Press Pause | Obsession & Backrooms

The experience and cinematography of backrooms outweighed any iffy plot points for me. I actually liked how there were consistent rules in the world and that the entrance was simple and stayed open

I think it’s written so that you feel for him at first, you give him the benefit of the doubt, and then all of his choices after that show you he had this in him all along and he was a villain all along. He “tried to cancel the wish” except he didn’t. Even in the hypothetical where he could’ve ended it all he goes “no I don’t want to cancel it, I want to modify it.” He’s still not even willing to give it up knowing the magic is real. Then he CONTINUES to rape her and violate her after that even with the knowledge it’s not really her. His behavior later shows that he did in fact know during the rape scene and just didn’t want to admit it to himself. If you’re making out and the girl screams and backs away, maybe stop advancing on her. I think you’re giving him too much grace. He’s not 15 years old he’s an adult. And instead of feeling bad for the situation he caused he whines and acts like “woe is me why don’t you just let the demon win and fully take over so I don’t have to feel any guilt while raping you ugh am I really so bad?”

For me, the descension of Bear into a villain was what made the film so amazing. It's like being stuck with someone at the start of a zombie apocalypse, and they're cool at first, but then they start to scare you -- like oh I thought you were a victim of this too, but now you're a part of the horror I'm facing. Of course, the entity is a villain, but it also brings out the absolute worst in Bear as a person. I don't know if this was intended by the director, but the money scene was such a perfect way to tell the audience that this wasn't a monkey paw situation in the traditional sense. It's not that whatever you wish for will come to harm you in a convoluted way, it's that some wishes are just inherently harmful. It's not that Bear should have known not to wish for someone to love him, but that there's no harmless way for that to happen because it fucks with free will. The main thing that antagonized Bear in my eyes was how terrified he was for himself, but not for Nikki. He wants her to love him whether it's really her or not. If the entity had not been murderous nor scary, but Nikki was still suffering inside her body, I fully believe bear would have kept hurting her even if he knew exactly what he was doing. That makes him evil to me. This was solidified for me when he said, "what's so bad about being with me?" He thinks he's the victim because he can't understand how Nikki being forced to be his girlfriend could be so torturous. Personally, I'd rather be killed by a demon than puppeted around as a toy for someone else, even if I got to live at the end.

(Literally just adding to the OCEAN of comments, probably saying the same shit everyone else did, so don't feel the need to respond to this) Just want to mention that Inde and Curry Barker have both been ADAMENT about this not being a possession or demon in Nikki. I think it's meant to be a reflection of Bear's selfishness and how he sees love. The title "Obsession" is really good in my opinion because it makes you think that the obsessed one is Nikki when in reality it's Bear. Wish Nikki is just an extreme reflection of that. ALSO, it's important to note that the One Wish Willow isn't a Monkey's Paw where it's cursed. Curry Barker said that if you were to word a wish very carefully, you'd be fine (https://time.com/article/2026/05/13/obsession-curry-barker-interview/). That pretty much removes the possibility of it being a demon in my mind, at least. (Plus, when Nikki "snaps out of it," it's supposed to be the real Nikki snapping back into her body, like at the party when she says, "It's not me!"). Idk as a "young man" myself, I know I would NEVER wish for a girl I liked to "love me more than anyone in the fucking world." It's a selfish wish to have in general, no matter if he thinks she's hot. It's fairly explicit that Bear only views Nikki as an object (such as when he knows Nikki doesn't have autonomy and just wants to alter his wish, etc). Also, he does have another option: get someone else to make a wish that contradicts his. It failed with Ian, but no one was stopping him from just going up to strangers and asking waaaay before anything really crazy started happening. Hell, he could have done that the SECOND he knew definitively what was happening (the diner scene). By the way, the post diner scene is absolutely a rape scene, and it's kinda gross (imo) to refer to it as anything else. He KNOWS that she has no autonomy. DEFINITEVELY. The point of the scene is that he doesn't view her as a person enough to even care if she's "enjoying" what's happening. Also, in the original script, the part leading up to that scene has Nikki snap out of her wish, acting scared and confused while Bear just waits for the moment to pass, so he can get back to making out/fucking her. One last thing: I don't think just summing up Obsession as a "silly horror movie" does it justice. Even if Curry Barker said something about it not being that deep, many victims of assault really resonate with the movie and can view it as an allegory for rape. That alone, to me, is enough to show Bear is the real villain/assaulter. I really enjoy your other stuff, and frankly, I look up to you a lot. You've even inspired me to get more into film and consider going into film school. I've just gotta say that MAN this take was really not it. Can't wait to see more stuff from you, and I hope you can reconsider some of your views, although we can agree to disagree.

