There are many scenes from Curry Barker’s Obsession featuring Bear (Michael Johnston) and Nikki (Inde Navarrette) that stick with you long after the film is done. Even if the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) changes in India (despite the A rating) mean you lose some key context, the film still leaves you with a deeply unsettling feeling. Know how the film’s most shocking scene was shot. *Spoilers ahead*
Obsession’s most shocking scene
In a key scene towards the end of Obsession, Bear is taking a breather from an increasingly erratic Nikkie with their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless). The modified scene in India shows Nikki turning up to their rendezvous out of nowhere, and the next thing you know, Sarah has been beaten to pulp – literally. Nikki tells a shocked and terrified Bear that their friend’s death is his fault. The scene was still a massive jumpscare, even in its abridged form.
In the uncensored scene, Nikki appears out of nowhere as Bear and Sarah sit in a car and take a moment for themselves. She smashes the car window with her head and repeatedly smashes Sarah’s face into a heavy object that has been described as a brick. She only stops when their friend’s face is reduced to an unrecognisable mess, a small glimpse of which we see in the Indian version of the film.
Curry told Dread Central that the original scene was much more graphic, and he had to shorten it to avoid an NC-17 rating in the US. “There was about six or seven more smashes. And we were getting an NC-17 rating. And so they were like, ‘you’ve got to take out some of the smashes.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not taking out a single bash.’ But I did. It still feels really f**king hardcore.”
How the scene was shot with special effects vs CGI
A behind-the-scenes video of the scene’s making shows how it was shot with practical effects rather than CGI. A unit member shows how the ‘glass’ in the scene was actually jelly-like to protect the actors. In Nikki’s ‘smashing through the window’ scene, the crew could be seen throwing the ‘glass’ at Bear and later dousing him in fake blood.
At one point, Curry also seemed thrilled that they got a good shot of the envelope Sarah was about to open. Hilariously, a unit member can be seen vacuuming the fake blood from the car seats after the take. Later, a zoomed-out shot shows how the car was physically shaken as Nikki beat Sarah to death to make the scene look real.
Megan also posted a behind-the-scenes video from the film’s shoot where she and Inde were goofing off before giving their take. She can even be seen, hilariously and actually freaking out, as Inde rushes towards the car. Calling her favourite day on the set, Megan told THR that Inde had to wear a helmet and a wig for the glass-breaking scene, looking ridiculous. As for the scene where her head was smashed in? She said that Inde was ‘gently’ holding the back of her head as she pretended to slam it into a brick. She also revealed that a doll version of her was placed to show her face at the end of it all.