Warning: spoilers ahead.

Remember the one that got away? Unrequited crushes are a universal human experience. Curry Barker takes this familiar longing to a new, terrifying level in Obsession, the tale of a lovelorn everyman who magically gets the girl, along with a whole lotta demonic behavior.

Bear is secretly in love with Nikki, a cute, feisty co-worker. The feeling is not mutual; Nikki thinks of Bear like a brother. When Nikki tells Bear she’s quitting her job, downtrodden Bear peruses a magic shop to buy her a farewell gift.  Instead, he ends up with a One Wish Willow, a cheesy plastic toy that costs a whopping $6.95 (surely this film was made before tariffs).  On a whim Bear makes a wish for Nikki’s undying love using the mystical toy.. Before you know it, Nikki is making eyes, asking to sleep over and acting all kinds of crazy over him, which Bear thinks it’s great, at first. They can’t keep their hands off each other. They ‘re together every moment. They click like a lockbox. Then things get weird. Nikki’s behavior turns clingy and bizarre. She head bashes to the point of blood and screams uncontrollably when she suspects her affections aren’t returned. And that’s just the tip of the cray-cray iceberg. 

The film has a great premise, a talented cast (how fun to see Andy Richter as the bumbling music store owner and Michael Johnston is fantastic as Bear) and a promising plot. But it suffers from sometimes stale, circuitous dialogue (if I had a dollar for every time someone says “What the fuck are you doing?!”) and scenes that ramble too long. It also suffers from come-on-ism. I mean, come on, Bear; ever heard of restraining orders and psych wards? Instead of being pro-active about getting away from Nikki, Bear turns sullen and compliant to her macabre behavior. I suppose there’s a reason for that. After all, Nikki was a great gal until Bear messed around with the witchy stuff and altered her personality. He doesn’t want to hurt the Nikki he knew and loved. But it is to the point of maddening frustration.

26 year old writer/director Curry is best known for his YouTube sketch duo comedies “That’s A Bad Idea.” with partner Cooper Tomlinson. He’s got one other horror film credit under this belt (2004’s Milk and Serial) but this his first big release film, and it’s making serious headway at the box office. Obsession is fun, chilling and gasp-worthy at times. But don’t look for a happy ending. 

Theres a certain cadence to horror movies: a build-up, suspense, the big scare, and finally, a release of all that tension, giving the viewer an opportunity to breathe before the next fright claims them. The pattern repeats until the final scene, which (generally) ends on a redeeming note: evil is defeated by good or the bad guys get it in the end. Not so with Obsession, where the ending is less than satisfying. It would do our over-stimulated hearts well to see Bear stumble out of that toxic stew, to see Nikki crawl away from that howling entity, to see the music store employee gang, including co-workers Ian and Sara ,reunited at the end (albeit needing therapy for life). But Baker had other plans for the ending and so we walk away with a strange hollow feeling. Maybe that’s what Curry was going for all along. We don’t always get what we want. And when we do…we should be careful what we wish for.