Obsession

Finding freshness in the horror genre is always exciting and Obsession perfectly blends the old and new.

Using the ‘monkey’s paw’ fable as its base but finding ways to escalate the tension and horror through a low budget, this is filmmaking par excellence from first time director Curry Barker.

As lovestruck Bear wishes his friend Nikki loved him ‘more than anyone in the world’ increasingly twisted and frightening versions of that reality start to unfold.

Each set piece ratchets up the ever-building intensity of this film to leave you sweaty-palmed and watching through your fingers.

The startling sound design and cinematography wraps you in terror and Inde Navarrette’s performance as Nikki is nothing short of virtuoso as she treads the line just so and you can never trust what she might do next.

The wider sci-fi is kept deliberately vague and there’s lots of interesting fan theories, metaphors on relationship dynamics and further reading you can dive into once the credits role and you’ve stopped sweating in fear.

A remarkable film and sure to be one of a few which is making the larger studios start to question how to engage audiences and whether existing IP and franchises is really what the cinema-going public want.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️