Dressed To Obsess: Inside the Costume Design of Horror Hit 'Obsession'

In "Obsession," the horror lies not in jump scares or gore, but in the gradual, creeping erasure of a person. The film, which is now one of the year's most profitable after breaking box office records, puts a fresh spin on the old proverb be careful what you wish for. Awkward music shop employee Bear (Michael Johnston) finds a way to make his deepest desire come true: unable to tell his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) that he has a crush on her, he breaks a 'One Wish Willow'—a novelty item picked up on a whim from a magic shop—and wishes that she would love him more than anything else in the world. The wish transforms Nikki into an excessively affectionate, emotionally dependent, and ultimately violent version of herself.

For much of the film's runtime, audiences never get to see the 'real' Nikki — a peculiar premise that intrigued costume designer Blair James, whose work on YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Curry Barker's breakout hit has become almost as feverishly analyzed online as the film itself. While fans have been flooding her inbox with questions about post-wish Nikki's most memorable outfits, James believes what people should really be paying attention to is Nikki's introductory look.

"That costume is the most important one you will see in the entire film," says James. "If I can't tell the audience who this person is before she shifts under the spell, then I have failed my job." The outfit—a vintage GAP denim jacket layered over a white tee and cardigan, paired with navy shorts and Steve Madden moto boots—communicates, as James puts it, that Nikki is someone who "dresses to express herself, not to appease anyone." The assembly of blue tones was intentional, drawing a sartorial line between pre- and post-wish Nikki, whose signature shade is a deep red.

James also snuck in an Easter egg by choosing a slouchy wine-red Noirvere purse for Nikki—one we only see in detail at the end of the night, when Nikki goes home with Bear and dumps it on his bedroom dresser. By this point, she has been taken over by the wish's power, yet parts of the real her still bubble to the surface. That feeling is perfectly encapsulated by the shot of the red bag, decorated with charms that a freer, more independent Nikki once chose for herself.

Nikki's wardrobe throughout the rest of the film grows increasingly disconnected from her authentic self. In a montage of Bear and Nikki—now a couple, much to their friends' confusion—we see them doing stereotypical couple things: watching movies at home, tickling one another on the bed. James dressed Nikki to match, leaning into overtly feminine outfits. "As she shifts into post-wish Nikki, she becomes more of a person who's appealing to Bear," James explains. "She loses autonomy of herself."

The transformation is perhaps most evident in what Nikki wears when she accompanies Bear to his friend Ian's (Cooper Tomlinson) boys' night. Looking to attract Bear's basest desires, she opts for a skin-baring ensemble: a red tiger-print corset top from Princess Polly and tiny, cheek-skimming shorts. By this point in the film, her devotion to Bear has already translated into several disturbing incidents. Interestingly, James hadn't originally planned such a revealing look, but the idea came from an offhand conversation with a male friend. "He was like, 'I really love it when girls wear those little shorts,'" James recalls. "And I was like, my God, here it is in front of me: the male gaze." The baggy jeans she had originally planned were scrapped, and James went hunting for the smallest shorts she could find.

The boots, meanwhile, echo the footwear worn by their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) at trivia night, the first hint that the film is heading toward a destructive, deadly ending for anyone Nikki sees as a threat. By the final act, Nikki has absorbed more and more of Sarah's wardrobe, culminating in a now truly unhinged Nikki stripping Sarah of her purple jacquard dress to wear it herself. The dress was one of the few specific costume notes Barker included in the script, requiring James to find something that could work on both actresses. After an extensive search, she landed on a dress stocked at Dolls Kill. The choice proved an effective one as viewers may not immediately recognize it as the same garment, creating an unsettling detail that rewards closer attention. James even adjusted the fit so the dress would slip slightly off Nikki's shoulder, drawing attention to the tattoo she has also copied from Sarah.

And if Nikki's costumes chart a loss of identity, Bear's wardrobe tells a different kind of story. As James describes it, Bear’s wardrobe reflects someone desperate to fit in. That desire for acceptance, plus the fact that he’s living in his grandmother's house, sees him gravitate towards safe, familiar styles that feel a little dated. James outfitted him in a series of textured, vintage-feeling knits, worn throughout with the same few pairs of pants and his dependable New Balance sneakers. 

"I went to a mall and I just put some headphones in, played some music I thought Bear would listen to, and asked: where would he should shop?" The answer came to her: Hollister. “Back in the day, stores like Hollister and even Abercrombie and Fitch were what the hot guys would wear, so I thought well, he’s a conformist and he wants to dress good, so that’s where he would go.” James ended up picking up an array of patterned Hollister sweaters, which she then distressed and aged—the idea being that Bear has had these in his closet for a long time. 

Crucially, Bear's wardrobe subtly improves as the film progresses. While Nikki’s looks become increasingly chaotic, Bear appears more put-together. "You know when one of your friends starts dating a really hot girl and they just automatically start getting more attractive?" James says. "That's kind of what I wanted to do for Bear." So, while Nikki's wardrobe charts a loss of autonomy as she sacrifices herself in pursuit of the relationship, Bear increasingly benefits from it, reflecting the toxic imbalance at the heart of the film.