Too Scary; Didn't Watch - OBSESSION with Michael Johnston and Megan Lawless

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

We love this movie, we loved talking to Michael Johnston and Megan Lawless, and we love YOU a normal and healthy amount!!!!Movie Intro @ 17:00Trivia @ 19:20Recap starts @ 23:48Interview with Michael and Megan @ 1:34:00TW: Rape, suicide, cat stuffFollow the show: @TSDWpodcast on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes and additional content!Rate Too Scary; Didn’t Watch 5 Stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Emily, Henley, and Sammy.Advertise on Too Scary; Didn't Watch via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a headgum podcast. This is Emily, Henley, and Sammy. And you're listening to Too Scary Didn't Watch. Hi, everyone. Welcome to Too Scary Didn't Watch, the Horror Movie Recap podcast for those Too Scared to Watch for themselves. I'm Emily, and I'm Too Scared to Watch Scary Movies. I'm Henley, and I'm also too scared to watch scary movies.

I'm Sammy, and I love watching scary movies, so I watch them so that you don't have to. And boy, oh boy, am I freaking pumped about today's episode. I have been waiting for this one. This is more amped. This is going to be a good one. It's going to be a good one. I think he's going to be a pretty good one.

I think he's going to be pretty good. So if you want to get straight to it, there are timestamps in the show notes because we have just a little, a little touch of haunted housekeeping to do, which is to say that Held Chella 3 will be coming. We are still workshopping. what exactly the name is. Yeah, it's been tough. As you know, there's lots of new releases in May.

In May, which we're almost out of. Caught us off guard. Caught us off guard and kind of threw a wrench in things, but we're going to figure it out and don't you worry about it. We're going to take good, good care of you. Actually, honestly, aside from the name, we have figured it out. So don't even worry. It's going to be fucking great.

We have a great plan. It's just not happening quite yet, but it will be happening soon. Yes. And time is a flat circle, so it's actually, it is happening right now. Yeah, it's technically happening right now. That's right. You just can't see it or hear it in this. This reality. In this dimension. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so stay tuned for that. And that's all the haunted housekeeping. So Emily and Henley, can you tell me if anything scary happened to you this week? Okay. Just real, I have a real quick one. I love that. Mind. Which is to say my Kindle Unlimited reading habit has hopped onto the, um, silver screen. It's a silver screen TV, right? Isn't it? Or it's a silver screen movies?

I believe it's TV. I believe it's TV. Because movies are gold. The gold screen? The gold standard. But it's just implied that TV is like a little bit worse in the same place. With the show off campus, have you guys watched it? You've never heard of it?

But it's Kindle Unlimited related. It's well, so it's based off of like... Silver screens the movie. movies. Silver screens the movies. Which, what is like TV? Is TV like a screen? Runners. Runner up screen. Silver's already runner up. I don't know. Yeah, silver's running up. Yeah, what the fuck? The second runner up. So I'm sorry, what the fuck is this is what the fuck is going on? Yeah, off campus. Wow. I can't believe you guys have not heard of this. It is really, really stellar TV watching. It's a romance. It's like a... Is it Mindy Kaling? Oh, is it Mindy Kaling? I don't know. I just, I know there's a show where there's, it's a love

interest and the actress is like actually 18 and the man is like 30 something. Oh no. People are upset about it. Is that this one? Oh, no. Probably. Fuck. Fuck. Is it? I have no idea. I don't know. I haven't actually done, I haven't actually done any like research into the what people are saying about the show. Yep, it is that one. It's that one. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, no. Okay, so it's based off of these books by L. Kennedy. She's one of the, like, romance authors who's writing, like, 100 books a year. And also, it's about ice hockey. I got to tell you 50% of these romance books are about ice hockey in some way. Well, I mean, you got to strike while the iron's hot. Yeah. And so I've only watched the first, like, three episodes, I think. And it is cheesy, but they somehow pull it off. Love that. I'm really missing. scene like, I want like sexual tension in my shows. I mean, now I feel weird saying that knowing

that the actresses is 18 and the actors like 35. She might not be 18, but it's a, it's a sizable gal. Oh, she's 19 now. So that is about, how old is the guy? He doesn't, they don't, they don't look that different of ages. I'm just surprised to hear that. Well, that's all that. I mean, like, I never would have known if you hadn't said that. Yeah. Okay, well, should we strike this whole thing then? Because never mind. Honestly. what I mean. I mean, now I feel weird about it.

Now I feel weird about it. You didn't know. You didn't know. You didn't know. But you know what? It's crazy how that was like the one thing I had going in my life and now I don't have it anymore. I'm so sorry. And that's actually my fault that I took that from you.

And I'm really sad. Let's just move on. This is the scary thing happening right now. I'm so sorry about that. I really am sorry about that to have done that. I am not condoning any of the like any of the kind of, no, I'm not condoning that obviously, but I'm also not condoning like the shit that happens in the Kindle Unlimited books that I'm reading. Like I am reading about things that is definitely like inappropriate. And you know what?

Much of romance genre is problematic. Not all. I love the genre. Well, I'm not saying all of it is, but there's definitely some things that you can find in there that is like not okay. And I'm not saying that that's like necessarily what I'm talking about, but it's just like to speak. It's cotton candy. About the genre as a whole. It has some controversial parts to it. I watched Pretty Woman for the first time last night and I was like, wait, what? Oh, I know. Don't be wrong. I loved it, but I was like, um, hmm? Well, but this is why, excuse me? This is why it's so hard because like I want, I want, I want, like, romance. I want to be, I want to see romance. Might I suggest he did rivalry. I mean, believe me. Are you kidding? I guess I can do a rewatch. I'll just rewatch that

till the end of time. That's what I tend to do. I went out on a little bit. I watched something new last night and I did really enjoy it, but I was also simultaneously like, I shouldn't be. I really don't ever rewatch TV shows. It's not something that I do that often. It's hard to bring myself to rewatch a TV show. I get that. But anyway, well, off campus, it sucks. We hate it. It's available. It's available. If you're interested, you make your own decision. If you're interested. And it's available. I won't say anything else. What about you guys? I'm really sorry to have done that to you.

Just a quick thing that's been happening. Mabel has decided her new favorite place to lay on the couch is at the absolute edge. And Mabel also does a thing a lot where she, when she gets happy, she like kind of like almost 360s herself, you know? She's thrown herself off the couch. So she is so, so close to throwing herself off the couch. And for a while we're like, but she must know where she is. She's not actually going to roll herself off the couch.

Twice she's done it. Twice she's rolled herself off the couch. The first time it caught us all by such surprise. Second time, she has stairs because she also has arthritis. So I'm like, girl, don't fall. She did it above her stairs. So she, like, rolled onto the top stair,

rolled under the bottom stair, rolled onto the ground. And it was like, it happened in slow motion, but it was also too fast for us to stop. But she won't stop doing it. And if I try to, like, move her, she gets mad. And Joel tries to, like, put his leg to, like, block her. But then she just moved.

Like, I'm like, why are you? And this is new. This is recent. I'm like, pick another spot. Like, I don't understand. You need to get, like, a bumper on a couch. Seriously, like, why she should know to not fucking do that? And it's stressing me out.

Oh, it's all. It's just stressing me out. I don't know what to do about it. Yeah. You need that bunk bed, like guard rail. I need to, like, be sitting inside of a fucking, what is it called for children? Crib? Crib.

A crib. I kept when to say cradle. I was like, it's not a cradle. It's a crib. We need a crib couch. You said she rolled and then she rolled and she rolled and she rolled. Does she land on her feet ever? No.

Aren't all cats supposed to land on their feet? Yeah. Not Mabel. She's so special in so many ways. As opposed to, like, roll. Like, she truly. like melts off. It's like watching, it's like a slinky where it just is like,

you know, it's like, it's her body just is like liquid, which I guess is a good thing. Do you think she's bothered by it? Yeah. Okay. When it happens, she's so surprised and I think also kind of embarrassed and it's just, it's like so sad to watch a cat be embarrassed and I just, I just, I hope she fucking cuts it out. I don't know what to do about it. Well, it sounds really cute, but yeah, we don't. It is cute, but it's also annoying.

No, we don't. So. I mean, I have laughed really hard every time it's happened, but also I'm sad, you know? Yeah. You got to just put a pile of pillows below her everywhere she sits. We already have like, stairs fucking everywhere. It's a whole thing. Anyway, it's fine.

