Is Inde Navarrette the next biggest Oscar contender? Inside her breakout Obsession performance

Inde Navarrette continues to gain attention for her role as Nikki in the horror film Obsession, directed by Curry Barker. The film, released on May 13, was produced on a $750,000 budget and reportedly grossed $171 million at the box office, making it a big success.

The film has received 8.2 stars on IMDb from over sixty thousand viewers and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. This has also left many fans wondering whether Inde Navarrette could be entering Oscar territory, thanks to the growing hype around her performance in Obsession.

After recent wins for horror performances, including Amy Madigan winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in Weapons and Michael B. Jordan winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Sinners, Academy voters have clearly shown that they're more open to the horror genre, which makes Inde Navarrette a serious Oscar contender.

What makes Inde Navarrette Obsession role stand out?

Alongside Inde Navarrette in Obsession, viewers also see Michael Johnston as Bear, Cooper Tomlinson as Ian, and Megan Lawless as Sarah in the lead role. The film follows Bear having a crush on Nikki. In order to gift her a crystal, he goes to a crystal shop and finds One Wish Willow.

When he is unable to express his feelings directly to her, he makes a wish from One Wish Willow for Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world. But the wish backfires in a chilling way, as Nikki develops an unhealthy obsession with him.

Did real Nikki actually have feelings for him? No, the real Nikki treated him as a brother and was involved with Ian. On the other hand, Sarah had feelings for Bear. But after the wish comes true, which Bear doesn't believe in at the beginning, everything takes a turn.

Nikki starts living in Bear's house and even gets upset when he tries to meet Ian alone, often insisting on going with him. She is also seen showing unsettling behavior, including hitting her own head at times and watching him sleep, which adds to the eerie tone of the story.

Her movements also start changing, and at one point, she even walks backwards, which left many viewers terrified. However, we soon get a clearer explanation for her behavior when the real Nikki asks Bear to kill her at night, revealing that the entity in her body is sleeping.

While the film isn't exactly horror, considering there are no ghosts, it's a psychological drama filled with weird and creepy moments. Nikki's character starts off as a sweet and innocent girl, but she soon transforms into a violent version of herself, willing to do anything to stay close to Bear, even making a wish from One Wish Willow to make him love only her and killing her friends, Sarah and Ian.

The actress spoke about her weird walking movements in the film with The Hollywood Reporter, stating that she and Curry Barker created them together.

Obsession doesn't end on a happy note, as Bear takes the pills to kill himself after realizing that it's the only way to get Nikki back. While he tried throwing up, it was too late. On the other hand, Nikki makes a wish from One Wish Willow to make Bear love her the most. But he ultimately dies, bringing real Nikki back. The real Nikki cries uncontrollably after coming back to her senses and realizing what has happened around her.

Viewers found her character extremely terrifying because of her weird non-stop laughs and cries and the looks she gave to Bear from time to time, adding to those eerie moments.

While Inde Navarrette has delivered a performance strong enough to enter Oscar conversations, viewers will have to wait and see whether she secures an Oscar nomination.