FILM REVIEW: OBSESSION (18) ESP RATING: 4/5

A deeply unsettling slow-burn horror that gets under your skin – and stays there.

In what has already been a very strong year for the genre, Obsession is easily one of the stand-outs.

Written and directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Curry Barker, the film follows Bear (played by Michael Johnston), a socially awkward young man whose fixation on a woman – Inde Navarrette’s Nikki – spirals into something increasingly disturbing after he is granted a wish that ‘she will love him more than anyone else’.

What begins almost like an awkward, off-beat romance gradually unravels into a deeply unsettling psychological horror.

What makes Barker such an exciting proposition, is how quickly he’s risen through the horror scene. Before this, he built a following online through low-budget horror projects and viral YouTube films, including Milk & Serial, which gained a huge amount of buzz after being uploaded directly to YouTube. Remarkably, Obsession is his first studio feature film – and the confidence behind the camera is seriously impressive.

The closest comparison I kept coming back to while watching this was It Follows. It’s not just the similarly grounded, indie feel, but that same creeping sense of dread that slowly builds under the surface. This is very much a slow-burn horror – patient, deliberate, and far more interested in atmosphere and unease than constant chaos or set-piece scares.

If you’re looking for a horror film filled with jump scares every five minutes or non-stop mayhem from beginning to end, this is not that film. That’s not to say the scares aren’t there, though. Because trust me – they absolutely are. In fact, there’s one moment in this film where I jumped more than I ever have in a cinema in my entire life. I’m genuinely not exaggerating.

A huge reason the film works so well is due to Navarrette’s headlining performance, which the entire story heavily relies on – and she absolutely delivers. There’s a real vulnerability and emotional weight to her role that keeps everything grounded, even as the narrative becomes increasingly unsettling and abstract. Done wrong, this could very easily have drifted into something unintentionally silly – but she holds it together throughout.

Fortunately the hype for this film – which has come from absolutely nowhere to receive serious acclaim – is fully deserved.

It’s definitely a horror that you should get obsessed with. 

ESP Rating: 4/5

Mike Clarke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Tp9uUoeeI

Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now

Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless & Andy Richter

Running Time: 1 Hr 49 Mins

Director: Curry Barker

Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough

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