It's a little scary. Sammy, I think it's scary having you this week. Well, I have a big announcement. A big personal announcement. ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding listen up everybody hope you're seated hope you're seated yes um Duncan and I are to be wed later this year so this is also contributing to some hellchella delays because

and some busyness some general busyness working full time podcasting part time planning a wedding is a lot that's really the scary thing honestly that I do want to talk about because obviously everyone, literally everyone has always said wedding planning sucks so much. Yeah, but I feel like still, you're like, I feel like you're still like, well, for me, like, I'm going to be really chill about it and it's going to be fine. Right. Yeah. Well, you're hosting a party for so many people. And look, you are being really chill about it. And it doesn't mean it doesn't suck. And it's so fucking hard and annoying. It's so much work. And it like puts me in such a bad mood every time we do something. It's so expensive. And I know there's like cheaper ways to do it, but it's like

the cheaper you do it, the more work it is. Yes, more time, more stress. Sometimes you got to pick. What's the stress? Is it the money is at the time? Aye, y'all. Yay. That's freaking highway robbery. Yeah. This whole industry. And for what? A celebration of your love with everyone who you care about? Boo. Oh, I am really excited for it. It's going to be amazing. But boy, planning stinks. I've thought about this a little bit. I think I was benefited by having my wedding where I had it because I had it in Oxford, Maryland, where I grew up. And there's literally nothing. There's like one option for everything. Like you can't. Honestly, same with Madonna. And it was like, oh, you do the food. You do the cake. You do the. Okay. Great. Done. And there's like one place to get a tent. There's like one place to get chairs. There's one place to get flowers. And I was thinking, oh my God, if I had this like in Los Angeles or like in a. It's There's literally thousands of options for everything. That would have made it so much harder. It's wild out here.

Yeah. It's really crazy. Yeah, we're doing it in L.A., which we thought would be like really convenient and easy. And some ways it is. In some ways it is. This is also honestly why we'll do destination weddings because it's like, yes, that's very expensive, but at least you're like, I don't know, it's just fucking here and in this place and these people come.

And if you can't come, oh, too bad. Right. Yeah. Well. Yeah. Oh, it's a lot. Yeah. So that part stinks, but getting to Mary Duncan is very cool.

It's so cool. It's so cool. It's worth it. It's going to be worth it. And yeah, I guess that's all I'll have to say about it right now. But condolences to everybody planning a wedding without a wedding planner. It sucks. And probably it still sucks with a wedding.

planning planner. It does. It sucks less, but it costs a lot more. Cost a lot more. And you still have to, like, make decisions, you know? And like, I'm finding, I guess this is a little scary is that I'm finding about myself. Not scary, but like, I do care a lot how everything is. Like, I thought, like, I'm going to be, like, so chill and casual and like, it doesn't matter. All it matters is being there with my friend, which is true. Like, the main thing is, like, I just want to celebrate with my friends. Of course. But it's also like, but I do actually care about. every single detail also and how everything looks. Because the thing is, it's like if you're going to do it.

Right. Right. We want to do it. And you want to do. And it's like, and it is, like, I kept saying it felt like an opportunity to like, it's like you get to put on a little, like a play of like, this is our life. This is our vibe. This is what we love. Come to the show. Have a seat. We've, we've created this whole thing for you that is like indicative of. And so it's really hard not to be. You don't want to like, you want to do it right. Because you want to do it right. you're like, this is about, right. This is about me and Duncan.

This is about like who we are. Everyone we love is going to be there. I want it to be good. I want it to feel like us. I want it to be fun. But boy, oh boy, that means having not fun for a long time beforehand. Yeah. Yeah.

So sympathy, my sympathy goes out. And apologies to everyone that I've been like, oh, yeah, it's like probably not as big of a deal as, it won't be as big of a deal when I do. do it. And guess what it is and I'm learning. It sucks. Getting a taste of my own medicine. Not that I ever went up to anyone. It was like, oh, yeah.

You were a huge bitch. You were a so hard. Huge bitch. We're preparing our weddings. I remember. Oh, yeah. It's a lot. And so also, yeah, like, we're, we're all a little bit busier than normal, but we're

still here for you. Life sometimes, it's got a lot going on. And it's a good and beautiful. thing. And I also, I meant to say this last week when I was talking about how we're busy without revealing any secrets. But I just want to do a big, big shout out to Grace, who you can't cut this out, Grace, don't you fucking dare. Our producer, um, who edits our episodes and helps us schedule and keeps us happening and keeps us alive and keeps this podcast happening even when we're very busy. So if you love us, then you fucking love Grace and you better tell her so. Um, we love you

I literally couldn't do it without her. I know. I don't know how we could not. Literally. How did we survive so long without Grace? We were bum losers with nothing else going on. I know. Grace, you saved us.

You saved us from ourselves. Oh, boy. I mean, the wedding of the century, we're very excited. Sammy, I'm so excited. It's going to be fun. And also, it's, I do, I know, I know, like we were just saying this isn't always true, but it is true for me, which is that I literally just want to, like, be there to see you. Like, I don't care where it is, what it looks like. I don't care about anything else.

I care a lot. Emily, Emily, but I don't care. Do it for me. Do it for Emily, but not for me, okay? Yeah. I mean, I'm trying to make it pretty nice. It's going to be great. It's going to be great. Everything, everything that you've done so far, I approve. And I've been working a lot. And that's all, you've been working a lot. That money's going straight to the wedding. Yeah, it's pretty nice. But also, and you know, you know that I don't know about money, literally at all. But the thing is like you spend it and then then you're done.

And it's like, wow, that was a lot of money. But then you don't have another wedding to do. And, you know, it all shakes out in the wash. Cycle resets. Yeah. Yeah. And like, what else are going to spend it on? It's money.

It's meant to be spent. Yeah. That's what the money's for. Exactly. Which is like my, I always misused that. But that's what it means to me. What it means to me is spend all your money. We're supposed to save all our money

so that our money starts making money on our own money. So we make more money from our money. That's what we're supposed to do. That's what we're supposed to be doing. But who has the time? Who has the time? Who has the money? Who has the money?

The thing is for that, you need both money and time. And who has either? But I thought this announcement would be fun for this week's movie because today we are talking about obsession in theaters right now, written and directed by Curry Barker starring Michael Johnston, Indie Neverett, Cooper Tomlinson, and Megan Lawless. And we got to talk to Michael and Megan.

That interview will be at the end of this episode. I've freaking loved this movie. I was so excited to get to talk to them. Yeah. And I've like, I've seen this movie twice now and I just keep liking it more and more. And also my algorithm has learned that I'm like interested in this movie. My algorithm has given me a lot of obsession content. And so it's just like constant obsession content.

I'm not mad. Me too. And I haven't even watched it or hit. It is a massive hit. I'm seeing a lot of stuff about it online. I feel like it's everywhere right now. It's also really cool. It's like really exciting to see something become.

such a hit. Like it's like watching this happen. It's a great movie. But it's also there's just like really wild about watching something just like exactly hit at the right time in the right way. Everybody's into it. Like it, I don't know. It's it's a very special thing. And it really, I watched this movie as well. So brave. In the theater. I mean, I guess there's no other way to watch it. True. We didn't get a screener. No, but we did. We did go to an early screening. Okay. Okay. Okay. We've done early screening. at Pact House, which is not typically how screenings that we go to works. It was really fun seeing it in the Pact House and everybody absolutely loved it. And it was scary, but in like a fun way.

This is like a roller coaster scary movie, you know, where you're just like, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. What's it going to be? That being said, I'm really glad Sammy saw it twice because I do think I forgot everything that happens. Yeah. But I know I liked it. Emily, you never forget everything. You never forget everything that happens.

We had a cup of drinks. We had to go with drinks after you. You might remember the story of me tripping over a dog. Oh, right. Let's play the dog. You might recall that that was the perhaps same evening. But boy, was it fun. And I'm so excited to talk about it.

I know, I can't wait to hear about it. I've been trying to avoid spoilers because I feel like it's everywhere. Yeah. It's everywhere. People are obsessed with obsession. Rightfully so. This movie has a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. 77 on Metacritic and an 8.2 on IMDB, which is like 220 percent on IMDB.

Men love this movie. And this is fucking crazy. Budget was less than a million. I've heard 650. I've heard 750. I've heard a million. It sold Focus Features for 15 million. And so far it has made 74 million in the box.

office. It's, it is, we know somebody involved with the, the making of this movie and, um, it has been overnight insanity, like what this kind of success is like. And it's really, it's, it's like Oscar buzz for Indy Neverset, who is she's the, the main, yeah. Yeah, I mean, we'll talk about her. Oh my. At great length. But it's just, wow, you know, you make a little movie and you know, you believe in it. But it's just, this is like, action. best case scenario. For a movie like this, it's really, it's really nuts. Oh, that brings so much joy to my heart, you know?

We need more success stories out there. I'm really excited. Also, I'm like wondering if I'm going to watch it. I think I might watch it. I think you should. It's really fun. Yeah. Wait, is the director like a comedian too?

So I meant to look up trivia about this and people are going to be mad. Maybe Emily knows he is somebody. Buddy. So he has an internet thing. YouTube series, horror series called Milk and Serial. Yeah, yeah. That was like made for $800. I wrote that down and I didn't write down what it is. So it's like he's got, he has like a YouTube following. He's young. I think he's 26 or 27 and wrote this script and I believe based on his YouTube success got. It's like backrooms too. I was going to say it's confusing because backrooms was made by 20-year-old YouTuber. And so I'm getting my wires crossed a little bit, which I wonder if they're both annoyed by that. Maybe if they're like this other young YouTube guy just, hey, rising tide raises all ships. That's what I say.

