Obsession (2025).

Review #2539: Obsession.

Cast: 

Michael Johnston (Baron "Bear" Bailey), Inde Navarrette (Nikki Freeman), Cooper Tomlinson (Ian), Megan Lawless (Sarah Harper), Andy Richter (Carter Harper), with Haley Fitzgerald (Viola), Darin Toonder (Harry), and Curry Barker (voice on the phone) Edited and Directed by Curry Barker.

Review: 

"I didn't want it to just be this angry, possessed, dark-eyed thing. I wanted it to be more like, “No, this is just a toxic, toxic relationship, and she's just so obsessed with him.” And I didn't want to add anything that felt like it wouldn't… Because it's so easy to go down this rabbit hole of just becoming a slasher movie, but it's like, no, no, no, what would a person do if in the circumstance, all they want is you? All they want is to be with you. So then it becomes manipulation, it becomes tactics of like, “How can I get you to stay longer? Can I use my self-harm to make you feel guilty?” Things like that, instead of, like, “I'm going to kill everybody.”

Sure, let's do the new movie garnering attention that happens to be directed by a YouTuber.* Born and raised in Alabama, Curry Barker had met Cooper Tomlinson on the campus of NYFA Los Angeles and had a quick connection to where they made sketch comedy together for the channel "that's a bad idea". They made a few short films as well before making a film together for $800 with Milk & Serial, a found footage film that they decided would be best to put out on YouTube for their fans. Barker stated that he had an idea about an obsessed person and a relationship, but the wishing aspect came about by seeing an old episode of The Simpsons (specifically "Treehouse of Horror II", which involved a segment with a monkey's paw). The film was shot over a span of under four weeks while having a bit of re-shoots (such as including the opening scene or the scene where the brief confrontation scene after getting his hair cut in his sleep). It premiered originally at a midnight section of the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025 and attracted enough attention to get Focus Features to acquire distribution rights in America. We've all seen a few things with the monkey's paw or with great desires of control such as The Twilight Zone's "The Chaser" or Tales from the Crypt (the 1972 segment "Wish You Were Here", or the 1991 episode "Loved to Death"). Or maybe the Wishmaster movies, or Wish Upon (2017). Well, maybe not everything (okay, I didn't see the latter two, but I'm sure someone did), but still. 

It's a pretty good movie, which is a relief to me in hearing about a horror movie that garnered some attention that did in fact make it worthwhile to see in a movie theater (as opposed to ones that annoyed me, like Hereditary*). It's a movie for those who realizes the fine line that exists between "love story" and "romance" and also know how terrifying it really would be to have someone obsessed with you to along with the ramifications of believing that you could actually make it all work even when basically being on the edge of the cliff. Regardless of what you think is going to happen, the fear all comes in wondering when it will all bubble up to the surface. It probably helps that the One Wish Willow is just presented as a cheap enough trinket that isn't needlessly explained beyond having "customer service", honestly (there are moments that are pitch black in terms of humor, but the line between scary and funny is a pretty thin one, particularly in horror). Within the 109-minute runtime is a fairly suitable opening portion (yes, the diner scene was added in) before the inevitable hammer drops that makes it all the more tragic, namely in the idea that might as well be timeless in people who don't really know how to say what they mean (at least the lead guy doesn't ask Chat GPT what to do*). 

Johnston makes for a capable lead focus to see all of this play out in basic pathetic nature, a man who doesn't really know what's so bad about being with him in the way he has set things. He basically ruins four lives (in one interview, Johnston noted he had a key contribution for the ending, incidentally) because of his own great selfishness, and Johnston handles it with such conviction that you want to keep seeing how he keeps digging himself further into the hole (anything to avoid rejection - note the fact that we don't really see this guy with anyone older than him besides his friend group). Navarrette was basically told to not play her role (after the wishing willow is used) as possessed, instead going for manipulation (one inspiration noted was Pearl [2022]). She runs the gamut in such an unnerving way of doing toxic lust, one who probably represents the ouroboros more than anything in the cynical nature of raw longing for someone at any cost. One instance sees them lurking in a corner, since the divide between Nikki and, well, the one trapped in a sunken place*, is pretty stark and that just makes the tension all the more harrowing besides just noting them using duct tape on a door. The chemistry between Johnston and Navarrette is unnerving in all of right places that goes to show that it isn't always a head-splatter that proves the most unsettling thing to experience in a film like this. The rest of the group fits the bill for what is needed in being swallowed in the vortex of ill-begotten ideas (the other thought that came about in the drunk Jenga scene is, hey, I want to be around that place). By the time the movie ends with such a good ol' downer*, you get plenty of satisfaction in seeing the perils of what can and what cannot be understood about decisions made for oneself in the name of "desire". As a whole, Obsession is a pretty entertaining horror movie, managing to evoke a good deal of scares into a simple enough premise of the perils that come from getting what you think you want and the fear in seeing it having an effect on everything around you. It's the kind of claustrophobic churning type of horror movie that will stick right with you by the time it all goes down.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Hey, Danny and Michael Philippou started out on YouTube, as was the case with Chris Stuckmann (Shelby Oaks) and Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach (Iron Lung). If I really wanted to look for YouTuber movies, it would actually start with Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie or one by Brad Jones, because I really don't watch that many YouTube channels anyway. I head RedLetterMedia is fine? 

