Obsession (2026)

About this event

What if you could make someone love you—and discovered that being loved completely is actually terrifying? Curry Barker’s *Obsession* follows Bear, a lonely music-store employee who is secretly in love with his longtime friend and coworker, Nikki. Unable to bring himself to tell her how he feels, Bear turns to a mysterious supernatural object that promises to grant him one wish. He wishes for Nikki to love him more than anything in the world. She does. But what Bear initially imagines as the ultimate romantic fantasy quickly becomes a nightmare. Nikki’s love becomes increasingly intense, possessive, and all-consuming, forcing Bear to confront a disturbing possibility: **maybe love without freedom isn't love at all.** The film gives us a strange premise for thinking about some very real human questions. Why do we want to be loved? Why can rejection feel so devastating? At what point does devotion become possession? Is it possible to genuinely love someone while also wanting them to satisfy our own emotional needs? And how much of what we call “love” is actually about wanting to be wanted? We'll use *Obsession* as a jumping-off point for a wide-ranging conversation about desire, loneliness, romantic fantasy, control, freedom, identity, and the human tendency to believe that *if I could just have this one thing, I would finally be whole.* There’s also a deeper theological question lurking underneath the horror: **What happens when we try to turn another human being into the answer to our deepest desires?** Come watch the movie beforehand and join us for a conversation about what *Obsession* might be saying about love, desire, and what it means to be human. **Spoilers will be discussed. No philosophy, psychology, or theology background necessary.**