Obsession

• Michael Johnston - 1:31:11 (83.63%)

• Inde Navarrette - 53:04 (48.67%)

• Cooper Tomlinson - 15:57 (14.63%)

• Megan Lawless - 12:07 (11.11%)

• Haley Fitzgerald - 1:40 (1.53%)

• Darin Toonder - 1:37 (1.48%)

• Andy Richter - 0:53 (0.81%)

Recency bias be damned, there’s no denying Nikki Freeman’s status as a modern horror icon. Inde Navarrette endows her with a presence reminiscent of the genre’s most culturally impactful figures, and her enthralling characterization has been indisputably crucial to Obsession’s massive success. Yet, given the film’s narrative parameters and Nikki’s carefully calculated existence within them, Navarrette is not truly justified in vying for lead acting awards. 

There are countless straight romance films in which, despite being overshadowed by the male main character, the female love interest qualifies for lead classification because she plays an active role in the progression of their relationship. A prime example is Annie Hall, wherein the title character is elevated far above supporting status even with limited point of view. Alvy is, of course, the primary lead, but Annie more than earns the bump.

Obsession is clearly not a romance at all but rather a tragedy highlighting the potential consequences of egoism, with flawed protagonist Bear Bailey’s perspective remaining completely dominant. Nikki’s role is quite large (twice the size of Regan/Pazuzu in The Exorcist, in fact), but she only exists in relation to Bear, whose journey constitutes the whole plot. One could even say that the title derives from his obsession with her, which is made clear in the first scene when he says he “would choose [her] over everything.”

Reflecting how Bear views her, Nikki is presented as nothing more than his object of desire before becoming his self-imposed burden. Though she does represent women who suffer from lack of bodily autonomy, she is in no way dynamic enough to serve as an audience surrogate or secondary protagonist. She does not compare to someone like Annie Hall because Obsession is not the story of a romantic relationship and she is pointedly underdeveloped. All we are shown is a man coveting and taking possession of a woman and coming to regret it, all from his point of view.

Some have attempted to compare Nikki to Misery’s Annie Wilkes, presumably without even knowing that their screen time percentages come within two points of aligning. I find immediate fault with that, however, given that Nikki is not a true villain (as many calling for her lead placement seem to understand) and Annie is an archetypal lead antagonist. While her deliberate actions and displays of power are what primarily drive Misery’s plot, the same absolutely cannot be said about Nikki, whose behavior warrants no deep analysis. As she tells Bear herself, he is to blame for everything she does after he takes control of her, especially after his selfish decisions push them both past the point of no return.

Since Obsession can be boiled down to Bear grappling with the truth that men harm women by imposing their fantasies on them, and since he is the only character given an actual point of view, it only makes sense to identify him as the sole lead. Deeming Nikki supporting does not lessen her impact nor discount what she represents – she is just a surface level character whose involvement in the plot is technically passive. Of course, that’s the intention, but nothing else about her justifies the bump. I’ve yet to hear an argument in favor of her lead placement not based on screen time or presence alone, which tells me that many are missing the entire point.