short horror films on YouTube.

The atmosphere and cinematography of the film lead to many memorable moments. At the same time, the themes related to loneliness, obsession, and emotional insecurity feel quite convincing.

The cinematography of Taylor Clemons creates a dark visual appearance that suits the emotional tone of the movie.

Despite the characters becoming hard to empathize with, their acting is still compelling. The issue is that the movie moves at a snail’s pace and significantly dampens the emotional impact on the audience. In addition, there are several instances where scenes drag out too long.

There are certain parts that seem to be overly elongated and might have needed to be better edited. The dark lighting is also at times distracting since the visuals can no longer be easily comprehended.

In spite of all the shortcomings, the movie is definitely creative and emotionally disturbing enough. Though controversial, the movie certainly shows the talent of Curry Barker as a film director.

In my opinion, Obsession works best when it embraces an emotional unease rather than the more typical supernatural fears. Despite its flaws, inconsistencies, and occasional frustrations, it never seems to be emotionally safe or creatively predictable.