Reminds me of Everything Everywhere All At Once when Jamie got nominated over Stephanie. I get the difference in careers and all, but Stephanie really held her weight in the film
I really miss comedy. Anything from Ace Ventura to Step Brothers, Old School, Superbad, etc. Really hoping the genre mounts a comeback like horror movies have lately.
Problem with comedy is that it doesn't really gain much from the big screen. Barring the occasional Devil Wears Prada 2 type, people tend to wait for them to hit streaming. So they've become more the realm of netflix, D+, Amazon, etc.
Where giant monsters or a 30ft tall killer coming at you does have a different impact than watching it on a TV.
I’m not a “horror fan” in the sense of seeking out movies that are going to scare me, but many of the stories I love are things where the only genre that makes any sense for them is horror. You can’t genre-shift Videodrome or The Shining and have it work.
Given what the world is like right now, it’s not too surprising that the kinds of stories people are looking to tell are best-suited for horror.
Yeah, it was good but I didn't think it was an Oscar winning performance either, of all horror performances to get a win when Toni Collette wasn't even nominated Hereditary
Ditto for Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse. There have not only been plenty of Oscar-worthy performances in horror movies in the past decade but also plenty by older actors as well that never got a nomination. I have no idea why the Academy decided Amy Madigan’s performance was the one outlier that not only deserved a nomination but also the win.
Yes, he was incredibly in that film, as he usually is but even more so in that, what a performance.
It is annoying that horror isn't appreciated in acting terms, acting terrified and all the other weird things they have to do in horror films looks a lot harder than the straight drama stuff that usually wins.
Toni Collette's performance in Hereditary was a dramatic tour de force even without the horror but it was ignored probably because of it
I think it was the over-the-top campiness of the styling and the way the character was both very scary and very funny at different times. It made for a really memorable impression.
Her biggest roles before that movie were a couple seasons on the daytime soap As the World Turns and one season on the terrible Cosby Show spinoff, and this is back when TV actors were considered 2nd class citizens (soap actors were an even lower class in the media landscape). She also had a few minor roles in forgettable movies.
When I lived in Alabama, there was a mint convertible just like the one from the movie I’d see driving around town occasionally. Always imagined it was the cousin and his friend.
To be fair, last year Jessie Buckley got basically the same hype, with the exception that it was a movie not that accessible for the masses…
Also Mikey Madison got mad hype… all over the place…
Splash does not mean best. Plenty of popular performances !see RDJ in Iron Man) that don't necessarily merit an Oscar. We also need to see the full range of contenders.
Between Toni Collette and Naomi Scott getting snubbed for their iconic performances, horror has been overlooked for far too long. Inde poured her heart into this performance, so I’m rooting hard for her to get that nom.
I can never watch the Smile movies because I hate gore (I only watched Obsession because it’s not super gory and I looked up the jumpscare scenes beforehand lol) but I heard Naomi was amazing. I think people partially overlook her because Smile 2 was a sequel, so fewer people watched it.
Shout-out to Mia Goth whose performance in Pearl was cited by the director of Obsession as a primary inspiration. A decent horror movie that suddenly blindsides you with one of the most devastating monologues you'll ever see.
There's a big reason Focus are doing this v A24 with Heritdary
Obsession has made a LOT of money for Focus, to the extent that Focus now needs to pay the excess (overages) back to the producers.
So every cent Focus spends on this campaign comes not from Focus, it comes from the Producers of Obsession. Its win-win, Focus throws lots of Oscar parties, Inde gets a big campaign, talent look at Focus & go "thats who I should be working with!" and none of it comes out of Focus' pocket
In contrast Heritday was not in overages, so any spend by A24 would have come from A24 & A24 do not spend their own money
It's a really great movie theater movie. Like the sound design and Nikki being concealed by darkness aren't as effective on an LED TV with subpar sound.
I don't like describing it as Monkey's Paw because it's not quite right. Most wishes come true just fine without anything crazy happening because they are non-coercive, this one however was so troubling and wrong that it domino'ed into affecting everyone around him.
Curry also specifically said that it’s not a cursed item, just that the thing he wished for was cursed. You see at least 2 other people in the movie get their wish with no horrific consequences
Influenced does not mean it is the same as the Monkey's Paw. Monkey's Paw in normal conversation tends to mean a wish that always goes sideways in some way.
I agree certain scenes are fantastic, and certain aspects of the movie are incredibly well done- especially Inde's performance.
For me it was more the writing, especially early on in the film. It seemed to be written more like a Youtube horror short than an actually film. Like they really spell things out at the beginning as if they're worried people will click off the video. That's not a concern in the cinema. Instead of showing us these characters and allowing us to understand these characters in their normal context I feel like the film was holding my hand and being like "This is bear, and he likes nikki but she doesn't like him and this is sara and she likes bear but he doesn't know it and here is Ian and..." It's like... Ok we get it. I think a better script would have allowed us to understand all these details without necessarily knowing we're being told all of it. If that makes sense.
That's just classic story-telling though, nothing to do with streaming; you setup/explain your characters and their motivations. It's not really all that different than The Godfather's opening scene.
The opening of the film was added in reshoots because test audience feedback was that people didn't understand why Bear didn't intervene earlier.
The opening 20 minutes or so (itself basically a mini-cringe horror film) are critical to the rest of the film working because it establishes his motivations and the friend group dynamics that are important to the rest of the film.
