\u201cBe careful what you wish for\u201d is such a threadbare clich\u00e9 of life and cinema that it\u2019s hard to believe anything new can be breathed into any story using the term as its foundation\u202f\u2014 much less a thrilling horror film. Yet here\u2019s 26-year-old writer-director Curry Barker with his Obsession<\/em>. It might just become yours.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lovesick Bear (Michael Johnston) has fancied his mate Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for yonks. Desperate to tell her he loves her, he even rehearses his declaration in front of other friends. Despite ample time spent working together in a musical-instrument shop and on the lash downing shots, Bear bottles it. One day, he drops Nikki\u2019s necklace down a drain and while trying to find a replacement, sees a \u2018One Wish Willow\u2019 charm. He\u2019s warned about the trinket\u2019sundesirable effects but buys it and uses it anyway, predictably wishing that Nikki falls in love with him. And she does \u2014 to extraordinary excess.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Barker, in only his second feature after 2024 micro-budget debut Milk & Serial<\/em>, proves accomplished at supplying scares, be they jump or slow-burn.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s a satisfying \u2018snap\u2019 when Bear uses the charm that will remind viewers of the carnage that ensues when a similar process occurs in Weapons<\/em>. But where that riotous chiller caused instant aggro, the feeling here is one of creeping dread and, eventually, complete terror.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Barker, in only his second feature after 2024 micro-budget debut Milk & Serial<\/em>, proves accomplished at supplying scares, be they jump or slow-burn. Navarrette is sensational as the increasingly unhinged, violent Nikki, and her outlandish actions provide many of the film\u2019s finest moments. To go into too much detail would be to spoil \u2014\u202fbut a memorable packed lunch, an excruciating party sequence and a devastating car scene are highlights.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n This blackly funny, gory take on W.W. Jacobs\u2019 1902 short story \u2018The Monkey\u2019s Paw\u2019 \u2014 and the hundreds of screen versions derived from it \u2014 is obviously far from an original idea. But the way in which it twists and warps the dusty material into a startling meditation on unhealthy infatuations is hugely impressive.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n A comedically gruesome take on love\u2019s maddening effects \u2014 even more so than last year\u2019s Together \u2014\u202fObsession is so fresh and exhilarating, one can forgive its familiar origins. Curry Barker is set for big things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Music-shop employee Bear (Michael Johnston) is hopelessly in love with his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but can\u2019t quite pluck up the courage to tell her how he feels. When he casually makes a wish using a store-bought lucky charm, Nikki is suddenly besotted with him. \u201cBe careful what you wish for\u201d is such a threadbare clich\u00e9 of life and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-47"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9363,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9361\/revisions\/9363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Obsession\"](\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/obsession.jpg\")
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