(2026 dir. Curry Barker) Date Seen: June 5 2026
Saw this with brother Jacques-O & afterwards we both had a doozy of a time unpacking all its underlying subtext.. Barker understands the dramatic architecture of a good curse, structuring each worsening turn so that OBSESSION kept tightening rather than simply repeating scares; Transcending the familiar "Wish Gone Wrong" / or "Love Potion #9" conceit in favor of something far more philosophically substantive (dangers of narcissistic codependency + the film unironically could've been called "Asymmetrical Obsession"). It helps enormously that the friend group in this film actually all felt like real friends. There’s an easy unforced familiarity between them that later gives the supernatural stuff something human to devour. The sound design & music are also brilliant in escalating ways & I especially loved how when "the Other Nikki" entity appears, its PULSE-esque verzephobia featured many unnerving as hell uncanny movements set to unique sound. Like it had rendered Nikki's body suddenly completely alien to itself. It's frustrating that Barker's direction doesn't have quite the same imagination as his writing. This rigid devotion to static minimalism many times seems less like austerity than camera timidity— too often it feels like the POV is treated like a dutiful witness when it ought to be a conspirator. And the whole movie is somewhat under-lit & has that oppressive amber & brown color palette of the opening bar scene from THE SOCIAL NETWORK spread out over an entire film. But I think sad, miserably cold, & queasy was the overall mood the project was intentionally going for by design. It's just kinda hard for me personally to sit through something entirely lensed that way.
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