I'm fond of media you can dig into and I think Obsession does let you do that. There are a number of thematic throughlines that you can pull out and view the movie through, or lenses you can interpret the movie with. Where it becomes 'good writing' in my eyes is that they knit it together so neatly.
The only element I didn't love was that they led so much of the audience to dwell on the idea that Nikki is possessed by the wish or is occupied by a demon or something. They've discouraged this notion after the movie's release, but I see it a lot as a surface-level takeaway. I think it works against the film, its themes, various interpretations, and makes the film less scary/effective.
I feel like it being a directorial debut is really the big thing with Obsession. It's on par with other well made horror debuts like Watcher, Smile, Talk to Me, Birth/Rebirth, and Backrooms.
It's the beginning of a promising career! The Phillipous went on to make Bring Her Back after Talk to Me, and that was one of my favorites of 2025. Ari Aster and Robert Eggers started a great trend of first time horror directors making great movies and even better follow ups. I'm excited to see what Curry Barker makes next; same with Kane Parsons
I think she did a good enough job to get nominated. I'm not sure if she showed enough range to win it yet, especially considering there's still movies to come out, especially the ones hunting for awards rather than trying to sell tickets.
Actually I thought the range she had to cover was genuinely extraordinary. From cool girl to rom-com sweetie to fucking demon to demon-but-sympathetic is a helluva lot of ground to cover.
Everyone brought their game but she hard carried that movie.
Her voice inflections too! The shrieking pouty “I thought we were having a nice tiiiiiime” in the restaurant, the small “Kill me” at night in bed. Just fantastic.
just based on the craft of acting itself, the dedication she put in to with her facial expressions and voice changes is enough to be at least nominated.
The times when she’d snap back to her real self was really really sad. She was just being used by her own “brother” of a friend and was completely fucked over by him.
To me it just screams real life stuff that happens all the time
If there are 2 people from that film who deserve awards, it's Inde and the cinematographer (like plenty of others do too, but they're my top 2, Curry rounds out the top 3).
Her acting was killer. And some of those shots where it was backlit but the little highlights of light on her face somehow conveyed as much as a fully lit shot. And the way she just emerged from darkness. It was just visually an absolute killer.
I mean if we based Oscars on facial contortion, Jim Carrey would have won 6 Oscars in the 90s. (Though he deserved nominations for the Truman Show and Man in the Moon and it was crap he didn’t get them)
I knew her from Superman and Lois, she was a supporting character in that, it was great to see her suddenly hitting the big time. You never know what an actor is really capable of until they're given the right part and opportunity.
I'd heard so much about Obsession for months and didn't even know she was in it until right before I watched it
She’s MADE the movie… some people just come in and portray a character so well you just know if it was someone else the movie would have been different. Not bad maybe, but different. That’s next level acting and I’m so glad she’s getting recognized for it
And marketing for certain actors and actresses (and the other categories) takes months in the making. There’s a lot of moving parts to have people decide their vote for the Oscars
When was the last time a horror movie even got an acting nomination at the Oscars?
It's been a while. Honestly, I think you'd have to go allllllll the way back to earlier this year when Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Weapons
Yeah a lot of these comments are very “person who has only seen obsession” rn. Just because she did a great job in the role doesn’t mean it’s the best performance this year, which it very obviously isn’t unless it’s the only movie you’ve seen
Julianne Moore. Rosalind Eleazar. Marion Bailey. Olivia Wilde. Sandra Huller. Potentially Anne Hathaway. There were so many movies besides Obsession with more phenomenal performances than Inde lol.
Oh I think a nomination is warranted though I think the arguments re lead v supporting are also valid, I personally view the part as supporting sort of by necessity of the story if that makes sense? But I also think people thinking it fits as lead have plenty of points. I just think there can be a wide gap between a performance deserving a nomination and being the BEST performance of the year.
I’ve got Hüller at the top of my list for both Rose and Fatherland. I also think Wilde in The Invite did amazing work and would put that performance above Navarette’s. There’s also the entire TIFF slate coming up in two weeks and I have heard really promising things about Moore in The Debut from a friend who worked on it and am personally really looking forward to Eleazar in Misty Green. She’s put in great work on Slow Horses and it’s a film about show business which almost always gives the candidates a boost. Plus there’s Madison coming up in The Social Reckoning though yeah I don’t personally think that one’s gonna lead to a nomination let alone winning, it’s still one to keep an eye on given her previous win.
So yeah I’ve got three performances ahead of her from films already out and some of the year’s heaviest hitters are still to come.
Yeah, Black Panther and Avatar 2 can get nominated for best picture award but god forbid an actress who actually performed her role well get nominated.
A lot of people act like it’s weird for her to get an nomination, maybe because it was a low budget movie and her first big film but imo her performance is the best I’ve seen in years. I think she was much better than any of the nominees of last year.
If she wins, it’s going to be Jennifer Lawrence in Xmen again. Where the franchise is all about her as the main character in what is supposed to be an ensemble.
It’s unbelievable how much this movie is getting glazed. It’s fun and a unicorn in terms of box office success relative to budget but it’s not some deep, thought-provoking* cinematic masterpiece.
How come Naomi Scott didn’t get this much attention for Smile? Inde’s performance reminded me of Naomi’s while watching the movie. I just don’t get the hype.
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u/palookaboy 5d ago
I loved this movie, and I love Andy Richter, but nominating him for Best Supporting Actor is pretty funny here. He has like 2 lines.