You know, calm down, boys. These two white boys are so mad at each other's success. That we just made up right now. We're starting to start. We're starting it right here. And I think Curry has gone on, like, he's already, he's working on the new Texas Chan. He's directing the new Jamesaw.

Yes, actually, Henley, I wanted to tell you about this because he specifically said that he's using the 2003 version as his, like, main inspiration. Well, because he's a boy. And because he's 26. Yeah. So that's his. We'll see, though. Look, this movie's great.

Let's give him, let's give him grace. Okay. Oh, okay. That movie's scared that. That was so, that, don't remember me. I mean, yeah, I don't want that. I don't want another one of those. I wonder how I would react to it now, though.

I'm kind of curious. I think the same. No, I mean, we have to do it one day, but like, even I remember. That was like a specific time in early 2000s horror where it was like a lot of like sexual assault mixed into the horror. And like, oof, yeah, it's not fun. Which, I mean, I don't think, I don't think Curry Barker remember. That's not specifically what he was referencing. Yeah.

But, so we have that to look forward to. Okay. The only other piece of trivia I had is that the festival cut was NC17. They, like, submitted that for rating and it got to NC17, so they changed it so that it could get our rating. Smart. I, you know, always want the NC17 cut, but understand why they do that. Yeah, I'm just curious what that would... Yeah, what they cut.

Include. Especially on that budget because it's like, you know that was some cool practical gore, you know? We're going to watch the trailer after the recap, and so that will be available on our Patreon if you're interested. But let's just get right into this recap. Let's get into it. I'm in a constant state of trying to get my life together, and that includes trying to be

more intentional about what I'm wearing day to day, you know, less indoor soft pants type of outfits, more put together, you know, comfortable but effortless, that kind of vibe. That's what I'm going for. And Quince has been my go-to. The fabrics are elevated, the fits are flattering, and everything just works without overthinking it. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality and craftsmanship, not brand markup. I recently have been loving their linen separates. They have great linen pants, great linen button downs. Also, they have this linen pajama set that is very cute. I know, I know I just said less pajamas, but here's the thing.

You can really wear this outside. It looks like a cute monochromatic set. I highly recommend it. It comes in lots of cute colors. The linen is 100% European linen. It's really high quality for the price point. I mean, it just really can't be beat. So refresh your every day with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quince.com slash too scary for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too.

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash too scary for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash too scary. I will give us a trigger warning for cat stuff, which I was really upset for poor Emily. I know. It was actually, when they first showed a cat, I did reach over and grab Joel. This was a week after.

Yeah, it was really fresh. It was really fresh. But it was, you know, the circumstances were very different. And the cat looked really fake in a way that I really appreciated. So I actually was, I was actually fine. I was able to separate myself from this. But yeah, trigger warning cats stuff.

For sure. And rape, sorry. Yeah. And suicide. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But it's so fun, you guys.

But he's a comedian, right? Just know that it's really fun. Yeah, it gets pretty crazy. But okay, let's do it. Let's do it. We begin in a diner. We are seeing a guy in his mid-twenty. when he's speaking to someone across the table confessing his love to her,

saying, Nikki, I think about you all the time. You're the only one that was there when my grandma died, just like pouring his heart out being really vulnerable. We see a shot of the girl across from him who's kind of like smiling, a little unsure. And then we hear voice cut in a guy sitting at the bar of this diner. It's like, no, no, no, that's way too, way too cheesy. She'll hate that. We find out that this girl's sitting across from him is one of the waitresses at the diner.

She gets dismissed. Thank you, thank you. And she's like encouraging him. Like, I thought it was sweet. This is our main character, Bear. Which is my one and only note for this movie. I think it was, I couldn't stop thinking about a character that they all kept calling bear in a world where.

We have the bear. I just, I was like, is this meant, are we meant to be thinking about the bear? That was my, it's just in a, it's a cool name. And I get it. But I was like, but bear though. I associate it as like a nickname for a baby. And so I think that's what I struggle with. I like it for reasons that I'll, I'll get more into later. Okay, cool. So it's, it is a creative. I'm sure. I mean, I'm sure it's not. I actually saw, I actually saw an interview with him talking about it because I've seen every piece of content about. this movie. He said he just likes having a memorable name for his main character. Smart. Okay. That makes sense. I guess that's probably also what they were thinking on the bear. So Bear's friend sits down. This is Ian. He's kind of coaching him about talking to

Nikki is the girl that he's in love with. And he's saying, you know, call her freaky Nikki. Like kind of that could be a fun way to flirt with her. Bear says, you know, she doesn't like it. That was like a traumatizing incident for her. And he's like, yeah, but if you just kind of like poke fun, she'll be like, oh, stop, stop. Yeah. So he's like encouraging him to neg her. And the one thing Ian says is like the most important thing is like, just don't do it at trivia. Trivia is like the most important thing to me.

I don't want this to happen at our trivia nights. And it's like, okay. Cut to a dead cat right away. Full frame. Bear comes home to find his cat Sandy Has gotten into his grandmother's old Remaining OxyContin And has overdosed and died

Would a cat eat oxycotton? I don't think it would I don't think so That doesn't taste very good, I'm assuming No, I don't think that it would They'd get into some weird shit But I mean, I hope it wouldn't Nobody say anything if that's happened

Right And if it has, I'm so sorry Yeah Okay, okay So we see him putting the cat's body in a trash bag, sobbing at his bedside. Oh, that's so sad. And then getting... This part got me.

I was like, yeah. Yeah, you'd really sob. Yeah. And then he gets a call from Nikki. Through this phone call, we learned that they're co-workers. She says something like, lucky you had the day off today sucked. And he's like immediately in like a huge smile on his face, like so excited to be talking to her on the phone. She's asking if he's coming to trivia tonight.

He's kind of looking around like, I don't think so. I'm not feeling great. And she's like, oh, please, like I really wanted to see you. I wanted to tell you something. He's looking intrigued by this. And he's like, well, tell me now. And she tells him that she's putting in her two weeks notice at work. I don't really know why she has like some, she has some goals that she wants to like focus more on full time.

I guess we do learn a little later that she's like writing something. And so she's maybe going to focus on that. And I think that the idea is this like puts a little urgency in him like spending more time with her while he can, even though I don't think she's actually going anywhere. Okay. But anyways, through this conversation, he decides he's. going to he's going to go to trivia. And as she's about to hang up, she drops her crystal necklace down the sink drain or something.

And he hears her say this, oh, my crystal necklace. Oh, my crystal necklace. God, dang it. We all must describe our jewelry in detail. So he is going to go to trivia. And before he goes, he swings by the neighborhood, witchy crystal shop. and he checks out the crystal necklaces, which are all pretty ugly, I thought. And he must think so, too, because he's like, I don't think she's going to like these.

And he's browsing when he comes upon a kitsy little box that says, One Wish Willow, it's seemingly a gag gift that's a little stick that you break in half and make a wish come true. And he's like, oh, that's cute. I'll get her that. what could go wrong. They gave these out at the screening, which was really cute. I threw mine away.

I was scared of it. Well, I broke mine, Sammy. On purpose. Okay, this was the next day. I was a little bit hungover. Okay, freaking sue me. And I, like, opened my willow. And I was joking at Joel.

And I was like, I'm going to break it. And I'm going to wish that I'll never be hungover again. And I did it. And I didn't, I slept like shit for the next, like, three days. And I told Joel was like, I think it's the willow. I think that was an unforeseen consequence. I'm never going to be hungover again, but I'm also never going to sleep. I think I'm okay, but it did freak me out.

Yeah. I was really laughing at how much I was freaked out by mine. I was like, I got to just throw them away. Like, they're just not good to have it. I just can't have this. And while he buys it, the clerk says to him, just like, don't come back and complain, okay? And he's kind of like, what? And she's like, yeah, a lot of people have been coming back and complaining.

So it's just not our fault if anything happens. And he's like, okay. So he leaves to go to trivia. We see it's him, Ian, Nikki, and their other friends, Sarah. Do you guys ever play trivia? I have, but I wouldn't say I do. It's so funny. I'd like to.

I think I'm bad at it. It feels in my bones like I've played trivia. You know, when it's like one of those things where it's like I must. But like when and with who? and no memory of that. I know that the it's the strength of the team, not the individual.

Yeah, it's the variety of the knowledge between everyone. You need a sports person. You need a sport. Like I actually think Pop culture. I think if and I'm certain I would contribute the least,

but I think if we, if the three of us plus our husbands and future husbands. Oh yeah, we would cover a lot of bases. And we need Jenna too. We need Jenna too for like plant stuff. I think together we would actually make a really strong team.

Yeah. Joel knows like dinosaurs and literature. You know movies. Duncan knows cod and peanut butter. And you're like really knowledgeable about all literature and like him knows history. Jenna knows plants. And I'm vibes. Wait, no, you could tell us all about fashion too.

