Spoilers below for anyone who still hasn’t seen Obsession, which is currently streaming via Peacock subscription, as well as still screening in theaters.
Who would have thought that one of the most successful 2026 movie releases would include gnarly dead cat scenes, a magical knick-knack, and perhaps the most awkward game of Jenga ever put on camera? Curry Barker’s Obsession has added a huge push to the wave of YouTube-friendly horror, and I can only hope that other filmmakers are influenced by Barker’s innate skills as a visual and emotional storyteller, and not just by the “cursed toy brings trauma” idea. Because one reason Obsession works so well is because it doesn't explain everything.
I don’t just mean by the ending, which is certainly worth expounding upon in a sequel that would hopefully explore the myriad Nikki theories. (Even if Barker’s anthology idea sounds better than anything.) Throughout the movie, there are several offbeat moments and lines of dialogue that seem like there’s hinting at something else to discover, which is why I was so pleased that the young director provided a full-length feature commentary for the Obsession DVD and Blu-ray release.
Click Here To Buy Obsession 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray for $27.95 (Save 15%)The whole shebang was quite excellent, and reminded me how much I miss DVD commentaries. But I’ll bemoan that another time, as now we’re digging into the answers to some of my biggest lingering Obsession questions.
Curry Barker Believes Bear Is In Denial About Nikki And His Wish
To be far clearer than the customer service team over at TABI Cat Curiosities Inc., I know that Bear is on the wrong end of monstrous by the end of this movie. The character knew it, and star Michael Johnston is well aware that audiences think Bear’s icky. But even knowing that his actions remain unforgivable, my specific question was more like…
How much did Bear truly think that Nikki’s erratic behavior was natural (as it were), and that it absolutely could not have been the result of a wish-fulfilling trinket?
During the scene where Bear searches for One Wish Willow testimonials online, Curry Barker mentions that it was a scene crafted later in the process, specifically for the purposes of showing him scoffing at the idea of wish-granting being real, so that by the time Nikki’s awkward-as-fudge restaurant explosion occurs, he can finally bring himself to ask her for proof. Here’s what Barker had to say during that scene:
When he asks her do you love me more than anyone in the world, that’s very obviously the exact verbiage of what he said, ‘I wish she loved me more than anyone in the world.’ So that was the confirmation that he needed that this is 100% the result of the wish. And I think he’s in denial. I don’t think he wants to believe that that’s the truth. I think it’s a lot easier for him to just believe that she really does like him, but clearly this is not making sense, for her to just all of a sudden be obsessed with him like this.
I dunno about you, but that does help in whatever truly minute ways that it can, in that I can bring myself to think that Bear just doesn’t know Nikki that well, and maybe tells himself that her weird-a-s mood swings are just a quirk he’s only now learning about. (Dummy.) Barker continues:
So he knows. And she knows he knows. And that’s why she says, ‘Why does it matter?’ So when he says, ‘It doesn’t matter to me,’ that’s him basically saying, ‘I know what’s happening, and I’m okay with it.’
It’s fascinating to hear him say at this point that Wish Nikki knows why she is Wish Nikki. Not that it has to be spelled out, but her awareness makes it feel so much grosser somehow. Or maybe it’s just the same amount of gross, but smeared differently.
"Real" Nikki Exists When "Wish" Nikki Sleeps
Arguably Obsession's most morally bothersome scene happens just before Bear sneaks out to meet with Sarah, when he ignores the "real" Nikki's pleas to be put out of her misery. This was the first time it became clear that the wish-altered Nikki wasn't alone inside the young woman's head, so to speak. But it's actually much earlier in the movie when this idea is first hinted at, specifically when Bear wakes up to Nikki cowering in the corner and avoiding sleep. According to Barker:
The really creepy thing about that statement, ‘I don’t like my dreams,’ is that I think when Nikki goes to sleep, she’s the real Nikki, and so when she says that she doesn’t like her dreams, she’s referring to she doesn’t like a reality where she is not in love with Bear. So if you think about it like that, it’s very, very disturbing.