I'm late, but I want to say I agree with you about Obsession as whole: Bear could have been an incredible angel of a man and still, the only answer is one of them dying, and the fact so many reviewers ignore that feels like engagement farming or just... not thinking very clearly lol. With that in mind though, I also don't think the movie is half as interesting or nuanced as people want it to be. There was never a story, only a downward spiral, and it's kind of painful to watch the cast and crew scramble to try and pretend it was super deep commentary on abuse from the very beginning. I also say this all as a pretty hardcore feminist, this movie was definitely never meant to be viewed from a feminist perspective at all. It was obviously supposed to be 'creepy girl creeps you out!' scare-fest. Even the production team trying to fit it into that perspective feels... cringey at best, and uncool at worst. At least to me. But I guess, what else can they do?

I speculated thought Obscession the nature of the scenario and the demon theory makes more sense with how she has lapses where she essential forgets to be human and how some scenes where she was in shadow her eyes almost glittered and her screaming sometimes sounded like roaring. I just couldn't figure out why she would randomly go back to normal. The sleep scene makes sense but there were times where randomly she'd realize what was happening then immediately get pushed aside by the entity. I wonder if those were moments where the thing got nervous that it wasn't doing something right and while it was distracted Nikki could take control. Idk, but a pseudo anthology series set in this world with apparently Needful things style items out there would be fun. Thanks for pointing out how initially the guy was kinda innocent. As a guy who cringes at some stuff he has done it's nice to hear someone say it's not a sin to mess up. Once he realizes she's basically being tortured by the spell he takes on some antagonistic features but it's much more cowardice than pure villainous intent. Im not gonna lie and say in his place I'd immediately drop myself to undo a mistake.

it genuinely doesn't surprise me that Kane could have directed the movie himself, he's made a few hours worth of content both backrooms and non-backrooms related. BUT I think I know what you mean with the technical aspects, having seen The Oldest View and what he could achieve with a phone camera or something like that, only having technical hands to guide him on his vision makes the most sense. OH AND YEAH Oldest View, ESPECIALLY part 3 is genuinely FANTASTIC. it makes me tense and grip the seat with my asscheeks so bad every time I watch it, def reccommend!!! I also feel like backrooms really only gets to a specific subset of people that might get existential or anxious when it comes to the concept of life and memory as a whole, and I am one of those people because I literally had to leave the theatre cuz my heart was pumping so fast and I felt my arm go numb LMFAO and then i had existential dread for a week so that was fun

Looking at the mirror shot in the crystal shop I think it's just Bear seeing himself in a reflective surface for the first time after being covered in Sarah. Next shot after seeing himself in the mirror he starts crying. As much as I'd LOVE to see a demon face there I think it's just a weird reflective surface. Could be wrong! There is a Ton of other subtle stuff in this movie so I wouldn't put it past Curry Barker!

Great movie! All Bear doesn't say to Ian and Sarah seems intended to be frustrating, right? "Nikki pulled my cat's body out of the trash and made a candle lit memorial in my kitchen." or "Nikki cooked cat and put it in my lunch." All that goes unsaid. Like maybe you at least mention these things to your homies, right? But nah, Bear's "a closed book". I think Bear's inaction and not asking for help once make him at least coward. Also people can be institutionalized against their will if they pose an immediate danger to themselves so if anyones homie ever stabs themselves in the face with a broken bottle hit up 911! But if you do this there won't be a movie so consider the lore first!

20:35 You mentioned how he "tried to cancel it," but that was only after he wasn't able to alter the wish for himself. After he couldn't make it better for himself he figured, "okay never mind I'll just end this all together, fuck it." Yes Bear is young. Yes this is how some young men are who have a crush on a girl. But he completely took away her autonomy, and didn't even feel remorse when he realized. Could he have done anything? No, it's a wrap the wish is set and stone. BUT the lack of care/remorse for real Nicki is why Bear is despicable. "This isn't the real Nicki... Anyways I'll have sex with her anyways even though the real Nicki wouldn't consent to that." The real tell (and a very obvious hint that Curry Barker gave to the audience) is how after the real Nicki said, "Kill me," Bear instead of feeling any sort of guilt or sympathy towards the real her, he instead pivoted to, "What's so bad about being with me?" And walked away as the real Nicki kept crying. Again, logically, could he have done anything to fix this and bring the real Nicki back? Not really. But that doesn't mean the solution is to continue on with "dating" her despite the real her being miserable and trapped. It's his intent more than what he could've done. There's not much he "could've" done, but he never intended any sort of help for her.

While I don't agree with everything you said about Obsession, but I think how deep people are taking it is due to how good the movie is. At the end of the day it's just a really well done (and SIMPLE) horror movie, but almost to a fault where people are trying to connect dots/put pieces together that the creator never intended in the first place. That's good art. Obsession didn't give people answers, so the audience started to make their own answers. Reminds me of all the crazy ways people see The Shining. I don't think people are "taking it too far," I think they were so taking aback by the movie that they felt so emotionally invested to dig deep even if it meant they were going down questionable roads. I find it very special to be honest, and an AMAZING breath of fresh air everybody talking about it and giving their own personal take. I got my theories of The Shining and Taxi Driver, and now I can add Obsession to that list.

