Pink Asparagus

By Maggie Roberts

WHAT HAVE I DONE! Blood-soaked, inconsolable and surrounded by carnage, Nikki (Inde Navarrette) screams. At the end of the film, she blames herself for the death and destruction around her, even though she was the one who was victimized.

Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a comically broad archetype of the modern Nice Guy, incel-lite. He works at a music store with a gang of fellow twenty-somethings, including his childhood friend Nikki, who he’s been lusting after for years. In a desperate attempt to make his superficial desire for Nikki reciprocal, he breaks a One Wish Willow—an 80s toy that allows you to make one wish per person. In classic wish-gone-wrong trope fashion, the real Nikki is replaced with another being—a manic pixie dream girl taken to her extreme, Not-Nikki, OBSESSED with him in his lack of glory.

Not Nikki is a monster. She murders, mutilates and stalks. She’s loud and firm about her needs. She knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. Worst of all? She’s weird and ruins the vibe. Nikki’s character exposes the pathological male urge to make women conform to expectation, to be what is wanted, not what is. At one point in the film, Bear begs the Not-Nikki he wished for to now “just be the real Nikki!”, failing to understand that this is impossible. Not-Nikki is a grotesque formulation of his patriarchal projection: fully committed to him and always available, sexually or otherwise. She cannot be the real Nikki because she would never want him if she was.

Before Bear casts his wish, he almost confesses his feelings to Nikki honestly. Chickening out at the last minute, he decides to insult her instead, using a nickname that he knows she’ll be upset by. He chooses to lie and harm, rather than open himself up to the possibility of rejection or humiliation. The key scene, used in most of the film’s promotion and trailers, is a condemnation of the inherent and quiet cruelty of the Nice Guy. He must hurt Nikki instead of being vulnerable and honest to avoid what he knows deep down: he’s not good enough for her. 

In a later scene, he rapes Nikki and fucks Not Nikki simultaneously. The scene is framed in a medium shot from behind, and we watch on as Bear pathetically grunts on top of her. Not-Nikki is moaning, but Nikki comes through in Navarrette’s face, solemn and dissociating. Even after Bear realizes that it isn’t actually Nikki who loves him, he becomes angered by her desire to free herself. When the real Nikki is finally able to break through Not-Nikki’s psychic hold, she begs Bear to kill her. His response? “What’s so bad about being with me?”

Bear is a loser, but he is also a man that every woman knows. A man who believes that because he isn’t actively violent towards women, he is somehow exempt from the structural misogyny and entitlement with which all men are socialized. Bear’s Nice Guy brand of violence is made explicit through the unravelling and deterioration of Nikki’s body and soul. This is what the Nice Guy does to the Cool Girl; he kills her slowly and then feeds off her remains like a parasite.

Yes, Barker’s Gen-Z aesthetic is uninspired, derivative and meant to recreate a tired aesthetic. Every shot is center focus, static frame and marked with a nebulous underexposure which attempts to signal a kind of nostalgia or faux-authenticity. That said, the film’s thematic exploration of gender through these replicated horror codes has something quite poignant and well-observed to say. It makes sense that lots of audiences, specifically young men, hate this film and chalk it up to stylistic downfalls, or just a distaste for Aster, Cregger and neo-horror in general. Obsession exposes The Nice Guy veneer as exactly what it is: gaslighting in personality form. This startling reveal seems to be too much too bear for the wolf and sheep’s clothing most committed wearers. Guess guys are going to have to start being more than nice! A tragedy for them, but on some level, a win for us. 

Obsession is out of theatres and now available for streaming on various platforms.