Reading the Movie Obsession (2026) and its Meanings

Horror is what men inflict; women suffer its consequences- a message we are reminded of through Obsession (2026). As someone watching it from a South Asian country, where since almost a month the nation’s prime time has been occupied by the images of a deceased young woman, allegedly a victim of dowry death, and where the accused mother-in-law was seen name calling her daughter-in-law for not being “responsible enough” or “fit in” the domestic affairs, Obsession’s Nikki metaphorically represents a woman who is forcibly made to distort her entire personality in order to “fit into” some guy’s idea of love and possession. I want to ask, aren’t women forcibly domesticated into relationships and marriages to fit in the gendered expectation? The never declining rate of marital violence and intimate partner violence, perhaps, echoes that maybe modern relationships are failing but they are failing women first. It is women’s minds and bodies that are distorted and mutilated in ways to conform with marital spaces and institutions to conform to a man's world and his imagination of the good life. Interestingly, some feminist writings and scholarships like, Shulamith Firestone (1970) and Sheila Jeffreys (2014) or Uma Narayan (2013) (cultural mutilation) make metaphorical use of the word "mutilation" for the impact that heterosexual marriages have on women's bodies, psychology, and social existence etc. There is no marriage in Obsession, but Bear does try to retain control over Nikki for himself- by making the wish that results in the spell- and in the process Nikki loses control of herself, inflicting violence on everyone around. Actually, its Bear who inflicts violence on Nikki, she is only presenting the consequences of it. Not only heterosexual marriages but modern heterosexual intimate relationships are growingly turning into spaces where women feel trapped, insecure, unfulfilled and uncared for, etc. Unfortunately, we see this on the screen through Nikki’s portrayal and the aesthetics of the “crazy girlfriend”, just like the famous and viral meme template, which is a real person named Laina Morris. It’s a story for another day how Morris suffered depression and anxiety later in life and the viral circulation of her screenshot from an online video, with the tagline “crazy girlfriend” was done by someone else without her knowledge. Nikki’s series of bad behavior and public showdowns stress Bear out severely- Bear playing the coy, introvert guy who never gets picked.

One may not know for sure if Curry Barkers, the creator, deployed specific feminist method in the creation, but their work is making people, especially men question the grim realities of romantic relationships and how there is always a power imbalance between the genders. But here’s a concern- with Barkers raising this issue through their cinema, receiving applause for putting up such a unique story with a low production budget, one cannot unsee how the plot did not spend even a few seconds on the retelling of the horror experience from inside Nikki’s head. From Bear’s POV we only see Nikki’s bodily impact and mutilations- where is her mental experience and frame? In few scenes we do see Nikki trying to differentiate between herself and the entity inside, but could Barkers subtly want us to be blaming the entity and not a vicariously liable Bear for Nikki’s condition? Are men on social media resonating and understanding violation of consent because a man is bearing the consequences of it? Is Obsession trying to normalize the idea that women’s emancipation and acknowledging of their suffering is heavily dependent upon how men perceive it? That men will only listen to other men about women’s experiences?

Although the audience has been quite informed about how Bear is the troublemaker, louder scenes quell this when Nikki’s acts could be hilariously reminding the male viewers how overpowering wives and girlfriends become; how they get “crazy and possessive” and attention seeking. One finds men bursting out into laughter in the theatres at these scenes and one realizes why, sexist jokes about men being victims of marriage and jokes like “men are never allowed to talk by the Mrs.” never really left our office get-togethers or social dinner parties anyways. Humor on social media in form of reels and memes about women’s erratic and possessive attitudes in relationships with Nikki as the template can be widely seen. Obsession also suffers from the “final girl” trope, as argued by Carol Clover in her work on Slasher movies (1992). Men resonate and align with the “final surviving girl” archetype in the slasher movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) who gives it back to the villain through her acquired "masculine traits" that help her combat. While Clover’s work was later critiqued by queer, black and non-cist scholarships, it could be possible that Obsession provides a revision of the theory by making men side with Nikki against the control of male desire and its dire consequences - but sadly without demanding Nikki’s retelling. Maybe in that case, "horror" is not the genre of the movie but is in the consequences of not reading the politics of the movie deep enough?

Note: This piece (slightly modified) was featured in the Indian Express editorial on 23rd June 2026, in print and digital medium. Obsession has a blind spot: Nikki’s story

References:

Clover, C. J. (1992). Men, women, and chain saws: Gender in the modern horror film. Princeton University Press.

Firestone, S. (2001). From The Dialectic of Sex (1970). Women and Romance: A Reader, 119.

Jeffreys, S. (2014). Beauty and misogyny: Harmful cultural practices in the West. Routledge.

Narayan, U. (2013). Dislocating cultures: Identities, traditions, and third world feminism. Routledge.