Um, the yesterday I overheard Tim talking to his parents. One of them couldn't come up with the name of someone. And they were saying, you know, the British, the British poet, you know, mid, mid 20th century. Then they gave like a few other descriptors. And the other one goes, oh, W.H. Auden. And they were like, yeah. And then they continued the conversation, like Tim and his parents. That was just the, that was just, and I overheard it while I was like picking stuff up.

And I almost stopped them to be like, what? What? What the fuck are you guys talking about? Like, what? Because they didn't even, it wasn't even a blip for any of them that this was like what. It was like. Well, this is Sophocles, Pericles. Well, yeah, exactly.

Pericles. All over again. This is classic Sophocles pericles. Oh, W.H. Auden. I'm like, who, why, first, why are you talking about W.H. Auden? And who, how? Oh, God. Anyway, so Tim would be very useful for that kind of knowledge on a tribute team.

We'd make a good team. Maybe someday we'll do it. Maybe someday. I have two groups of, two separate groups of friends that do trivia every Tuesday. And I go and I can, but, uh, I don't have it in me every week. I can get into finding a place and a, and a rhythm. It's going to, again, like, I've been to bars where the guy hosting trivia is like really annoying. You know, it's like, it all has to be right. I don't want someone like yelling into a mic, you know, and no one can care too much. Everyone has to be. No one can care too much. No, everyone has to be okay with losing. The one that I really love is hosted by my friend, so can confirm great host. Okay. But it's in Orange County. So I would have to drive an hour to go to it. Yeah, that's not worth it to me.

That's not worth it to me at all. Okay. Anyways, we're at Trivia Night. Nikki and Bear go up to the bar to order drinks. Ian's like giving Bear these looks like, don't fucking do. Don't you fucking say anything. Don't you confess your love to her right now. And he's looking like he's trying to psych himself up to maybe do it.

But then Ian and Sarah come over to also order drinks, kind of ruins the moment. And then something happens that Nikki and Ian run off to go back to their table. Maybe they like need to fill in an answer to a question or something, leaving Bear and Sarah alone at the bar. And Sarah says like, what's going on, Bear? Like something, are you okay? And he's like, oh, Sandy died, which I was definitely noticing that he had. hadn't been telling anybody up until this point. Sandy's also a really good name for a cat.

I like that. Yeah. Me too. So she hugs him, consoles him, cut to after trivia. Ian and Sarah want to keep the party going. They're trying to go out to karaoke. But Nikki is saying, no, I'm tired. I need to go home and Bear jumps at the opportunity to offer her a ride home.

So they're driving home. He's driving her home. And this is where she's talking a little bit about her writing. She's wanting to focus on her writing. She's writing a romance of some sort. And she says something like, you're the only person I can talk to about this stuff. And he's just like over the moon. Like, oh, my God, you two.

He just has such a huge crush on her. And they get to her house. he's trying to say something, but he keeps holding back. And he's like, remember that time that our teacher said that one thing? And she's kind of like, I'm trying to go inside now. Like, is there something you're trying to say to me? And he's like, oh, no. And then she was walking into her house.

And he goes, hey, freaky Nikki. She's like, what? Why would you say that? You know I don't like that. Like, why did you just say that? And he's like, oh, my God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. and then she's like hunched at the window looking at him she's like do you have do you like me or something

because if you do now's the time to tell me and he like gets really nervous this feeling this moment it's like oh we we know this feeling and it is tough oh no and he of course says no just as friends you're disgusting I like you as a friend and she's like okay good like we're on the same page and walks away and he realizes he's forgotten to give her the one wish willow he's like just going like stupid stupid stupid in the car fuck i really fucked that up sees the one wish willow grabs it without skipping a beat says i wish nicky loved me more than anyone in the world snaps it in half and just like kind of sits there in silence for a bit just like feeling like an idiot and looks over.

Nikki is just standing on the porch staring at him. That was quick. Real quick. She walks over to the car window again and is kind of looking in. Strange expression on her face, hard to read. Again, we will probably mention many, many times Indy Neversett's performance in this is, it's unbelievable. It is truly, truly remarkable.

I really want to see it for that reason because I want to see her portrayal. She's doing so, it's so layered. Like so much is happening in every facial expression. So I don't really, I'm not going to do it justice in describing it. But she's looking flirty, but also like, I don't know, like something makes me nervous about it. Obviously, I mean, we know what the movie is. But so she's like, hey, Bear, do you want to come inside? You want to come inside?

And he's like, what? She's like, well, my cat just died. He's like, your cat died? She's like, oh, your cat died. Your cat died. He's like, yeah, are you, is everything okay? And she's like, oh, sorry, I'm so sorry. Yeah, your cat died.

Just come inside, we'll have a couple of drinks and we'll talk about it. We're going to talk about your cat, your dead cat. Whoa. Like immediately being like very weird. And then she like keeps like giggling. and apologizing. She's like, I'm so sorry. Oh, my God.

She, like, walks over to his side of the car, tries to, like, pull him out of the car. And he's, like, kind of enjoying it, kind of freaked out. He's like, Nikki, what's going on? I've never seen you behave like this. She's like, just come inside. And he's like, no, I think, like, you should just go to bed. You're, like, being a little weird. And then she, like, gets back in the passenger seat.

And she's kind of, like, hunched over the dashboard, like, playing kind of coy and, like, bashful. Like, he just, like, I wish he would come inside. But we could go back to your house instead. Like, I'll just go to your house. Like, uh, and he doesn't know really what to do. And then she like gets kind of quiet for second. And she's like, well, it's just how like my dad is sick and I don't really want to be alone right now.

He's like, oh my God, what's happening? And she's like, yeah, he's got cancer. And I just like, don't think I should be alone right now. So, like, please, can I come to your house? And so he's like, okay, sure, yeah, you can come spend the night at my house. Does he ask any follow-up questions about the dad? Because I'm like, is that real? He is, he does kind of.

And she's like, I don't talk about it, I think, is what she says. And so he takes her back to his house. And she walks in, like, she's, like, soaking in his, his, to this house. She's like, oh my God, it smells like you in here. Oh, no. Just really quite different from the Nikki we've seen in just like a brief interaction before. Obviously something is different. But he's wondering, like, is she on drugs? Is she, like, drunk? What is happening? He's getting her set up in his bed. He's going to, like, sleep on the couch. But then she asks him to please if he could please sleep next to her. She's like, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

Please. And so he like gets in next to her. She takes off her top. So she's just in her bra. So he's obviously like, he does not know what to do. But then she... Which we all know, you'd keep the shirt on. You'd take the bra off. Right. Yeah, definitely. This is not normal behavior. if you're no woman I know would do this. Something is wrong. That's the number one sign, yeah. But she's, you know, leaning into him, like, nuzzling up on his shoulder.

And like, you know, I'm so, thank you so much for taking care of me. Like, well, I'm going through this hard time. They eventually start kissing. He's kind of like, oh, my God, like this is happening. We're making out. and then her eyes like look to the side. She like jump scares backwards, says, what's that? And then like has a moment of like looking inward and is like, ah, and just like start screaming.

And he's like, what the fuck? What is that? And she's like, oh my God, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I don't know what that was. I don't know what that was. I'm so sorry. Wow.

He's like, that really scared me. She's like, no, no, no, no. And he's like, do you not want to be kissing me? She's like, oh my God, yes, I do. I do. So you think it's like her real self is trapped in there sometimes? And like, who's to say? Who's to say?

But wouldn't that be upsetting? Oh, that's so sad. Okay. So he gets her back in the bed. He does sleep on the floor that night, wakes up the next morning. She's made him breakfast. He's looking at the table set all nice. and he turns into the kitchen and comes upon Sandy's body with candles all around it.

She has made a little shrine around the dead cat. We see him like kind of scolding her about this being like, Nikki, I don't like this. I don't think you should have dubbed that to the cat. and kind of hear her being like, oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was supposed to be nice. I thought you'd like that. It's kind of like a cat move to like bring a dead animal to your... Right, right, right. I brought you something. This is for you. I did this for you.

Cut to them at work. We see that Ian and Sarah also work at this. It's like a music shop, like a guitar center looking type place. They're all clocking in for work. Bear quickly pulls Ian aside to be like, do, dude, dude, something's going. on with Nikki. We kissed last night. Meanwhile, we see Nikki in the background of this shot out of focus just like staring at them with a huge smile on her face. Bear says to Ian like, I think her dad is dying. I don't know if she's having like a breakdown of some sort, like something is really wrong. She's being really different. Ian says her dad that she hates that like lives in Canada. And he's like, I don't know, dude, like, it's complicated, I bet.

And then Ian brings up that maybe she was on Molly. I guess that's something that they had done recently. And Bear's like, oh, my God, I bet she was on Molly. Yes, that must have been it. That must have been it. Like, fuchs. That's why she was acting strange because it really freaked me out. So thank God that that's all it was.

