What begins as a cautionary tale about wishes and desire quickly spirals into something darker, more psychological, and deeply unsettling. Curry Baker‘s latest film, “Obsession”, explores what happens when one makes a wish for another to fall deeply in love with them. With a combination of an eerie performance and well-timed sound effects, this movie is one that’ll stay with you days after watching.
The Movie Couple recently spoke with Megan Lawless, who plays Sarah in the film, about joining the project, Sarah’s role as the grounded “voice of reason” within the friend group, filming one of the movie’s most brutal sequences, and why audiences should absolutely not assume they know where this story is headed.
Warning: Major spoilers for Obsession below.
Lawless revealed that she initially auditioned for the film before even reading the script. It wasn’t until callbacks that she realized just how ambitious the project really was.
“I finally read the script, and then I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is incredible. Who is Curry Barker?” she shared. “I watched all of his shorts on YouTube and got myself caught up and then realized how huge this movie could be.”
That unpredictability is exactly what makes Obsession so effective. The trailer teases something familiar — a supernatural cautionary tale about wishes gone wrong — but the film evolves into something much more emotionally devastating and psychologically tense.
Sarah As the Voice of Reason
THE MOVIE COUPLE: Talk to me about your character, Sarah, and her dynamic within this friend group.
MEGAN LAWLESS: I think Sarah is kind of representative of the foil of Bear and Nikki because at the beginning, obviously, we’ve made it clear that I have feelings for Bear. I think we have a really long history. There’s trust there, and there’s interest on my end, and he is completely blinded by his crush on Nikki to even be able to see the potential that could be there for us. But I feel like, you know, all of our scenes together are trying to elicit the opportunity for the audience to see that we can connect on a deep level and we have a lot of history and depth there between our friendship that maybe could go somewhere, but unfortunately, [laughs] we’re not really able to see what could have been if he had given me a chance because of everything that ensues with Nikki.
Lawless also touched on her character’s calm demeanor, making her the voice of reason within the friend group.
MEGAN LAWLESS: I also think that Sarah really is the voice of reason in this friend group. She can tell it how it is and hold her friends accountable when she starts to notice these things happening that are bizarre to her. And I think like she says a lot of things that the audience is thinking as well, but can’t get it through to Bear.
THE MOVIE COUPLE: Talk to me about filming the party scene.
MEGAN LAWLESS: That is definitely the first time that my character sees the gravity of what’s going on. Like, you have inklings that something bizarre is happening. And, I kept thinking if I were in her shoes, what would I think? like, I’ve known these friends for years. And it’s not always your place to say something, but after that, it is 100% without a doubt time to speak up on what’s going on. You know what I mean? Whatever is going on is incredibly unhealthy and scary.
She also talked about filming the scene where Nikki breaks a beer bottle before using it to harm herself.
MEGAN LAWLESS: That’s just crazy! That whole sequence like watching it being done, it wasn’t even hard. We were screaming off camera, and you were supposed to hear our screams as she was doing everything, and it wasn’t even hard to do that because was wild, you know.
THE MOVIE COUPLE: Was there a scene that you shot and you’re like, ‘I can’t wait to see this play out on the big screen’ and get the audience reaction. Have you sat with an audience yet with this film?
MEGAN LAWLESS: I have. It was the first time I’d seen the final cut at TIFF. And that’s also when we had our world premiere. So, the first time anyone ever saw it. We were in this theater with, you know, a bunch of horror lovers. Like everyone that came to the Midnight Madness section of TIFF, like loves horror. And that was such a cool experience because they were so vocal the whole movie and cheering and whooping and hollering, and I just love being with an audience that’s so engaged and like obvious about it, and you get to hear all the reactions. And I remember it’s crazy because after my car scene, everyone started clapping, and I was like, “What is going on?”
That Shocking Car Scene
THE MOVIE COUPLE: I would love to talk about your death scene. I felt like it was coming because of the way not because of the way stories played out but it was the way the shot was set up. Can you talk about the process of it all: the reading through it, the rehearsing it and filming it
MEGAN LAWLESS: I mean, I knew someone was gonna die at some point, like [laughter] obviously. And when I read it, I was like, “Oh, there it is.” And you know, it’s graphic, but I think on the page, it feels even less graphic than when you actually see it. And with the way Curry utilized that extra space in the background that builds tension, and the music, all of that helps build tension that you can’t read off the page, but even on the page, obviously, it’s like, need a little breather after that.
The production had crafted a stunt doll specially for the scene.
MEGAN LAWLESS: This was probably one of the funnest things I’ve ever done in any film I’ve ever made. It was completely new for me. They built a cast of my face that looked just like me, so that was crazy. I had never done that before. And then on the day, they had the doll version of me that looked oddly like me. It was sitting in the corner of a room, and people would walk in and be like, “Hey, Megan.” And then be like, “Oh, that is not Megan.” They had tubes running through it that would bleed. And so when we were filming that, I basically mimed getting my head slammed into the steering wheel, and then they threw in my doll version of me that, and did that a few times, and then they had a third version of me that just looked completely annihilated, that they did it again with.
Lawless reminisced about watching the scene with the dummy in the car.
MEGAN LAWLESS: I remember I filmed my stuff first, and then I got out of the car and went behind the monitors and just watched, and the doll looked just like me, and it was like uncanny. I really liked like experiencing that and watching it. It was just cool seeing the experience from the beginning until the end, and the finished product, and seeing it come together so beautifully.
Why You Should See “Obsession”
THE MOVIE COUPLE: For the audience who haven’t seen this movie yet, what can you tease about “Obsession”?
MEGAN LAWLESS: If you want to watch something twisted and fun, and you don’t expect anything like the next move is completely unexpected, and you want a wild ride, then go and see “Obsession”. I promise you, you do not know how it ends.
