James Musgrove

Iliad (Troy) trailer made by Grok Imagine 1.5, which was just released

Obsession (2026) is my favorite movie of the year and it's not even close. It's fantastic in the constructive filmmaking Barker designed - camera movement, editing, score all on point - and his script beautifully escalates the idea while welding together callbacks at perfect points. I even like the costume design, especially his awesome sweater in the third act. It is also - and I swear this is a positive - the most politically regressive movie to come out in years. The irony of being championed as a Gen Z movie is that other than starring young people, it doesn't reflect Gen Z's aspirational culture whatsoever. First, it's all straight white people. Not even a bone thrown to the walk on roles like waitresses or salespeople. No black people, no gays, no Asians, no trans Blasians. While Backrooms set itself in the 90s, Obsession could have been set in the 50s. Yes the lead actress is Latina but let's be honest it would get very canceled if the point of a movie directed by a white guy is Latinas are fucking nuts. So white she is. Then the bigger regression: it's a genuine woman hating movie, told from the perspective of a young, straight white male. It's every fear young men have. Once you get the girl she's possessive, irrational, controlling, codependent, emotionally unstable, lying, vindictive, manipulative, with unknowable psychic damage, and at the end of the day, she doesn't actually like you. What millions of dollars of ticket sales are saying is FINALLY. In a world with abundant critiques about young men, here is finally the movie that calls out females on their shit for once. That women love this movie is a bit of a joke of the movie itself. You're crazy. Yes, we know. What Goodfellas did for Murder, Obsession does for Misogyny - and it's great! It's great because movies aren't supposed to BE CORRECT. They are supposed to be CATHARSIS. They don't even have to be sociologically accurate. They just need to tickle the dirty thoughts, the subconscious, make you confront the WORST and BEST parts of you. They just need to FEEL. What we are feeling in Obsession is the THING WE CANNOT SAY, and it is dramatized in action and violence. It's the world of young white men amongst who they really hang with - other straight white people - pining after girls who dislike them. That believable world gives the film authenticity that EVERYONE can believe in, and the story that unfolds is taken without aspiration or propaganda or idealism. There will be some takes that it's a critique on selfish men, but it's a weaker extrapolation as the movie clearly presents the male as a hapless victim, nobly refusing sex at first, only to be tricked by the succubus. It's a creature feature and the monster is not the scientist, it's the Bride of Frankenstein - and we will never understand her even as we want to fuck her as we die. Loved it. (posted the poster for the Netflix version)

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