In Obsession, one wish changes everything. Written and directed by Curry Barker, the horror film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a hopeless romantic who has long harbored feelings for his best friend, Nikki (Inde Navarrette). After discovering the mysterious “One Wish Willow,” Bear wishes for Nikki to love him more than anyone in the world. His wish appears to come true, but her newfound devotion soon takes a dark turn, forcing Bear to confront the consequences of getting exactly what he wished for. As Nikki becomes increasingly obsessed with him, Bear struggles to understand the changes in his best friend and find a way to reverse what he has set in motion.

I spoke with Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette about the complexity of their characters, their approach to bringing Bear and Nikki’s relationship to life, and the experience of seeing audiences connect with Obsession. They also shared their excitement about being part of the X-Men universe.

Michael, you’ve talked about approaching Bear without judging his choices, while Inde, you’ve spoken about keeping Nikki human even as she becomes increasingly frightening. How did you approach bringing that complexity to your characters?

Inde Navarrette: I think I really wanted to kind of blur a little. I wanted there to be a transition and an arc to aid Bear’s component of, “Is it the wish? Is it not the wish?” So you’re kind of playing how similar she is to the real version of her, and just a lot of big conversations with Curry, and making sure that the audience doesn’t lose sight of where she is, but also, at the same time, really making sure I’m playing the perception of her because the whole movie is told through Bear’s perspective.

Michael Johnston: And it was really fun for me to play a character who, in some ways, reminded me of what it felt like to be in high school and really like someone and be too afraid to talk about my feelings, and then to put a twist on that. I’m very interested in psychology and relationships, and I love reading about attachment theory. So to be able to put that into practice was really fun.

It was a really great challenge. And also, credit to Curry for really kind of allowing me to dig in and do some of the work on the backstory of Bear, and then to Inde also, for just being there in the moment. I felt like when we were working together, we tried a lot of different things, and we’d be like, “All right, let me try this.” And you’re [Inde] like, “All right, let’s go.” It was great. We discovered things.

Inde Navarrette: It was great because we kept things from each other. It was just a very big, like, “What are we doing now? What’s next?” but also, “How can we try something different?” It was a lot of fun.

Besides Obsession, you’re both involved in the X-Men universe now. What has that experience been like for each of you?

[Inde and Michael exchange a playful high-five.]

I loved that.

Inde Navarrette: Thank you. I mean, it’s an honor, and I’m just really excited.

Michael Johnston: Yeah, I mean, I got to be a part of the animated series, and it was so much fun, and I think I recorded that years ago. But it came out recently, and people love that show, and I love the X-Men, so it is pretty cool.

I’ve loved seeing the response Obsession has received since its release. What has it been like for you both to see audiences connect with the film and its characters?

Michael Johnston: Oh, it’s been really cool. We worked really hard on it, and we put everything we had. I think we all knew when we read the script that this could be really good, and I saw this as an opportunity to work harder than I’ve ever worked before.

Inde Navarrette: Yeah, to try something you’ve never tried before, and I think, obviously, there’s a fear of failure because you’re really gunning it, but then to have the audience be like, “I understand,” and not only do I understand, “I love it.” And it’s like, “Oh, thank you.” You blush, and you go, “Hey, that’s validating. Thank you so much.” I mean, original stories are really important, and people love them.

This interview has been edited for clarity.