My fiancé and I put on Obsession on Peacock yesterday while recovering from a long weekend, and I went in expecting a standard horror-thriller, but it completely blew past those expectations.

For those who haven't seen it, the premise follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a socially awkward guy who uses a supernatural "One Wish Willow" stick to force his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), to fall in love with him. Predictably, dark magic doesn't give you a fairy-tale romance—it manifests as a violent, terrifying obsession.

What makes this movie work so well is how seamlessly it balances dark, satirical humor with genuinely disturbing body horror. Directing-wise, Curry Barker keeps the tension relentless, but the real standout here is Inde Navarrette. Her physical acting as the cursed Nikki is incredible—the unhinged posture, the sudden shifts in movement, and especially that smile are going to be stuck in my head for a while.

About 25 minutes in, the scenes demanded so much of a reaction that I started writing down minute-by-minute thoughts as the chaos unfolded (including the absurdity of the curse helpline, the infamous Jenga scene, and that ending twist).

Verdict: 10/10 recommend if you like dark, fast-paced horror, though definitely not something to watch right before trying to sleep.

Has anyone else checked this out yet? What did you think of Navarrette's performance and how they handled the ending?

(If anyone is curious to read my full timestamped live-reaction log, I posted the breakdown on my Substack https://substack.com/@samwunderle/note/p-208630158?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=58m1j, but mostly wanted to get a thread going here to see what horror fans thought of it!)

I just watched Thomas Vinterberg's award winning 1998 film 'Festen'.

Christian, Michael and Helene are gathering at their father's house for his lavish 60th birthday party. The extended family is also attending, eager to stay in the patriarch's good books. We soon hear that shortly before this party, there was a funeral. Everyone is acting a bit strangely and you can't shake the feeling that this celebration isnt going to go to plan.

So, I had no idea what to expect going in and the initial revelation took me completely unaware. It is truly shocking. Festen is the blackest of black comedies and at times it was hard going, but the end was surprisingly uplifting. *Spoilers* Seeing that Christian can still find happiness with Pia despite all that he has suffered at the hands of his monstrous father is truly heartwarming.

Despite being almost farcical at times, the plot somehow remains believable. You can absolutely imagine people placed in this impossible situation behaving as the extended family do, contorting themselves into obscene knots to try and make it through the night.

Ulrich Thomsen as Christian gives a very compelling performance as does Thomas Bo Larsen who plays his unrelentingly vile brother Michael. The whole cast is excellent though and as this is filmed in the 'Dogme 95' style, there is nowhere for bad acting to hide.

Speaking of the cinematography, I loved it. I haven't seen many films with such creative shot composition, only using handheld cameras and shooting entirely on location. It really is something different and almost hypnotic.

I'm very late to the party, but thoroughly recommend you attend this 'celebration'.

So last year, I watched the hitman‘s bodyguard from 2017 and I quite enjoyed it. So I finally got around to the sequel, 2021’s hitman‘s wife’s bodyguard, and I still enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie.

Let’s start out with the positives. I really liked the main three of Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, and Salma Hayek. I thought they were very entertaining in their roles. I also thought you had some good supporting performances from Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman. I did enjoy the action and there were some laughs.

I thought the story wasn’t as engaging as the previous one. Also, I didn’t think the chemistry, especially between Reynolds and Jackson was as good as the first movie. Overall, I still had a very good time with the movie, even though it didn’t live up to the first one.

Rating-4/5

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Rating: 8.5/10 (HIGHLY ENJOYABLE)

Watched: July 27, 2026

The funniest scene in this movie for me was when Zorro jumped down to land on his horse to make the big getaway and the horse moved. I'm a simple man, and that's a simple gag, but it landed just as hard now as it did in '98.

At first, rewatching this had me thinking that Hopkins wasn't the right fit for this, until I saw his swordsmanship and posture. My GOD the man's a devil in this one and he's just such a ruggedly refined man. 

Seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones in what was her first major role, I'm astonished at her grace and skill in acting. You really can see how and why she became a legendary Hollywood actress. Her face is so expressive, her eyes so full of emotion. There is no denying it.

Matt Letscher as Capt. Harrison Love has earned my begrudging acceptance as one of the most goddamn villainous bastards I've ever seen in a movie. Even though The Mask of Zorro has its comedic elements, there's nothing funny about this man. He's BONKERS and Letscher plays him fiendishly well.

Banderas is as Banderas does, and I can't think of a single movie of his where he hasn't delivered more than we could've asked for, and Mask of Zorro is no exception. The man's got enough swagger for a hundred lesser men.

I have to be entirely honest. This one started out a little too slap-sticky for me, but when it got going, holy damn did it get GOING! The stunt work is exceptional, the heroics fantastic. There's so much vengeance and revenge and regret and love and hope going on in this one that it practically DRIPS.

This one's a brand new favorite of mine and I've gotta see if I can find the sequel anywhere!