Is it really love if the person you desire has no choice but to love you back? It’s a question that takes on increasingly sinister implications in Obsession, the unsettling psychological horror film that explores the dangerous intersection of romantic longing, emotional manipulation and the desperate need to be loved. When hopeless romantic Bear (Michael Johnston) breaks the mysterious “One Wish Willow” in the hope of winning the heart of his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), his fantasy seemingly becomes reality. But as Nikki’s newfound devotion grows increasingly intense, what initially appears to be a dream come true gradually reveals itself as something far more disturbing, where affection becomes possession and the boundaries between love and obsession are terrifyingly blurred.
Speaking with our Peter Gray, Johnston and Navarrette reflected on the uncomfortable distinction between loving someone and loving the idea of being loved, the importance of preserving Nikki’s humanity even as her behaviour becomes increasingly extreme, and how their shared understanding of these complicated characters allowed them to explore a relationship in which the greatest horror isn’t necessarily the supernatural force at work, but the removal of someone’s freedom to choose.
I wanted to ask the question of love versus ownership. Michael, I know that you’ve spoken about how Bear doesn’t wish for Nikki’s happiness; he wishes for her devotion. Inde, you’re playing someone whos ability to choose has been taken away. I’m curious whether either of you thinks Bear actually loves Nikki, or whether he’s more in love with the idea of being loved by her?
Inde Navarrette: I’m going to let Michael go first. I love his perspective on this.
Michal Johnston: I think love really is a verb. An action. It’s seeing someone for who they are and accepting them for who they are, and I don’t think Bear has the capacity to do that. I think that it’s all limerence, like you said.
Inde Navarrette: Yeah, and then what is it like to be the subject of that? To be the real Nikki, to be subjected to his love of the idea of her, and to play a perception of somebody, whilst also making her seem real was such a challenge. But a really fun one. And then also to have the “wish” version of her – I wanted her to be big. I wanted her to be out there. But I didn’t want her to be stereotypical. I think it would have lost momentum of what the story is that we were trying to tell. And then to balance those was really nice to do opposite Michael. When I spoke as Nikki with him playing Bear, it just felt so real and so good. It was wonderful to film.
Michael Johnston: Yeah, you said something (that) I must have said that he didn’t wish for Nikki’s happiness. He wished for Nikki’s devotion. It was all in the wording of “More than anyone in the world.” That’s why she’s so extreme. I mean, it really is Bear’s freaking fault (laughs).
And the chemistry between you is obvious, regardless of what is happening. I’m interested in whether there was a moment during filming where the other person made a choice that completely changed how you understood your own character?
Inde Navarrette: To be honest, no, because I feel like we had to squirrel away and really understand our own (characters). I couldn’t see Nikki as big and fake or hyperbolic. I had to see her as somebody that is feeling big emotions, which can sometimes be demonized. Feeling big emotions is embarrassing, and people are like, “Why are you feeling?” It makes other people uncomfortable, but we all have them, and so I wanted to do that. And then not knowing how we was going to approach Bear, but then witnessing it…it really allowed me to honestly react to what he was doing. I don’t know if it was vice versa, but it definitely felt visceral.
Michael Johnston: I think we talked a lot about it before we started. I would say there weren’t many surprises. The surprises came with just the challenges of filmmaking, if anything. Just filming certain sequences, like the ending before we had filmed the rest of the movie, so that’s where it came (about), just making sure that we could connect the dots. And that’s what we all did. We all did that together.
Obsession is available to rent/own on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K and On Digital. It’s also now available to stream on HBO Max in Australia.