Then later, during the aforementioned scene when Nikki asks Bear to kill her, Barker readdressed the topic, saying:
So this is really interesting because it’s the first time we hear the quote-unquote real Nikki talking through her body like that. . . I think when she drifts off to sleep, she has a chance to actually be her real self, so that alternate version of her doesn’t like that, obviously.
This could easily kick off another batch of questions, such as "Did Real Nikki try to talk to Bear in her sleep before that night?" and "What is Real Nikki going through during Wish Nikki's waking hours?"
Although I guess that question gets answered in a pretty horrifying way whenever Bear calls the customer service number, and only Nikki's tortured screams are heard when Bear is asked if he wants to hear her. Upon first viewing, I wasn't 100% sure which version of Nikki those screams were coming from. But it does seem on-point for Real Nikki to react that way, given that was at a point when Wish Nikki was covered in vomit and other filth while waiting for him to return home. Girl, I'd be screaming, too.
Other Obsession Details That I Loved Hearing About
The Opening Scene Wasn't Originally In The Movie
The first time I watched Obsession, I noted that the final shot was reminiscent of the sequence earlier in the film where Bear discovered his dead cat, and was confused when I went back and remembered the film started with Bear acting out his big speech for Nikki. As it happens, my instincts weren't so off base, and that very first scene wasn't a first-draft inclusion. As Curry Barker put it:
This scene is actually additional photog We didn’t actually have this scene in the movie at all. The opening of the movie was actually on the TV, and then it goes down, then it goes to the dead cat, and it goes upside-down, and then we’re looking at Bear looking at the couch. And if you remember, that’s the last shot of the movie as well. I really held onto that, because I wanted the first shot of the movie and the last shot of the movie to be the same shot.
He also explained why the scene was crafted, pointing out that kicking off with such a morbid visual was not the best way to lead people into an uncomfortably funny horror movie. In his words:
But had a couple test audiences, and realized that there should have been a stronger opening where we kind of get more about Bear and his crush on Nikki and get a better sense of how desperately this guy is in love with this girl. So I thought that this was a stronger opening, and I ended up loving this way more anyway.
I retrospect, I'm not sure Bear and Ian's friendship would have felt as lived-in and authentic had it not been for their dynamic in the opening.
The Obsession Bed Title Was Totally Real
Obsession's title screen is so specific that it seemed entirely purposeful and planned out, but I still didn't fully think it was a practical effect. Turns out my instincts were off, as he explained:
This was something I was so excited about. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. I wanted so bad for the Obsession logo to be practical like that. It was a conversation I had with Vivian [Gray], who was our production designer, and I was just like, ‘Is this possible?’ And she delivered. I just thought it would be like a flat thing on the covers, and she made it have life, and she made it thick. It almost looks like a carpet that says ‘Obsession’ on it. Really awesome what they did.
How about some Obsession bedspread merch, Focus Features? Make it happen!
The Bedroom Clock Changes Were Accidental, Not Lore-Based
My eyeballs are always on high alert when watching movies the build their own lore, and I definitely took notice of the digital clock by Bear's bed, as the first couple of times we see it, there's a pretty major shift in the time that's shown. So is this some weird way that the One Wish Willow is distorting time for Bear's existence? Nope. It was just a continuity snafu involving an unreliable prop. As Curry Barker explained:
That clock back there was the bane of my existence. We had so many problems with that clock. It wasn’t a working clock. It’s just a big LED light in a box, and they slid the numbers kind of in front of it, and the light blasts through these numbers. And then there, the number is completely wrong. So this clock is just all over the place. I shouldn’t be bringing it to your attention at all, but that’s why it was a problem.
Hey, if he hadn't brought it to everyone's attention, I might have spent an indeterminate amount of time theorizing over just how much control One Wish Willow has over time and space, on top of human-related powers. I'll probably still do that anyway, though.
Obsession is currently streaming on Peacock, is available to purchase on Blu-ray and Digital, and is also still screening in theaters. I wish I could see all of you there.