Well, it's definitely more likely than the fact that your one wish willow actually works. You would think it was Molly for sure. So a couple nights of not sleeping, you might start to think that thing. You might start to wonder. You might have to match your powers. So after work, we see Nikki going around to the passenger side of Bear's car. Bear's like, oh, Nikki, I don't know if I can drive you home today. And she just grabs her backpack, which was in his car.

She stayed the night as his house. And she's like, yeah, I know. Ian's giving me a ride. Don't worry about it. And she gets in the car with Ian. Bear goes home. Ian calls Bear to be like, okay, I talked to Nikki. Yeah, she was on Molly last night.

We see Bear again on the phone. Like, yeah, okay, few, glad that this is all getting sorted out. And we see through the like opaque shadowy window a silhouette of a woman outside Bear's front door at his house. And then a knock, knock, knock on the door. He hangs up with Ian answers the door. And it is Nikki in like a little, what do you call this style of dress? Like a baby doll dress type of thing. I think her like costuming throughout the movie is very genius and it's just one of the other things that upon a second watch I was like appreciating every little detail.

So yeah, she's in a little baby doll dress. They should call it the gold screen. She apologizes for acting crazy last night. She also another detail that I really love is that from this point on, her face is usually pretty shadowed. So the way she's like standing on the porch, Bear is inside. So Bear is like fully lit from indoor light. And her face is like completely shadowed except for like a glint in her eyes from the reflection of the light inside. It's very creepy and very like just a really interesting touch.

I appreciated. And he's like, well, I was really freaked out. I felt like the kiss was so weird. And she's like, well, I don't think that you like assaulted me. And he's like, I don't, I didn't assault you. She's like, yeah, that's what I'm saying. You didn't assault me. That's what I'm saying, Bear.

I'm saying you didn't assault me. I don't know. So stop saying the word assault. And he's like, shrieking out. And she's like, Bear, I think I have feelings for you. Do you have feelings for me? and because now she has said it first, he's brave enough to admit that, yes, he does have feelings for her. And we go into a montage of romance and Bear and Nikki dating, cuddling on the couch, watching movies, having sex, playing footsy.

He's playing guitar to her. Oh my God. Such a funny deal to what everyone wants. Play a guitar to me. To me. At me, please. And we end on a dinner date. They are at a restaurant together.

They are talking about what Bear wants to do with his life. She's asking questions about like, what do you see yourself doing? He says, you know, maybe I'll be a food critic. Seems like he hasn't really given it a lot of thought. But she's like, oh my God, I could totally see you as a food critic and like, do this piece of bread right here. And he's like eating the bread. They're having a funny little moment. And then Ian calls.

He steps away to answer this call. She looks annoyed by this. Threatened even. And Ian tells Bear that he did some digging and found out that no. Nikki's dad is healthy as a baby. Healthy as a baby. That's the word he uses. Healthy as a horse is, I believe, the typical phrase.

Yeah. And he also says that he talked to Sarah and says that Nikki told Sarah in the past that she, like, definitely only saw Bear as a friend. And he's like, I'm sorry to tell you this, but, like, I feel like it's really weird that you guys are dating. I don't know like what her intentions are. I'm just like really freaked out by the whole situation. Do we have any sense of how much time has passed? It doesn't seem like much, maybe like a couple weeks. Okay, okay.

Have Ian and Sarah noticed Nikki, like is she acting nutso to everyone? Or is she, you know what I mean? They're definitely weirded out. Yeah. Yeah. I think basically since they've started dating, she's been around bear all the time. Yeah, she's like staying at bears. That in and of itself, I think, is like, what?

You know? So Bear goes back to their booth at the restaurant and he's just, yeah, straightforward about it and says, Nikki, is your dad really sick? Is he actually sick? And she tilts her head and it's like, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. She like stands up and starts like stomping her feet, like having a full tantrum. And she's like, I thought we were having a nice time.

Oh my God. He's like, I don't want to talk about that. I hate this. And he very quickly is like, she'll, okay, shush, shh, it's fine, it's fine. C, yes, please sit down. We don't have to talk about that. We don't have to talk about that. She like goes back to like smiling.

And she's like, okay, good, great. Like, I love you so, so, so much. Like, I just don't talk about that. cut to the like one of the most upsetting shots of the movie them having sex and she is like basically limp and sorry to to yeah this didn't like bump for me as much in the first viewing as it did for the second viewing where it's like this is obviously like not consensual in in a real way she's been taken over by a wish And she therefore cannot consent. She can't consent because she is not in control of her body. It's really upsetting. So she's like moaning but limp.

He's on top of her. And it's just like, it's quick, but it's really, really upsetting. Then that night he wakes up in the middle of the night. She is not in bed next to him. This is my favorite scene in the movie, I think. It's so good. And he looks around the room. we see a figure, a dark figure, shadowy figure in the corner.

His bleary-eyed, like, is there something? He's calling out, Nikki, Nikki, are you, what's going on? Let me just hear her from the corner to go, go back to sleep. It's so spooky. Everyone in the theater was like, oh. It's like, an audio-only jump scare like that is like so, it's so effective. where you're just like, ugh. And then this is worth, maybe we'll post a photo of this,

but this was something that came up in my Instagram feed that was a jump scare in of itself, which is her makeup in this scene. I thought they had like CGI'd her face because you really can't like fully see it, but something looks like wrong with her face. She just looks different and really like uncanny, freaky, like, it's weird but it was all make they just did her makeup in such a way I also had this on my oh god a jump scare so we're really unsettled she's just like standing in the corner and he's like what are you doing she's like watching you sleep you're so cute when you sleep and then she's kind

of like moving in a way that is also a little inhuman she's almost moving like a dinosaur she like moves her arms and legs at the same time as she's taking steps but then like slinks back into the shadows where he's like, he's like, come back to bed. She's like, no, no, no, no, go back to sleep. And he's like, why don't you want to sleep? And she says, I don't like my dreams. I dream that you don't love me as much as I love you. And he's like, what?

And she starts, like, screaming, why won't you love me? Oh, no, oh no. And then she runs out of the room, bears in the bed like, what the fuck? And then she runs back in the room carrying a vase of flowers in front of her face and just like runs back and forth in front of the bed. It's important to note that this scene is like

scary and so funny. It's very funny and very scary. You're like laughing in that way. You're like, ah! What's going to happen? She sets the flowers down on the bedside table. She's like, for Sandy. And then she says,

she says, go back to sleep. And he's so freaked out that he just like, rolls over and like closes his eyes, pretends to be sleeping, which I really related to, because when I'm scared in bed, a lot of times I am just like, okay, I guess I'll just like close my eyes and like stay ready to still. Like if I get out of bed, who knows what could happen to me. So cut to next morning, Nikki is on the couch, big smile on her face and immediately is really apologetic to bear. I'm so sorry about last night. Oh my God. He's like, I was really freaked out.

She's like, oh my God, baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I just had like a nightmare. It was so weird. I can't believe I was like that. I'm so sorry. He's like, I just like can you be like just be normal? Just be like a little more normal. And she's like yeah, yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. Of course. Don't worry. How's this? And she does like the biggest like Joker smile. And he's like, no. No. I don't like that either. And she's like, okay. And like, does. Also, like, there's something so triggering about, like, him telling her how to be.

Yes. Like, love me in the way that I want you to. Right. When all he wanted was this woman to love him. And now she's doing it wrong. And he's like, not like that. Yeah. Can you just, can you just like be normal?

It's so, because she's not being normal. She couldn't be. Again, she's taken over by a wish. But just the like, ooh, there's something that it's like, it's really, really, oh. Also, it's like not her. And he's still willing to like have sex with her, be in a relationship with her, et cetera. Like, it's not. Yeah.

That he apparently was in love with. Like, this is definitely not the same person. And he's still like, well, what, I mean, good enough for me, I guess. Right. Because he doesn't see her as a person. Yeah. infuriating in a like but it's so fun that there's something that feels so real and honest about this like very high concept thing because that is fucking real that relationships can be like

that and oh something else i like hate it appreciated the second time that i'm not even sure was intentional but like a detail i liked is ian and at another point sarah like both mention, like, they knew that her dad and her had a bad relationship and that her dad lived in a different country and they don't talk. Bear didn't know that. And so I feel like that's like a nice detail of like he's not, he's not like seeing her and connecting with her in a real way at any point in this film, um, where even Ian is, who Ian is also like an asshole, asshole vibes. Yeah. But he's obsessed with the idea of her. Exactly. And like wanting her. So Bear has to go to work.

Nikki's going, oh, I'm going to miss you so much. I wish I was scheduled today. I'm so sad I'm not scheduled for work today. And he's getting off the couch walking towards the door when his eyes go really, really wide. And he's like, oh, yeah, me too. I'm so sad too. I'm going to miss you. Reverse to reveal the front door is covered in so much duct tape.

