Dark Obsession (2023) Film Review
Since the conception of the entertainment industry, Hollywood has always used the “hysterical woman” concept, in all of its forms, as a strong frame for character arcs. In most of the cases, the outcome is notorious. Women are unfortunately still seen as products of hormonal systems whose intuition is often mocked and their capabilities laughed upon. In fact when the story calls for the confirmation of the reality of the threat instead of the woman’s paranoia, that twist becomes the center of the story. As if they couldn’t be right. We still have got a lot to learn as a society.
George Henry Horton’s Dark Obsession takes the premise and twists it around an interesting character whose guilt is visible from the start and whose role in the story is not exactly a mystery. Anne (Blaine Morris in a pretty good performance) is the product of something that’s eventually revealed. But the film’s multilayered premise calls for a slow discovery by the audience. Viewers will see Anne as a victim, and her behavior is sometimes typical of the hysterical female complex, but then the film goes for another direction. One that confidently gets it away from horror. This is a full-blown thriller.
In the film, Anne is living in an abusive relationship. Her husband reacts violently when things don’t go his way and Anne seems trapped in something she can’t escape. Her only form of expression is painting. Her trauma is obvious, and it all has to do with issues in a past that she keeps revisiting. But when her husband decides to leave, Anne is left all alone to face isolation and loneliness while something is lurking outside her home. We won’t spoil more for you.
Throughout the film, we find out Anne’s relationship with the outside world is awkward. The presence of more familiar actors like Mena Suvari and Danielle HarrisĀ regards the film’s need to expose itself and call the attention. But they don’t exactly do much in the film as they are part of Anne’s connection with the outside, and in the film it’s not even that important. As predictable as it becomes at some point, the most important aspect about Dark Obsession is where it flows into: The solid shift that makes Anne’s story much more interesting and less typical.
Spoiler alert
While the film isn’t exactly a gripping thriller that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, the fact that Anne’s revealed to be a consequence of her own mental state is a mixture between that element of insanity that hysterical women are associated and the more natural aspect of uncontrolled trauma. Anne does something, and while it’s accidental, the sense of inevitability is there for the audience to enjoy. The third act is a great crossroads that puts the movie in “revenge cinema” territory and it resolves the conflict in that note. We can’t say Anne deserves something like this. But it’s the next best thing to justice being delivered to those who always blamed her for something she wasn’t guilty of.
Dark Obsession isn’t perfect and Horton has stuff to learn. Morris as well, considering she’s also in the writer’s seat. But it’s actually good enough of a film that at least, provides the twist that’s necessary to stop a storytelling trend that isn’t compelling or fair.