I tend to be pretty aligned with you on movie opinions so it’s super surprising how much I disagree about your Obsession take! it’s definitely a case of different but valid interpretations, but I just feel that without what I perceived as commentary about consent (and how easy it is for a normal nice guy to ignore his morals and others autonomy in order to take the path of less resistance where he gets what he wants) it’s a much less compelling movie. I think the focus of the Internet’s discourse about this movie being bear’s perceived villainy has to do with the fact that that is what is new and interesting and fresh about the film and without it, I think it would be a well directed and acted but not super interesting movie. Regardless of the nature of what happened whether it was possession or a separate entity or just a altered version of Nikki, the scary parts of the film to me were always much scarier thinking about how this girl life was being ruined and she was being made to do such monstrous things because of bears cowardice. Obviously, he had no way of knowing that the Willow was real, but I think that maybe you missed or differently interpreted the points of the film, where he’s making an active decision to put his own comfort and wants above hers. I was on Bears side for the first half of the movie. But when he completely lost me was when he heard the real Nikki begging to be killed, and he was still focused on his problems with self worth and the feeling of deserving Nikki when she was so clearly in agony. I even felt bad for the entity at points. it was created with the sole purpose of being obsessed with bear and there’s a scene where it is completely anguished about the fact that he doesn’t love it as much as it loves him, which makes sense because it has nothing else to live for. Anyways that was a very ranty and unorganized way of saying I think we both have valid interpretations of the film, but I don’t really understand how someone could love the film so much without also seeing an element of this complex commentary.

The people saying “Bear tried to kill himself and he couldn’t even do that” are probably the same people who watch Netflix movies that spoon feed you information every 5 seconds. 💀 It literally SHOWS YOU right after why he couldn’t… and that’s how movies should be. But on a side note, I didn’t realize the director DIDN’T intend for the deeper meaning of the story that we are all bringing into the conversation, but hey, it worked out in his favor! I’ll be honest when I first watched it, I didn’t realize all of the symbolism for real life “selfish men” until going online afterwards. But it all makes sense to me! And I think it’s beautiful a movie like this has come out and shown that audiences crave original storytelling as long as it’s good and starts a conversation. Best movie of the year so far! 💯

Finally saw Obsession yesterday. I think we can all agree that Sarah was the only good person lol

I think it's cool that everyone has their own interpretations. I agree that Bear was being a stupid 20 year old AND he's also a really awful guy. Both can exist and I think that's part of what you're saying, correct me if I'm wrong? Because, yeah, Bear's doing the wrong things, of course he is. He's an idiot young dude who just wanted to date his friend who he was never going to get with. No shit he's making that wish. He didn't even know it would work. Then he's immediately stuck with an entity of his own desires that he idealizes for a while until it's distorted and warped into something sinister in nature. The entity is *obsessed* with having Bear to herself--that's her purpose now. It's his fault because he's a fucking idiot. What he does/says in the aftermath isn't okay AND at the same time the entity is the primary villain. The gray areas get gray-er and that makes a compelling narrative. It was a really fun movie with incredible acting and traditional creepy horror elements that are so simple and yet brilliant, specifically with the lighting! I am both on the side of it being social commentary on abuse while also being a spooky horror movie. I think that's part of the beauty of cinema: everyone has their own interpretations of art.

This is a very late message, but I’m in the middle of your discussion on the Backrooms; I’d love to suggest Kane’s other non-Backrooms series, The Oldest View. His technical skill improved a ton across the Backrooms series, so TOV has a great opening with that improvement already. The story’s very bare bones but I think it’s genuinely very scary, and less than half the length of the Backrooms original series. It’s surprisingly somber at the end, too.

I really need to see obsession again i feel like i missed a bunch of stuff on first watch

I loved the discussion here so much on craft vs. plot. I’m like right between Adam and Eric in how important they are. Like when I watched Backrooms, I was so split between how much I adored the production vs. how underwhelmed I was with the plot by the end. The last half-hour where it abandons cosmic horror for super standard horror movie fare continued to LOOK amazing but left me cold (save for the amazing final shot). Still an incredible first feature outing by Parsons and I’ll happily see another though.

YESYEYSEYS

I totally believe Kane directed at least the important scenes and that's been corroborated by a lot of cast members. Just the fact of how unique some of the shots are! The one scene with the throne clipping through the ground the camera goes real low looking up with like a fish eye lens. I've never seen that before it was dope I don't even know how they did it because the camera would have to be like on the floor. And the found footage segments were classic Kane of course.