It is completely serious. shield shut. And he's like slowly walking towards it and kind of struggling to open. It is like a little bit peeling open as he's tugging on it harder and harder. She's like, oh, if you can't stroke, if you can't open the door, you could just stay home. You could call in sick. And he's like, no, no, I think I got it. And finally like it does break open and he's able to leave. And she's just standing with a big smile on her face watching him go. He closes. at the door behind him and the camera just stays on her unblinking, smiling, watching the door where he has just left through. And it holds on her for so long. Oh, no. Just standing there like

she's powered down. And then camera pans down and we see her peeing herself on the carpet. I hate this. I hate this wish. I hate this wish. It's not good. We see Bear and Sarah at work on their lunch break at the music store. Sarah's like been applying to some colleges. She gets a rejection letter from an art school that she wanted to go to and she's a little bummed. So the Bear's like, oh, you're going to get into one. It's going to be okay. Nikki has packed him a lunch and he's opened his little lunch box and there's a post-it on it.

that says for my little food critic, Sarah's giving him a hard time about it. Like, you guys are so, like, cringe. It's really weird. Like, I'm kind of freaked out by it. And she, like, grabs the post-it note. He's, like, eating a sandwich. And she's like, my little food critic, he's like, it's an inside joke. And she flips it over. And she says, what's the verdict cat? And And he's like, what? She's like, what does that mean? She, like, hands it to him and it says, what's the verdict, colon, cat, question mark? Oh, no, no, no.

What? And he looks at the sandwich and it is a gray lumpy meat. Ew. Ew. Leans over and starts immediately throwing up. Oh, also in this lunchbox, there's two Polaroids, one just of bear. and that Polaroid is labeled you. And then there's a Polaroid of Nikki and Bear,

and that is labeled not me. Oh, mm-hmm. Oh, mm-hmm. That night after work, he's giving Ian a ride home. Sarah had mentioned that Ian is having a party this that night and, like, didn't want to invite them because everyone's freaked out by him and Nikki, and they think, from the outside,

what they are saying is that it seems like Nikki's, like, going through a mental breakdown, and Bear is taking advantage of it. And so everyone is like very put off by it, understandfully. What am I supposed to do? She wants me. She wants to have sex with me. He literally says that.

He's like, she's the one that's always all over me. What am I supposed to do? Ian's like, it's a bad look, dude. You can come to the party, but don't bring Nikki. Like, if you guys are as solid as you think you are, you can have a night apart. Like, that's what normal couples, normal healthy couples do. And Bear looks nervous, but he's like, yeah, yeah, that's totally fine. And we can totally do that.

She's going to be totally fine with that. We're so normal. We're so healthy and normal. I will also say, though, like, I mean, again, none of this is normal and healthy. None of these people are behaving correctly. But it's like, I don't know that a normal healthy couple goes like, I'm parting with our mutual friends. You stay home. It's like that's also fucking weird. Yeah, yeah. Ian tells him to make it sound like it's a boys night only. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Boys night. Boys night. He says boys night. Boy's Night is real. Joel does always get sad when I have girls night because he wants to hang out with the girls. But sometimes it's girls night. Sometimes it's girls night. And sometimes it's boys night. And he freaks out and pisses himself.

Ducks the door. Stans there waiting for me to come home staring at the door. And that's just what it's like to be in love. So Bear pulls into his driveway. He's kind of rehearsing to himself. He's trying to practice telling Nikki. that he's upset about the cat, he's going, you can't, Nikki, you can't cook the cat, you can't cook the cat. And then he sees the torn up one wish willow packaging on the passenger seat and notices that there's like a toll, a toll-free number to call with questions or concerns.

So he grabs his cell phone, dials the number. And a guy's voice just answers, hello. He goes, is this one wish willow? He's like, yeah. Okay. I'd like to alter a wish. Like, you want to cancel your wish? It's like, no, no, not cancel.

I want to keep the sex. I'd like to alter my wish. We don't really do that. And he's like, you know, you're not happy with your wish. He's like, well, she's like obsessed with me and like, is this how she's going to be forever? And he's like, well, yeah, as long as you live. Uh-oh. He's like, as long as I live, he's like, okay, can I cancel it?

You want to file a cancel report? Yeah. We don't really do that. Why did you say it like that? And he's like, yeah, he's basically asking like, is Nikki always going to be like this? And the guy on the other end of the phone says, do you want to talk to Nikki? He says, what? And then you just hear a woman blood curdling, screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming.

And he hangs up the phone. Oh, that's so scary and sad. Goes inside, opens the door. Nikki is right where we have. left her covered in shit and piss and vomit. Oh my God. Oh, no. And like possibly I read in some of the posts in my feed, possibly cat food. Ew. What the hell? Like she had been eating cat food. Ew. Oh. And as soon as he comes in, she looks like she like powers on again and is like, bear, I'm so happy. Her home and she tries to like go and kiss him. And he's like repulsed by her,

like pushing her way like oh my god niki what the fuck and she like looks down at herself she's like oh my god oh my god i'm disgusting i'm disgusting like let me go shower i'm so sorry i'm so sorry like don't clean it up i'll clean that up because we see on the floor there's like literal shit and piss and vomit so gross and she's like don't tell i'll clean it up don't worry about it i'm going to clean it up he says nicky we talked about this what what really upsetting stuff She goes into the bathroom to shower. We hear the shower turn on. He's outside talking to her through the door.

And he uses this moment to be like, So, Nikki, I think I'm going to go to Ian's tonight. And she's like, okay, great. Like, I'll get dressing, come with you. And he's like, well, the thing is, it's going to be a boy's night tonight. We just hear the, like, loudest crash. Like, she's punching through the wall.

And she's like, okay. Oh, my God. And he's like, are you okay? And she's like, it's just so funny because I talked to Sarah and Sarah said she's going to the party. So it doesn't sound like a voice night, but you can go if you want to. She's like starting to like scream. No, it's fine. It's fine.

You could go. Cut to both of them, of course. the party. Ian giving bear these dirty looks. He's like so mad that he brought her, but he's also like, I fucking told you so. I knew this was going to happen. Eventually, we see a group of friends, some other people, in addition to the core four that we've seen, playing like a, like a dare jenga game. Like you pull a little jenga and there's a little dare written on it. Someone pulls a dare to switch places with someone playing the game. He chooses to switch places with bears so that he can sit next to Nikki. And Nikki's like, oh, no, bear. And someone makes a joke like, what kind of spell did you put on her?

And they all laugh. And Nikki laughed so hard. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. For so long. And everyone's just like, what the fuck is going to go on? Oh my God. Bear, we need all hands on deck. We need to be looking in the yellow pages for a witch for a demonologist. We need to be, this is, we need help. This is so bad. This is so bad. Bear, to be fair, is looking, like, Bear knows that it's obviously, I mean, he's known that it's been bad for a while. But he's, like, getting more and more, like, almost catatonic. He's just, like, unblinking, staring, like, drinking his beer, just like, oh. Really, really upset.

I mean, yeah, you have to, he shouldn't have made the wish, but you have to imagine he didn't think it were going to be like this. No, certainly not. Yeah. And I don't know if he's up to the task, up to the task of that. Nobody could be. So now it's Nikki's turn. And I don't actually know what her dare says, but she stands up and starts reading an excerpt from her, like, romance that she's writing. and I can't do an impression of it, but it's so good again.

Her performance in this moment is so great. She's just like essentially reciting a like very creepy fucking sonnet. It's like a Hansel and Gretel fan fiction about Hansel and Gretel also fucking, even though their brother and sister and like being so in love that it like transcends all relationships. And everyone is just like so uncomfortable. and bears looking at her like oh my god please she's looking like she's just pouring her heart out like she's just loves him so much and then she's like okay sits back down it's bears turn next and he pulls a piece that says kiss the person on your left and who is on his left but sarah and everybody freezes

fuck and then you just hear the like chair creak as Nikki jumps up she slowly walks behind Sarah everyone's just frozen what the fuck is happening she like slaps the chair that Sarah's sitting and by the arms and is like pulling it backward just pulls Sarah out of the circle and then kneels down next to bear and purses her lips like I'm ready for my kiss And Bear gives her little peck on the lips. Everyone is so freaked out. And as she stands up, she looks at everyone and says, none of you will ever know the depths of love that Bear and I share.

And all of you will die without feeling like the most magical feeling that I am feeling now. Everyone's like, okay, okay. You would think this woman is having a mental breakdown. Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. Especially after this. She has another one of those moments of lucidity that we saw her have in bed with

Bear earlier where she like, her eyes go wide. She like flings backwards and looks terrified all of a sudden, grabs a empty bottle, smashes it in half. She starts screaming, it's not me. It's not me. It's not me. Oh, wait, it's not Mia's happening first, then smashing the bottle. Then she starts just stabbing herself in the face with the broken glass bottle.

Oh, my God. Oh. Everyone's screaming. Bear is just sitting there, like, limp and lifeless as people, like, pull her, like, grab the bottle away from her. We cut to Bear and Nikki outside of the emergency room, trying to admit her. But she's, like, dancing around and screaming. And it looks like the people are saying, like, we can't, like, take her. I don't know.

