“Just because you chose this for her doesn’t make it less real.”

Bear (Michael Johnston) is smitten with his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette) but also petrified of rejection and losing her friendship. His buddy Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) advises him against his affection confession, even while Bear remains oblivious to the charms of his other co-worker Sarah (Megan Lawless). When Nikki abruptly puts in her two-weeks notice at the local music instrument store where they all work, Bear panics at seeing his window closing. He tries to find a charm at a crystal shop to replace one Nikki told him she’d lost… before buying a novelty called a “One Wish Willow,” promising an actual wish. In his lowest moment, feeling like everything in life he was clinging to is gone, Bear makes his wish, breaks the willow, and gets exactly what he asked for.

From Aladdin to Three Thousand Years of Longing, the consequences of wish-making are well documented indeed — how many Wishmaster movies are there? — but here we go again. As the debut feature film for writer and director Curry Barker, Focus Features and Blumhouse put their trust in a small cast and budget with a big idea. Cribbing on a simple toy doubling as a collectable McGuffin for some fun viral marketing, the buzz quickly built and stacked the deck in the film’s favor. Now it’s the audiences’ turn to to become obsessed, but is the buzz really up to the hype behind this Indie darling?

There’s no hiding it: Inde Navarrette is the film’s secret weapon. From being objectified in desire to unleashing the girlfriend from hell, Nikki’s arc is tragic and horrific… and viewers can’t look away. Lighting, practical effects, and a huge willingness on the part of the cast to toy with their performances is entertainingly infectious. At the same time, the discussion around the main character’s actions are as big a topic of discussion as the One Wish Willow itself, being compared to The Blair Witch Project in terms of budget, clever marketing, and success. With social media posts of the cast riffing on events in the film, lines are blurred between characters and actors as everyone is getting in on the fun. In a marketplace where big Hollywood tentpoles are flexing their muscle, the lowest-budget films are stealing their thunder, and Obsession is leading the charge.

It’s worth mentioning how the film stays in Bear’s POV, mirroring his own avoidance about what’s being done to Nikki, who unfortunately is either periodically or constantly aware of her loss of bodily autonomy. Bear initially leans into his hesitant fantasies before the existential dread of understanding everything he’s got coming and deserves. As a very minor spoiler, others who know about the One Wish Willow seem entirely too casual about it — “Oh, I already used mine.” — hints at an entire world of other stories out there, from potential sequels to an anthology television series. The question is, are willow wishes inherently bad, or are people just predictably stupid when altering their reality?

There are several clues in the end of the final act that there’s at least one alternate ending or perhaps several, but the film seeks to entertain far more than feed the discussion of how we got here… and that’s okay. What’s more important is the conversations being started and the renewed interest in seeing original work in theaters. Remember, the best way to make a wish: a One Wish Willow wish!

Obsession is rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity. Disclaimer: The One Wish Willow is 100% magical and 0% real. For entertainment only. No actual wishes granted. Mostly. Probably.

Four skull recommendation out of four.