Obsession is a 2019 drama about a drifter who finds work with a wealthy man, only to become involved with his wife.
Is it ‘the right time at the wrong place’ or ‘the wrong time at the right place’? Either way, for out of work drifter Sonny Jordan (Mekhi Phifer), just in town on a prospect gone bad, he finds him himself in a moment of choice when George Goode (Brad Dourif) ends up attacked in an alley by a knife-wielding mugger (Jared Bankens). He jumps into action and saves the older man’s life, and for his efforts, gets a job as a mechanic at Goode’s successful shop. He further takes up residence in the guesthouse, though there soon becomes a snag in the arrangement. That would be, of course, a woman, Goode’s young Russian bride Larissa (Elika Portnoy), who is more than a little tempting to the stranger, she herself soon becoming drawn to the stranger as well, and in the heat of a Louisiana Bayou summer, obsession takes hold.
Hamfisted to a degree, director Goran Dukic‘s Obsession isn’t all that complicated, moving its few pieces into play with haste in getting to the old familiar set up. It begins, as so many do these days, with a moment of critical tension before flashing back to how it gets there, though it’s entirely unnecessary since well, the movie is called ‘obsession.’ It’s not like we can’t guess where it’s headed. But either way, this isn’t about complexities or mystery, but rather basic human desires run amok in the sweaty South.
For that, it does what it intends, Michael Andrews‘ screenplay a straight line that connects a few obvious landmarks that keeps the three primary players in a simple game of betrayal that naturally goes sour. And it escalates quickly, where Sonny’s horny hopes find fast satisfaction before becoming consumed by a woman with a bigger plan. What follows is a generic thriller that is pretty transparent with nary a moment that’s not easy to see a mile away. These are die-cast characters plopped in a plot with no room for innovation, doling out the 1, 2, 3’s with everything you expect. That’s not all bad, plenty of movies finding traction from the formula, and sure, Dukic manages to find a few moments with solid footing.
The good thing in all this is the production, the film wisely kept small, feeling like an adaptation of a small theater play, the cast at least knowing what they’re swimming about in and playing into the melodrama with a proper overwrought-ness that gives it some flavor. It’s just that it hasn’t much passion about it, the ‘heat’ between the lovers only superficially explored beyond some brief PG-rated fondling that begins nearly the moment they meet. It tracks this for a while, leading to some predictability, though admittedly takes a curious turn late in the third act that buries the needle on the implausibility meter but at least dares to try something different. As a story twist, it’s got legs, but Obsession can’t give it the thump it aims for, leaving this a good distraction but without much significance.