Obsession Movie Poster, Courtesy of GrandSon.
GRANDSONLA/WEBSITE
Zendrah Bonnick, Assistant News Editor
“Obsession” is a horror story about bodily autonomy. Directed and written by YouTuber and filmmaker Curry Barker, “Obsession” was a widespread hit among audiences. Released on May 16, 2026, the film was a historic success, especially for the often-overlooked horror genre. Those looking to see the film should note that it does include significant themes and depictions of abuse and sexual assault.
The film opens on the protagonist, Baron Bailey, referred to as Bear, on a staged practice date, preparing to ask out his childhood friend, co-worker, and an aspiring writer, Nikki Freeman.
Later in the day, Bear goes to a shop and browses the crystal section to buy a gift for Nikki, instead opting to buy a “One Wish Willow,” a novelty toy item that claims to grant one wish to its user.
Nikki, Bear and their friends all go out to a bar together. When leaving, Bear offers to take Nikki home; he says he’ll get her home safely, and he does not deliver on this promise.
During the car ride, Nikki tells Bear about her plan to leave the job where she, Bear, and their two other friends work. Nikki intends to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Specifically, she tells Bear she wants to write love stories.
To which Bear responds, “So it’s a romance”.
Nikki corrects him, reaffirming, “No… it’s not a romance. It’s a love story”.
“Isn’t that the same thing?” Bear replies.
The short conversation between Nikki and Bear tells the audience not only that there is a discrepancy between how the two both view love but also that Nikki views Bear as a friend to whom she confides her dreams and trusts.
While Nikki was leaving the car, Bear makes an allusion to her past in high school, calling Nikki, “freaky Nikki,” although he is aware she dislikes this nickname.
This leads Nikki to ask Bear if he likes her. Bear responds that he likes her as a friend.
After talking to Bear in the car, Nikki walks up to her front door. The audience hears Nikki’s door, and Bear breaks the “One Wish Willow” while saying, “I wish Nikki Freeman loved me more than anyone in the f—ing world.”
Nikki’s behavior changes instantaneously. She moves back towards Bear’s car, and she never goes home. Bear takes her to his home and kisses Nikki, stopping when she screams, in a moment of brief lucidity and pushes him away out of confusion.
Eventually returning to her infatuation with Barry that seemed to develop suddenly. As multiple characters point out throughout the film, Nikki previously only viewed Bear as a “brother.”
For the majority of the film, Bear and the “New Nikki” are a couple. The dynamic is strange even to Bear’s friends, with his best friend Ian noting that when he spoke to Nikki, she mentioned she was having a difficult time with family issues surrounding her father, and he thought it was strange for Bear to be dating her when she is struggling.
Especially because, from Ian’s perspective prior to the night at the bar, Ian knew Bear was interested in Nikki, and Nikki showed no such interest in Bear. The discussion makes Bear uncomfortable, leading him to shut it down, becoming defensive over any implication that his behavior is predatory.
Within the privacy of Bear’s home, the dynamic between the two is even stranger than that’s apparent to outside observers. When Bear leaves the house without Nikki, she waits for him, not moving through the entirety of the day, leading her to soil herself while she stares at the door waiting for Bear to return.
At one point in the film after Bear called the “One Wish Willow” customer service who confirms that Nikki is only with him physically because of his wish, not because she wanted to be, but because she had no other choice in or control in the matter.
When he calls the customer service worker, he allows him to hear Nikki, who still holds the hope that Bear will help her. Nikki hoped he didn’t know what was happening to her, but from the audience’s perspective, it is obvious that Nikki has not been herself from the first moment she is seen after Bear makes his wish. The customer service worker informs Bear that the only way to make this stop is for either him or Nikki to die.
Later in the film, there is a rare glimpse of the real Nikki; Nikki begs Bear to kill her. He responds, “What would be— what’s so bad about being with me?”
Obsession’s horror does not lie in the supernatural but in this story’s moments grounded in reality. Bear is ordinary. He is a normal man, not a good one, but one that has been normalized globally. He is not a shapeshifter or a monster; he is just a man.
Bear insists he loves Nikki, but this only allows him to rationalize the hurt he causes. Bear claiming to love Nikki does help her, doesn’t save her, and doesn’t even prove he actually does love her or even likes her, considering how he treats her.
To Bear, love exists in isolation. Bear has a romanticized idea of love and himself. To Bear, love disregards all pain and rejection; it’s unrelenting, which is why Bear does not understand what a love story is. He acts as though he can somehow declare his love for Nikki into reality so loudly as to erase the contrasting reality of his own actions towards her.
In the film, Bear sexually assaults Nikki. The film calls attention to sexual violence and a disregard for bodily autonomy, telling the story through the perspective of a man who cares more about being viewed as predatory than actually being a predator.
Bear is both the protagonist and antagonist of the film. While a lot of discourse grew out of the release of the film, Bear is objectively a rapist who sees himself as a “nice guy.” He is a coward and abuser whose actions lead to all the deaths and suffering that take place in the film. Yet he behaves as though he is passive in this story, victimized and caring for his girlfriend. While the magic of film is not real, the form of sexual violence and violations of autonomy it portrayed are born out of real issues that remain as pervasive and prevalent as ever.
Resources for rape survivors can be found at RAINN, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Contact the NYPD Sex Crimes Report Line: 212-267-7273.