Why I think Backrooms is a stronger film than Obsession.
Hello!
I assume everyone here knows about the back to back horror hits that recently came out both made by young youtubers that were both hits financially speaking.
I saw both films in theaters and I enjoyed them both, they are both well-made films and there was a little debate on which they found better, more people preferring obsession over backrooms in the circles I am apart of. I have to disagree, I think that backrooms is the better made film for a very specific reason and for that we need to look at two characters, Clark and Bear. I think Clark is the strongest part of that film and respectively Bear is the weak link of Obsession and if he was as strong as Clark. Basically the character writing and the worldbuilding are in sync with Clark and the same isn't true with Bear.
Before I start if I missed any details or is their an angle I am missing that contradicts my argument, please let me know.
To begin with Clark is the owner of a failing furniture store, him failing in both his martial and career goals as an architect. Clark throughout the entire film is attempting to escape from these failures and he doesn't want to fundamentally change who he is. The backrooms can be used to symbolize this, his desire for escapism warped the world around him more and more until it literally cannablized him. The worldbuilding and the character writing compliment each other. It's my favorite part of the film in fact, even if you don't find the giant pirate scary. You have to admit it works on a symbolic level. He is the natural end result of Clark's refusal to change, to escape from his failures and to give into his rage.
Now let's look at Obsession. Bear is scared of rejection and vulnerability, to the point where he acts as if simple proximity and compliance for actual genuine affection. That is what I think is the most fundamentally important part of his character, it is what drives the whole plot. However here is the problem, the one wish willow. This is an supernatural item that grants a single wish to anyone who snaps it in half. Bear didn't know what would happen when he made that wish nor does he have any way of reversing it. This is a fundamental conflict between the worldbuilding and character writing. The story regularly shames Bear for his flaws, which it should don't get me wrong. But he didn't have any knowledge what would happen when he made that wish and he didn't have any recourse to fix it outside of ending his own or Nikki's life. To fix this I think would be very simple. Bear can at any time end the effects of his wish, but chooses not to because of his character faults until it is too little to late.