Obsession, referred to as a destructive force, is often a recurring theme in movies. Most psychological thrillers and mind-twisting movies delve into the depths of obsession, exposing its dark and gritty nature. Cinema is a great way to learn about anything. Today, we bring you 5 movies with themes of obsession and desire! Each film in this list takes you on a roller-coaster ride to explore the psychology behind this dark force.
From American Psycho to Gone Girl, most psychological thrillers investigate the human psyche! Whether through the eyes of a stalker or a victim, filmmakers try to provide disturbing and thrilling visuals of a person who is fixated on a specific thing. This article explores the narrow line of difference between obsession and love. Let’s get into this article!
[ Also Read: Must-Watch Horror Movies & Series to Keep You Up All Night ]1. Whiplash (2014)
Whiplash, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, is a 2014 American psychological drama movie. The drama stars Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, and Melissa Benoist. The story revolves around an aspiring musician, Andrew, who plays drums. He enrolled in a music academy as a drummer. However, he faces terrible treatment from his mentor, Terence Fletcher. His mentor is rude towards his students and driven by his remarks, Andrew pushes his boundaries and goes feral during his final performance.
In this psychological thriller, the director establishes the relationship between Andrew, a young aspiring drummer and his troublesome mentor, Terence. Terence’s remarks about his performances and his training methods push Andrew to a state of emotional and physical tyranny. This in turn blurs the lines between passion and obsession for Andrew. In the final scene, we see that even after meeting with a terrible accident, Andrew rushes to the stage for his final performance. He becomes so obsessed with being perfect, he bleeds his own hands while playing drums!
[ Also Read: Top 10 Movies About Mental Health ]2. Black Swan (2010)
Black Swan is a psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz. It stars Natalie Portman as Nina in the main role and Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel in the supporting roles. The movie’s plot talks about the ballet of Swan Lake. The production calls for a hunt for a ballerina who can be in the lead role. Nina, an aspiring ballerina, desperately wants the part. Although Nina is a good white swan because of her innocent features, she fails to portray the dark and sensuous black swan! Overwhelmed by her failure, Nina loses her grip and starts descending into lunacy.
The director has portrayed her transformation very well. Nina becomes so obsessed with ballet and practice that she imagines herself as the black swan. There are scenes in the movie where we see Nina pulling out feathers from her skin and her eyes go hot red! This metamorphosis into a real swan signifies the blurring lines between reality and fantasy. The movie provides a great portrayal of obsession with perfection and the sacrifices one has to make for art!
[ Also Read: Natalie Portman’s $10M Dior Deal Success ]3. Nightcrawler (2014)
Nightcrawler is a 2014 thriller movie directed by Dan Gilroy. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, an insane stringer. Lou goes out late at night in LA to capture the gruesome events on his recorder and sell them to the local television news channel. Even after getting caught, Lou doesn’t give up his obsession with clicking photos of dramatic and violent events.
Don Gilroy’s Nightcrawler delves into the world of obsession and money. Lou Bloom becomes so engrossed in the business of clicking the perfect shots of accidents and terrible events, that he becomes very remorseless! Just like any other movie about obsession, Nightcrawler delves into the world of ambition and the lengths to which people can go for success! The obsession is shown in the context of a non-empathetic person who likes to click photos of gruesome events and his obsession grows over time!
4. I, Tonya (2017)
I, Tonya is a 2017 American movie about the life and career of Tonya Harding. She was an American figure skater who was allegedly involved in the 1994 assault of her opponent Nancy Kerrigan. The film asserts that the plot is based on “contradictory” and “totally true” interviews. It is the sole responsibility of the audience to see if the video is true or if whatever Tonya Harding says is true! Tonya is a famous figure skater who wanted to be at the top. However, she felt very threatened by her rival Nancy! In one impulsive decision, Tonya hires henchmen to injure Nancy.
The movie explores the themes of parental love and obsession. Tonya had a very strict mother who was physically abusive towards her. The film discusses the dark side of desire and obsession by taking into account the event that took place with Nancy. She was so brutally hit by Tonya’s henchmen that she couldn’t compete the next day! Tonya just wanted to become the best skater and her obsession with that led her to take such extreme steps!
[ Also Read: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi: New Stars for Modern Classic ]5. Gone Girl (2014)
Directed by David Fincher, Gone Girl is a 2014 psychological thriller film. The film is adapted from the book by Gillian Flynn, which has the same name. It stars some of the greatest actors like Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Gone Girl revolves around Amy Dunne who goes missing during her and her husband, Nick Dunne’s 5th wedding anniversary. She leaves several clues for the police to find her and makes it obvious that it was Nick who killed her. She framed her disappearance because Nick was having an affair with one of his students and Amy was ardent to get him back!
The movie explores the complexities of marriage and the destructive power of obsession very well. In many scenes, we can see Amy scheming behind Nick’s back and planning her disappearance. In the end, she declares that she is pregnant with his baby without them having any intercourse. To get her husband back, Amy even kills people including her ex-boyfriend! The movie gets more shocking scene by scene when one realises the extent to which one would go to manipulate and control someone!
Conclusion: Obsession and the Portrayal in Cinema
Cinema has done great when it comes to portraying obsession and its dark side. When desire becomes too destructive, obsession occurs. One can go to heights and sacrifice a lot to achieve their dream or even their loved ones like Amy Dunne. With this, we have come to the end of the article on 5 most iconic movies about obsession.
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