It's not really clear. But they've tried to take her to the emergency room, and it didn't work out. So we're back at Bear's house. Huh. It probably seems like she's, like, on drugs or something. And they're like, we can't. But I feel like they would take people on drugs, right? Yeah.

I guess you can't, like, you can't force somebody into. You'd have to 5150 them. Yeah. Yeah. Which I guess is maybe what they're saying. Yeah. And he doesn't want to do it because then. who's he going to fuck

not worth it my dude bear is like definitely terrified of her at this point and he's like sitting by her she's like I'm sorry oh it's so weird I'm so sorry I did that her face is all fucked up and like bloodied she's like but I'm fine I'm totally fine like don't I'm just like

oh I bet I look ugly but I'm fine and he's like Nikki I think I'm going to go stay at Ian's tonight and I think we should like have some time apart. And she does like a deep moan and like again moves backwards. Like she's being rewound, like it, which is probably like how they did this effect. But it again is like kind of unhuman her body movement.

And she's like, yeah. And like disappears into the kitchen. He's like, Nikki. And she like slinks back. Again, she's like shadowed in darkness. And we see that she has grabbed a knife from the kitchen. and he's like, what are you doing? And she's like, it's fine. You can go to Ian's. And I'll just be sleeping alone in bed. And, you know, I'll slowly start getting really cold once I, like, use this

knife. Like, my hands will go numb and tingly as if they're, like, filled with sand. And then it'll just be nothing and she's you know telling him that if he spends night at eans she's going to kill herself so he stays they are in bed together she's sleeping next to him he's wide awake his phone dings with a text message from sarah saying she needs to talk to him it's like one in the morning he's like i can't can we talk tomorrow she's like if you don't come out i'm going to come in and he's like, okay. So he sees, Nikki is asleep. He's able to like slide out from her, from her, her grip. And as he's getting up, we hear Nikki's voice go, bear. And he's like, yeah, Nikki. And she says, please kill me. Oh, God. He's like, what? She says, she's asleep. And he's like, what are you talking? And she's like,

Please don't wake her up. Just kill me. Please just kill me. Oh, God, that's awful. It's so upsetting. It's so bad. And this is even worse because then Bear's face like darkens. And he says, is it that bad being with me?

Oh my God, fuck you, Bear. And she says, I've never been with you, Bear. Oh. And he looks furious and he leaves her there and he goes to meet up with Sarah and is like immediately like looking at Sarah. Like he's like crushing on Sarah now like, oh, think, just imagine a normal girl. A nice normal girl. And Sarah has gotten her like final letter from college that she has applied to and wants to open it together. and they're like smoking a little weed and he's like oh my god this is so nice like it's a normal hang out with

someone and she's like I feel like you need to be with someone more chill and he's like what like you she's like well I was sitting on your on your left and like we were supposed to kiss earlier so and and she also tells him in this conversation that Ian and Nikki have been hooking up on and off for like two years. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. She's like, something is wrong. Like, she's obviously going through something and I really hope she gets like the help that she needs, but like you need to get away from her. You need someone more chill like me. Also, there's no, no good moment to insert this really, but it's worth noting that their boss is played by Andy Richter and he just appears like three times in the movie. And is he also her dad? Yes. He's Sarah's dad and their boss and it's just

Andy Richter and I don't know, just like, just so you know. Yeah, just FYI. He's just kind of been around a few times. Okay. Great. So they're flirting. They're going to read this, open this letter, see if she got in. And maybe they're going to kiss because they were supposed to kiss earlier.

And he found out Nikki and Ian have been sleeping together. Oh, my God. And just then a brick smashes through the window. and Nikki lays the brick on the steering wheel and just grabs the back of Sarah's head and smashes her face into the brick over and over and over and over and over and over and over so many times until her face is just like tissue with like an eye dangling out. Oh, sick. Oh, God. Yeah. It's so gnarly.

Uh, and. And. And Bear is sitting there now covered in blood. It's been like spattered all over him. He's frozen in shock. Nikki comes around to his side of the car, starts opening the door, pulling him out.

He's going to, oh my God, Bear, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I'm so sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry you had to see that. But like this is all your fault. This is all your fault. You wish for this and now you have to help me clean up her body. So I'm really sorry, but like it's all your fault.

So you do have to help me. We need to take care of her body now. Let's go. we see them carrying her body somewhere and like some time has passed and Nikki eventually turns to Bear and says, okay, I'm sorry, baby, you've been through enough tonight. Like, why don't you go home? I'll take care of the rest of this. I'll meet you there. So Bear gets in his car to drive home. He stops at like a lookout point and just like start screaming in, you know, all the emotions that he's going through.

And the sun is coming up. It's like dawn. He still has the admissions letter. He opens it. She got in to her number one choice art school. He that morning drives to the witchy shop, which I was like, what time is this witchy shop opening a store? Don't open till like 11 or 12.

A dawn. But it seems to have opened right at the crack of dawn. And he just storms in. He's covered in blood. He looks crazy. The shop owner or clerk is like, whoa, man, you can't be coming in here with this energy. He's like doing his like Palosanto. He looks where the one wish willows were.

They're not there anymore. He's like, where did the one wish willows go? And the guy's like, the what? He's like, one wish willow. I bought one the other day. He's like, we don't, we've never had any one wish willow. And he's like, what? He's like, I'm fucking with you.

They're over there. They've moved, moved locations. They're on the other side door. He's like, what the way of fuck? Would you do that? Choosing to fuck with a guy who looks like this. I know. And he's like, you shouldn't be selling these, man.

These are fucking, and he's like, there's warnings all over the box. And there are. And he's like, this is just crazy. He's like, so, like, what'd you wish for? Like, this is pretty bad, huh? And he's like, she's obsessed with me. He's like, doesn't sound so bad. And she's like, he's like, something really, really bad happened.

I need to undo my wish. He's like, did you call the number? He's like, yes, I call the fucking number. And he's like, maybe you can wish, you can wish a wish that undoes my wish. He's like, I already use my wish, man. Like, but you could ask someone, yeah, maybe like they can wish a wish that is the opposite of your wish. that'll undo your wish.

Or you could just kill yourself. He's like, quiet, he's like, I'm just spitball in here. I'm spitballing. So Bear buys a couple, he buys the rest of the one wish wheel. It was like four left or something. He takes it in his car. He tries unwishing his own wish, but it won't break. It doesn't work like that.

The magic knows. It won't let him do it. So he drives to Ian's house, bangs on the door. and Ian is of course like, what the fuck are you doing here? He's like, I need you to, this was a wish. The things that are happening with Nikki, it's because of this one wish willow. Ian is like, dude, you're, there's no way that's true. Like, Nikki is having a mental breakdown.

Now I'm worried about you too. Like, what the fuck is going on? He's like, please, please, just like, I need you to say, I need you to wish that I never made my wish. Like, you only get one wish. And so you just break it, you just get one wish. and I need you to undo my wish. Which it's like, yeah, and also like Sarah's still dead, my dude. Yeah.

They can't undo everything. No. So then what? Ian is like rolling his eyes. He's like, oh my God, grabs the wish. And he goes, I wish for a billion dollars, cracks it in half. Bear is like, no. And immediately money just starts raining from the sky, slow motion.

as Ian's eyes are like, oh, what the fuck? He's like so shocked. And bear is just like, you motherfucker. I'll find someone else, bear. He is not the last person left. Well, he's the last of his friends left. Oh, no. Oh, no.

So he goes home to Nikki, which the shop clerk did actually say, like, maybe she'll do it. If she loves you so much, like, maybe she'll do it. So he goes home. has calling out Nikki vibes in this house are so bad by this point there's like a shrine built with like I don't know probably is like fingernails and shit it's like dark dead cat still probably somewhere and we turn and we see that Sarah's corpse is inside the house propped up on a chair naked like legs spayed really upsetting um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um um We see Nikki in a dark corner, like, hi bear or whatever. She's like smoking a cigarette, fully gone. And a lot of details in this that I didn't catch the first time. She has like drawn Sharpie all over her arms, which are like mimicking Sarah's tattoos.

So she has like drawn tattoos all over her arms. She's chain smoking. She's never smoked before Sarah smokes. And so she's like trying to be Sarah now. And I didn't notice this either time. But I found out that she is wearing Sarah's hair and Sarah's clothes, right? I think so. And so she's like wearing like a bloodied scalp.

And like she like pops out and see that she has a gun. There was a mention of the gun earlier that it was at the music store, I guess, in the safe. So she has the gun now. And she like gets on top of bear. she's like also like punching herself in the face i can't remember why but she's just she's just like all gone so far gone yeah and she's punching herself in the face over and over like stupid stupid stupid stupid why don't you love me please just tell me you love me why won't you love me and then she like gets on top of him and she's pointing the gun at him she's like he's like i love you

i love you i love you i love you she's pointing at herself and she's like i'm gonna fucking blowpoles this Trigger. Does you tell me you love me? He's like, I love you. Baby, I love you so much. I love you so much. And she's like, Maine,

it! And Ian, like, pops in at this moment. Like, he's followed him home. And, like, the second he opens the door, she shoots him in the head, kills Ian. Oh, okay.

