One Wish Willow package in ‘Obsession.’ │INSET: Devil’s bobble head from classic ‘Twilight Zone’ episode, ‘Nick of Time.’
Courtesy of Focus Features & CBS
Despite its inclination toward the otherworldly, the original Twilight Zone created by TV pioneer Rod Serling was, at its core, about the weakness of human nature.
The plane-wrecking gremlins, man-eating extraterrestrials, and living department store mannequins were merely set dressing for parables meant to teach how the uglier aspects of our species—cruelty, greed, fear, suspicion, vice, regret, grief, jealously, failure, hubris (the grotesque colors in the human rainbow, in other words)—can cloud one’s judgement.
Often unhappy with their lives, Twilight Zone characters unknowingly wandered into that bizarre fifth dimension, and came out the other side with way more than they bargained for because the consequences were never fully considered.
In the immortal words of Albus Dumbledore, “Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.”
Obsession, the staggering directorial debut from rising writer-director Curry Barker, represents the greatest expression of The Twilight Zone’s lasting cultural footprint since Frank Darabont delivered a devastating gut-punch to audiences with The Mist nearly 20 years ago.
***WARNING! The following contains major spoilers for Obsession!***
On its surface, Obsession shares a striking similarity to The Twilight Zone Season 1 episode, “The Chaser,” in which a young man (George Grizzard) comes to regret purchasing a love potion that turns the woman of his dreams (Patricia Barry) into a sycophantic shell of her former self. This poor girl no longer has an identity beyond pleasing her male companion, who becomes both stifled by alarmed by this sudden, non-consensual change in personality. By the time he has an opportunity to do anything, it’s already too late.
LOS ANGELES – MARCH 17: TWILIGHT ZONE episode: “The Chaser” with Patricia Barry as Leila and George Grizzard as Roger Shackleforth. Original airdate, May 13, 1960. Image dated March 17, 1960. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
CBS via Getty Images
The One Wish Willow carries out the same function in Obsession. With its kitschy, retro-inspired packaging, the object also recalls the penny-operated fortune teller machine in “Nick of Time” from Twilight Zone’s sophomore season.
William Shatner guest-starred in the episode (his first of two TZ appearances) as a man beholden to the bobble-headed device made to dispense vague prophecies from a greasy diner tabletop. He cannot make a single move without seeking its ambiguous wisdom, much to the dismay of his new wife (Patricia Breslin). While he ends up beating the *ahem* obsession, another couple is not so lucky, desperately revisiting the machine for hazy guidance on when they can finally leave town.
We’re never told where this item came from or how the thing works.
It’s just…there, forever knowing someone will inevitably come along and get snared in its web. That something so benign could wreak so much havoc against the backdrop of a place as humdrum as a corner restaurant is what makes the story (written by TZ mainstay Richard Matheson) so terrifying.
The same can be said for the One Wish Willow, whose regular availability in a holistic gift shop belies sinister developments until the customer is slowly dying from the ironic fallout of their heart’s deepest desire. They’re always on the shelf, tools of unknown origin, patiently waiting to warp reality at a terrible cost.
One can’t blame Bear (Michael Johnston) for not knowing the object had genuine magical properties. What does eventually turn him into the villain, however, is the knowledge that he’s condemning Nicky (Inde Navarrette) to be with him against her will. How could he continue on such a path after hearing the real Nicky’s shrieks over the phone with the One Wish Willow customer service representative?
As it was with so Twilight Zone characters, he is blinded by his own mortal shortcomings. His inability to tell Nicky how he really felt resulted in an outcome driven by selfishness, intentional or not. When he finally tries to reverse the wish by taking his own life, things have already deteriorated to a point of no return. Like Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) in Season 1’s “A Nice Place to Visit,” Bear was a little too ready to accept damnation barely disguised as Heaven.
Nicky finally gets to wake up from the terrifying nightmare, but the damage is irrevocably done. Three people are dead and she, a completely innocent party in this whole mess, is left holding the check. Her endless screams and sobs echo back to the agonized wailing of The Mist’s David Drayton, who murdered his child and friends for nothing. He’s punished for trying to do the right thing. Gruesome as his actions might be, they were done in the hope of sparing a child from an even more agonizing end. If only he’d waited a few moments longer…
Both certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the Twilight Zone classic “Time Enough at Last,” whose conclusion is notoriously downbeat. The only crime Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith) committed was having a desire to read his books in peace in a world that tried to stifle his true self. He’s a blameless victim and yet, he suffers a fate worse than death when his only pair of glasses shatter on the library steps.
“It’s not fair,” indeed.
Obsession is now in theaters