By Jason Osiason

Obsession gives you the same euphoric jolt you felt when Cabin in the Woods went gloriously off the rails, except it never comes back down. A wild revenge horror aimed at men who think they can control love. It blends comedy and terror so effortlessly that you laugh, then immediately realize you shouldn’t have.

Bear, a quiet music store clerk, spends his days daydreaming about Nikki, his charming and effortlessly cool coworker. After another failed attempt to confess his feelings, he stumbles into a curiosity shop and buys a small relic that promises to grant one true wish. He wishes for Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world. The next morning, she does.

At first it feels perfect. She remembers every detail about him, cooks elaborate dinners, shows up at his apartment with gifts and affection that feels intoxicating. But her devotion turns invasive. She mirrors his every thought, finishes his sentences, isolates him from his friends. The more she “loves” him, the less he recognizes her. The film twists the rom-com fantasy of being adored into a literal nightmare of control and submission.

Inde Navarrette is phenomenal. You can see flashes of the real Nikki trapped inside the spell, as if her warmth and fear are fighting for the same body. Johnston plays Bear with quiet guilt and panic, realizing the curse might not be reversible. Curry Barker directs it all with reckless confidence with cozy amber tones fade into acid-green dread, the music shop’s clattering instruments turn into percussion for the scares, and every scene hums with anxious rhythm. The Zach Creggar comparisons will be inevitable.

It’s a story about how love without consent becomes horror. Every time Bear tries to undo what he started, the wish tightens around him like a noose. There are echoes of Get Out in the social undercurrent and flashes of Zach Cregger’s chaotic bravado in how far Barker pushes tone.

One of the most original and cathartic horror films I’ve seen this decade and one of my favorite directorial debuts in recent memory. It’s messy in the best way; deliriously funny, frightening, and alive with imagination. You leave the theater buzzing and it ends like a bad dream you kind of want to stay in. [A]