One week of the Milwaukee Film Festival is gone already. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t highlights to see. Especially since we have one of the no doubt high profile films of the festival with Focus Films and Blumhouse’s OBSESSION. With a festival rollout and viral marketing on going, a large crowd gathered.
OBSESSION is from writer-director Curry Baker and is an offshoot of his comedy and horror sketches he made with partner Cooper Tomlinson, who has a prominent role in the movie, in the “That’s a Bad Idea” series on YouTube. OBSESSION has a simple high-concept premise. Barron, nicknamed Bear, (Michael Johnston) has a crush on his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but has never acted on it because of shyness, emotional issues, and/or a lack of courage. One night he makes a wish on a “One Wish Willow,” a novelty item he finds in a crystal shop. He wishes “I wish Nikki Freeman loved me more than anyone in the fucking world,” and it appears to come true.
And before you can say “monkey’s paw” it’s immediately clear that something is wrong. Nikki is not behaving normally. Is she having side-effects from drugs? Is she having a mental breakdown? Did the wish actually work? Bear isn’t sure and he feels alternatively guilty, while also taking advantage of the situation, while Nikki’s behavior gets odder, more schizoid, and dangerous. Sharing a bed with someone who is not mentally stable proves to be no fun in both comic and horrifying ways.
Michael Johnston is the point-of-view character and has a difficult role. He has to be sympathetic, at least to a point, but he’s also clearly not particularly a good guy even if he’s a nice guy. Yes, he doesn’t believe the wish is real, which makes any breaking of trust by him accidental at best, but he can also clearly see his new girlfriend is clearly having problems and he kind of ignores them. If you think it’s drugs, isn’t an intervention something to consider? Or getting her therapeutic care if it’s a mental break? Trying to ignore it doesn’t make it better, so how about trying to cure it? His passivity merely serves to make things worse. That’s partly the point, but can make him a frustrating protagonist.
Luckily, Inde Navarrette makes a big impression. She’s not perfect either, which later revelations make clear, but she commits to a compelling go for broke performance. She’s alternatively charismatic, heartbreaking, scary, and funny. Nikki is both villain and victim which gives Inde Navarette plenty of room to play. In particular, there are several scenes where she just freezes with a big smile on her face which she holds for a long time so that it goes from funny to horrifying. Inde Navarrette is a future star.
One of the best things about the movie is that the imperfections of the characters, make it an essential, if unconventional, date movie. There is a lot to discuss here with a partner about trust and communication. And how best to care for your partner.
However, it’s not quite up to the level of its ideas in its entertainment value. It gets to its premise in a hurry, but then it spends a lot of act two merely reinforcing the premise, backing off, and then reinforcing it. It’s a small movie and doesn’t have much room for escalation before the third act, which is kicked off by a really effective jump scare. Like WEAPONS it understands that horror and comedy can enhance each other. But even then, right up to the inevitable ending, it functions more in the space of making Bear and the audience squirm than big moments.
Still, quibbles aside OBSESSION has something interesting to say, tells it in an entertaining manner, and signals the arrival of a new voice in horror. Is it perfect? No. But, it illustrates the strengths of horror as a genre, taking the everyday and turning it into existential dread, Opening yourself up to a partner can be scary and this exploits that concept for humorous and scary effect.
The 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival runs from April 16, 2026 until May 30, 2026. OBSESSION only played once during the festival before its nationwide rollout next month. However, tickets to other upcoming films can be purchased at MKEFILM.ORG.
