Spoilers for Obsession
This year is really looking up for the box office, with The Odyssey killing it last weekend and original horror films like Obsession and Backrooms making a killing. Obsession, from 26-year-old Curry Barker, is a runaway hit. Word of mouth propelled this supernatural thriller to an incredible $430 million on a $750,000 budget. It features previously unknown actors Michael Johnston, 30, and Inde Navarrette, 25, who both turned in jaw-droppingly convincing performances. Inde was absolutely creepy as Nikki and Michael’s Bear was a believable villain. Journalists have asked Michael about whether his character is the villian and he initially didn’t give a direct answer, but he’s since conceded that he is. In a recent podcast interview he explained that he didn’t want to judge Bear and wanted to focus on his performance. Michael said that his job was to bring humanity to the role and that most villains don’t think they’re villains. That sounds simple, but I found it profound. He said he’s not a method actor, but admitted this role took a toll on him. I’m only including moderate spoilers in the excerpt below, but for those of you who have seen it, there’s not much room for a sequel featuring these characters. Michael confirmed as much, but was enthusiastic about Curry’s idea for an anthology series. Here’s more:
On if Bear is the villian
There’s a clip on the internet of a Q&A at one of the movie theaters and someone asks me “is he the villain?” I can’t say yes or no and that ruffled some feathers. Objectively, of course he makes some horrific decisions and so that would be classified as a villain. When I’m playing Bear, I’m not thinking about whether or not he’s a villain. Like it’s not my job to judge the character. That’s all up to the audience and the director. I have to be really careful not to put any judgment on what he’s doing because my job is only to bring humanity to his experience and make it real and believe it. And most villains don’t think that they’re villains. I’m not playing Bear thinking ‘wow I’m really a piece of sh-t’ like that wouldn’t be fun.Bear has this tunnel vision. And all he sees is what he wants, which is this girl, because he thinks that she the idea of her is going to fix all the problems in his life, or at least make it so that he doesn’t have to feel all the pain… He didn’t want his friend to be suffering. That one pivotal moment in the film where he’s sort of like, ‘what’s so bad about being with me?’ Yeah, that’s very villainous. The action came from a place of ‘this guy thinks that there’s no one watching. He’s not going to be held accountable’. And that is awful. It’s truly awful. But when I’m in Bear’s head, I’m [like] “Yeah. He’s only thinking about himself.” It’s really selfish, but he’s not thinking like, “Oh, I want you to suffer.”
On if there will be a sequel
I would love that. I will say there’s no plan for that and also I don’t know how many people would want Bear [to return]. I think the general consensus is that he kind of got what he deserved. Curry’s idea of having it be an anthology series is really cool. All different stories. And I’d love to see a wish gone right. How fun would that be?
[From YouTube transcript, edited for clarity]
I would watch the hell out of an Obsession anthology series. Here’s a link to Curry’s thoughts on that. He talked more about it with Total Film. He’s been offered eight figures for his next movie and he hasn’t ruled out an Obsession sequel. I would love to see a different take on the One Wish Willow and to move away from these characters.
This is the first interview I’ve seen with Michael and he’s so thoughtful and open. Curry is similar, and you can tell that he brought in the best people to execute his vision. I agree that Bear isn’t a typical villain because he didn’t start out to hurt Nikki, he was just trying to ease his own pain. When he says that one line, his true character comes out. There were so many aspects of that movie that were wildly shocking yet relatable. When a partner says something like that, it’s like your whole world switches on a dime and everything clicks into place. It’s always the partner, because no one thinks they’re the villain.
Photos credit: MediaPunch/Backgrid