*Ironically, I enjoyed Ari Aster's subsequent Midsommar a bit more than Hereditary. I will also say that Beau is Afraid has been on my back burner for a bit. 

*Hey, fuck Chat GPT.

*Maybe not exactly a riff of Get Out (as shot near Barker's home), but one does wonder if there was even the tiniest inspiration from that. 

*Apparently the film originally had an ending (text is light, highlight to read): where Nikki died. A request by a studio to reverse that basically ended up being more bleak, interestingly. I will say that the only way that things would've been ever more fucked for a downer ending would be if: Nikki awakens after the dream is ended but she finds out that she is pregnant.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Review #1706: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Cast: 

Will Ferrell (Ricky Bobby), John C. Reilly (Cal Naughton Jr), Sacha Baron Cohen (Jean Girard), Michael Clarke Duncan (Lucius Washington), Leslie Bibb (Carley Bobby), Gary Cole (Reese Bobby), Jane Lynch (Lucy Bobby), Amy Adams (Susan), Andy Richter (Gregory), Houston Tumlin (Walker Bobby), Grayson Russell (Texas Ranger Bobby), David Koechner, Ian Roberts & Jack McBrayer (Hershell, Kyle & Glenn), Pat Hingle (Larry Dennit Sr), Greg Germann (Larry Dennit Jr), Molly Shannon (Mrs. Dennit), Ted Manson (Chip), and Rob Riggle (Jack Telmont) Directed by Adam McKay (#526 - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, #693 - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, #1574 - The Big Short)

Review:

There are just a few movies that are inevitable to watch, as I've said before. I was waiting to do this film for quite a while, so why not today - the fifteen year anniversary of its release? It's strange to say this, because I've had a strange time of memories when it comes to NASCAR. Honestly, I remember being a fan of racing as a kid, mostly because my dad was fan of the sport (particularly with Dale Earnhardt, as I recall); I haven't kept up with it as much, but I find it an interesting curiosity (granted, this also applies to the Indianapolis 500 but not so much with Formula One). Honestly, it is probably an interesting task to try and make a worthy movie about stock car racing when the argument about the best one at that point was between Days of Thunder and Cars (of course, one could be charitable and add The Last American Hero)? But hey, one needs a good ballad involving Talladega Superspeedway and the art of racing in the hot sun and hoping to avoid "The Big One", as the saying goes. The idea for the film came to Ferrell and McKay when the former was working on Elf (2003); despite not being huge fans of the sport, they soon got swept up in the phenomenon involved with the track experience (incidentally, Ferrell actually studied sports information at the University of Southern California). This is the second of five collaborations between director/writer McKay and Ferrell (who had met on Saturday Night Live, as McKay worked as a writer and Ferrell as a performer), who each wrote the script for this film. 

It doesn't take too many words to say that I enjoyed this one. It has fun with the sports movie formula (specifically the biopic angle) by coming off as fairly authentic in its enthusiasm for the sport (one filled with cars driving for brands, if you remember) along with having a well sense of timing and improvisation that one can see with the end credits and its various takes on certain little moments that never rides a gag for too long or overstay its welcome in 108 minutes. It rides the wave of clichés well, extolling itself about family and the spectacle of victory without condensation or fluff. Ferrell plays the title role with great relish, confident in his timing that lends itself to plenty of zingers and brash charm beyond just the race track. Reilly makes a worthy counter to Farrell, a useful second fiddle with earnest infectious charm, while Cohen zings his way through eccentricity as the main foil that plays to consistent chuckles when paired with Farrell in any type of scene, which either involves a friendly conversation about broken arms/crepes to the nature of needing to beat the other at driving. Duncan was always a solid character presence, and he certainly makes his little moments count for what is needed, made clear with an amusing sequence where he and Reilly try to "gently" help Farrell's character out of a chair and end up with two knives. The rest of the cast make it count fairly well with chuckles and warmth, whether that means with the transient (and brilliant) Cole or zippiness in Adams or even with the snappy Tumlin & Russell (Bibb and Lynch each serve as worthy counterparts to Ferrell, lest I forget). Germann rounds it out as the occasional straight man (paired at times with a spirited Shannon, naturally) that fits the film to a T with amusement that keep the film on its feet without seeming beholden to desperation; the races don't dominate the focus of the film, but one gets their fill and enjoys what they see from Talledega and perhaps sees the appeal of what draws folks to a place in Alabama every year. As a whole, it moves through its arc of rip-roaring racing and humor with plenty to offer for those who seek a feature that has not lost any steps to time that might be McKay and Ferrell's most solid work together, one for the folks who desire a bit of speed in their lives along with someone to go with it.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.