Bear is a bad guy and an abuser, but he is also the protagonist. Whatever takes over Nikki makes her kill people and is more of a “villain” than anyone else in the movie. By the end, Bear is also a victim of the wish he made that created this entity. I don’t think it’s all that complicated, but that’s just my opinion.

the identical couch directly behind the couch they're sitting on........ giving Backrooms

somewhat related: rewatching the 13 reasons why season 4 video and seeing that Nikki's actress played Monty's sister??

how do we feel about Inde Navarette playing Monty’s little sister in 13 reasons why..everything always comes back to Hannah Baker

I think a lot of people can recognize the toxic things that both Bear and Nikki are doing, but Bear is in control of his actions and Nikki isn’t. I think they were smart to make Bear not a complete asshole, because that’s how it is in real life. The people who are controlling, coercive and sexually abusive don’t always look like a complete piece of shit, they can seem like just a regular kinda sympathetic guy, and that’s what makes them so dangerous. A lot of women have recognized this watching the movie, and a lot of men haven’t (not trying to start a gender war pls pls pls). I think he started sympathetic, he didn’t know what he was doing, but there are a few points where he crosses into villainy. 1: After the dinner date, where he confirms his wish worked and had sex with her anyway. 2: When he asked if he could alter his wish instead of undo it. 3: The most obvious one, when she begs him to kill her because she’s in absolute agony and he gets angry and says “what’s so bad about being with me?” and leaves her. He ended up doing disgusting, despicable things, which is why people say he’s the villain. The “wish demon” did awful things too, but I saw it as something that was inherently pathetic, a living being with no autonomy or will of its own besides to worship someone. Had Bear handled it better, things might have been different.

most ppl think bears a bad guy not bc he made the wish in the first place, or bc he was super into her at the beginning but bc AFTER he was well aware that he was with someone romantically and sexually that did not want it, he continued, completely disregarding her consent and autonomy at every turn . Even if he couldn’t get rid of her (bc she’s obsessed) he didn’t need to keep assaulting her lol

Eric, I think you nailed it. Too many people are chronically online and trying to outthink the simple and obvious. It's part of a broader issue of everyone trying to become an internet detective/ conspiracy theorist, the best thing to do is find some mates and have fun. That's my two cents on Obsession, and on internet culture.

I disagree with some of your Obsession takes. I think its so much cooler and scarier that she's NOT a demon. She's just compelled to do these things but doesn't know why she wants to do them. Curry Barker said there's no possession involved and nothing about the one wish willow is cursed or anything, its just fucked up because Bear made a fucked up wish to get rid of her autonomy. I also think the entire point is that Bear is the one with the obsession, and is controlling and selfish.

I feel INSANE every time you talk about Obsession because I’ve never disagreed with you so vehemently. I understand your frustration with the internet in an uproar about Bear being the “true villain” HOWEVER. With the wish aside (of course he didn’t know his wish would turn out to be real, who would?) the movie so clearly portrays his “villainy” when it SMASH cuts from the dinner scene to him assaulting her. She has the meltdown in the restaurant yelling “I thought we were having a nice date” once he figured out she’s lying about her dad and after he calms her down, she asks him “then why does it matter?” I forget if he says anything in response or if it just smash cuts to the assault scene, but it is so clearly intentional. It doesn’t matter to him that she’s acting weird because he’s getting what he wants. Even with the wish aside, Nikki was clearly going through something and he decided to blow past it without a second thought. Several characters tell him that he’s taking advantage of her and he skirts around it because ouuu hot girl I “love” likes me back. Yes he’s young. No the director didn’t have as much intended commentary on how the story would be read into by women, but I think a lot of that comes from Inde Navarette. Like the crying in the assault scene which I cannot BELIEVE you flat out don’t think is an assault scene. What is the horror being portrayed there if not rape? I understand he can’t SEE his actions, but is that not the point? He ignores so many alarming things for the sake of getting the girl. I don’t think Bear is an absolute comic book villain from the jump, but that scene is the turning point for my sympathy for him, personally. It’s made EVEN WORSE when he calls that hotline and FIRST asks to “alter” the wish instead of cancelling altogether. Selfish decision after selfish decision. Yes, he’s young and stupid, but it’s not hard to see why so many women have resonated with the story given that at its core, beyond just being a spooky bad wish story, we are watching a woman’s autonomy be ripped from her and seeing her degraded/ignored at every turn. Bear is absolutely a villain by the end, albeit from a shit ass situation that he didn’t necessarily intend. Anyways sorry for the book long comment, it’s also my favorite of the year so far!

For Obsession, I view it less as a demon possession and more like the creation of an entity. It made a version of her whose sole purpose is to fulfil the parameters of his wish, and since his wording was extreme, so was her behaviour