Obsession (2 screenings) Hall 2

Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, stars Bear (Michael Johnston), a shy and sensitive young man who works in a music store and has been in love with his childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for years.
Unable to confess his feelings, he keeps putting it off, tormented by the fear of ruining their relationship. After yet another failed attempt to declare his love, his desperation leads him to a bizarre esoteric crystal shop, where he buys a mysterious “Wish Willow”, an old 1960s toy known as the One Wish Willow: all you have to do is break off one of its branches to have the one wish in your heart come true.
The cashier warns him that many customers have complained of unpredictable and sinister consequences, but Bear, blinded by love, ignores the warning and breaks the branch. In an instant, what he has always dreamed of seems to come true: Nikki begins to return his feelings with an unexpected, almost irresistible intensity, pursuing him with an all-consuming passion that leaves him stunned and confused.
What initially appears to be a romantic miracle, however, soon takes a dark turn. Nikki’s behavior becomes increasingly unstable, as if part of her has been suppressed by an entity manipulating her desires and free will. Her personality begins to warp into something deeply unsettling.
Before long, Bear realizes that the Wish Willow has not granted his dream of love, but twisted it, transforming it into an obsessive and sinister bond driven by a supernatural force.
What began as an act of hope becomes the beginning of a nightmare…