Because didn't he run in to be like, guys, I just got a billion dollars? He's like, like, read the fucking room. Yeah, if that's true, what else is true? What else is true? And so Bear is just like, I love you so much. Baby, I love you so much. I love you so much.

And she's kind of like, really, really? And she like, really. And she like, I love you too, baby. I love you. And I say, I love you so much. She's like, I'm sorry. I'm ugly now. And he's like, you're the most beautiful girl in the world, baby.

You're so beautiful. You're so beautiful. And like, we're going to be together forever. Oh, my God. I love you so much. She's like, oh, my God. I love you so much too. And he's like, I just got to go to the bathroom.

really quick, I got to go to the bathroom. But, like, I love you so much. Oh, my God. And it, like, jump cuts to the bathroom, and she's screaming outside. She's, like, bang out. There's my, but he's locked himself in there. She can't get in for now. Goes to the bathroom mirror.

There's the rest of the oxy cotton. Well, he took the gun from her, didn't he? He took the gun from her. He has the gun. Oh, yes, yes, because this part is good. But he, like, holds the gun to his chest and is, like, scared and can't do it. and he's like holding it under his chin and no. And then I did like this detail.

He like puts in his mouth and he's like feeling the back of his head for like where the gun, like what angle the gun should be. Oh, God. But he can't do it. He chickens out and he remembers that this oxycotton is here and grabs the pills and just starts taking a bunch of pills as we're hearing Nikki, like screaming outside. and after he takes a bunch of them, he has a moment again of like freaking out and he starts putting his fingers down his throat, like he's going to make himself throw it all up.

When we hear a snap, and the One Wish Willow has a jingle as well. So we hear the jingle and the snap from the other room as he brought them in to try to get Nikki to undo the wish. And then he is now under a spell. Sets up. Okay. Walks into the living room where Nikki is.

And this is now all of a sudden, like, so romantic music is playing. They're looking at each other, like, bashfully. Like, oh, you. Oh, my God. They're, like, covered in blood and, like, scalp still. They're just like, oh, my God. She's like, oh, me, me across the room. And they're slowly coming together.

And they start kissing. Now they're both under spells to love each other more than anybody. But then Bear collapses, falls to his knees, falls to the ground. Nikki is screaming and screaming, Bear, what did you do? What did you do? What did you do? She's cradling him as he's foaming at the mouth. She's got him on his lap.

She's looking down, no, baby, baby, baby. Maybe, please don't. I love you so much. I need you, baby. He dies. And she goes like, well, she grabs the gun. Oh, yeah. She is about to, she is about to kill the gun because he's dead. And she puts it up into her mouth. Like, she's going to kill herself because he just died. But because he died, his wish is over. And she is back to her old self. And it's just like And that's the end of the movie Oh my God Whoa

It's a wild time, man It is Whoa It's a wild time Yeah It's really crazy Really really crazy And really really good

And yeah I think Indy deserves all the praise she has been getting. It was the first thing I said to Emily right afterward, after the movie. I was just like, oh my God, she was so good in that. I got up right after the movie. They did a Q&A with Indy and Michael and Curry right after the screening at videos, but I really had to pee.

So as soon as the credits rolled, I like ran up and went out to pee. And I saw her in the lobby with like some friends. and I was so close. I wanted to go over and be like, you were amazing. And I was like, that's literally every single person here is going to want. I was like,

let this woman just like go. And then she went into the Q&A so I didn't say it to her. But I, I'm never compelled to like do that. But I truly was like, here she is. Yeah, she's really great.

And everyone was really great. And Michael was also really great. That's like a, that's a heavy performance to have to give as well. Yeah. And I thought he did a really, really great job. And I was also reading that this is,

I mean, potential for a full franchise because like these wishes certain they'll it they'd be fools to not try to make more the money they're going to print on this is wish has gone wrong it's such a good idea it's like a version of final destination like wish is gone wrong perhaps a woman wishes to never be hung over again and then she can't sleep can never sleep for the rest of her life yeah did you sleep better after you threw it away i mean you can't undo the wish but um i have I have managed to sleep since then. Yeah, did he try throwing it away? I mean, I did throw it away. Yeah, it's also so timely. I mean, not to like, I don't know. I just feel like there has been so much in the news about like, I don't know. I don't even want to like broach this subject because it's like so dark and upsetting, but it feels like necessary to at least touch on the fact that like this is being reflective in what's going on in our world and terms of like AI and the way that AI is being used against women and all the stuff about the like

the chat rooms where it's about like drugging your wife, etc. There's just like in it the something that we're kind of dealing with as a culture right now is men wanting to just kind of control women, let women be unconscious and let them control us. And so it's crazy to have a horror movie that's like reflective of that right now. I thought it was really clever too because Bear is like not your typical like bad guy. Like this is like you start the movie feeling like so sympathetic towards it. Right. You're like all this guy that just has like a big crush. He's just like a shy little sweet guy. Yeah. But this is like a much more like subtle and pervasive

type of like toxic behavior where yeah it's like like Bear doesn't think he's a bad guy. Bear thinks he's like a nice, perfect boyfriend. He's a sweet guy that the dream girl just can't see how perfect he is. And like, yeah, also that you just don't get to choose if somebody loves you. Right. Yeah. You don't get to make that choice. And you can't really like, like, at the end, her, like, putting Sarah's hair on top of her hair. I was like, oh, you also can't for, you can't change. You can't for. You can't for. You can't force yourself into being the person that the other person loves either, which is another, like, super toxic dynamic that can happen. But yoikes, yoikes. Big joicks. And hearing it described, it is like, it feels insane to me that I described it as fun. But it really, it really is fun. And this was the kind of movie, too, that I, seven years ago, never would have seen this movie.

And I absolutely had such a good time watching. Come so far. Yeah. I mean, it's such a testament to their performances, too, because it is just like so huge that you're just like, oh my God. Like, this is crazy. Yeah. And there is a lot of humor in it.

Like, it's, you're so aghast in a way that's, like, funny. Even though it's so dark. I wonder what other wishes they would do. I'm, like, so curious what another. He mentioned wanting to do. wishing to be famous. Yeah, that's a good one. I mean...

Who would wish for that? My God. All of our desires are totally whacked. But I think his idea was to have it be like an anthology series where everyone directs different ones. So we potentially would see other people's... I honestly think that's really smart of him, too, to be like, I don't have to do it again. I already did it and it crushed.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. I actually think that's genius because then it won't, he won't be compared. If the next one is not as good, he's like, not my fault. And if it's great, he's like, didn't I come up with a really good idea? Yeah. Win-win. Freaking win-win.

On to bigger and better things, 2003, Texas, Texas, Massachusetts. A perfect shop-by-shot remake. If only there was a Marvel movie for him to direct. I feel like that's always the next thing. I feel like Marvel is like not doing as well as horror anymore. The tides have turned. Wow. Okay, well, loved it.

Love it. You were like really doing some beautiful acting. It was fun to get to do a little bit of the, because I always think that must be fun for actors and horror movies to get to just like fucking go nuts. Lose their shit. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you for indulging me.

And it genuinely does feel like something would be lost if I didn't at least attempt to do some of her. No, you did an amazing job. I loved it. All right. Well, let's get to our interview with Michael Johnston and Megan Lawless. We had such a great time talking to them. Real sweeties. You don't have to worry.

They're sweeties. They are sweeties. Everybody is nice and good. So let's take a listen. Thanks for joining us. Nice to meet you. Yeah, you too. Hi.

How's it going? Hi. The first question that we always ask our guests is, could each of you just tell us your relationship with horror movies in general, if you have always been a fan, if there was a movie that made you a fan, if there was a movie that scarred you, et cetera, et cetera. You go, Megan. Okay. You know, I do like horror.

I'm not a horror fanatic. I don't think I realized that I liked horror because the first time I watched a horror movie, I saw, oh my God, what's that? The Ring. When I was like eight years old or something, and I was like a scared shitless over that and didn't watch horror for probably another 10 years. And then I saw smile in theaters and, well, I saw Hereditary, but I started seeing. Those are some scary ones. Yeah.

Jumping in the deep end. I loved Hereditary. And then I was like, okay, I think I like horror. And then I was trying to find people that would actually see horror with me in theaters. And I saw smile. I saw Alien Romulus. And then I just was like, wow, the horror, like, theater experience, theater-going experience is next level for horror.

And now I try to see, like, the horror that I can in theaters because I just, like, love that experience as a whole. So that's my relationship with horror. Your turn, Michael. Oh, man. I mean, I'm a horror. horror horror guys through and through

yeah yeah I the first movies I ever watched I mean there were probably probably watched like Barney when I was a kid which isn't a movie I think there may be a Barney movie I don't know but you probably I after the cartoons and the SpongeBob I mean when I probably around the age of 10 you know my dad and I would watch a horror movie every week

if not more than that I remember some of the the first horror movies ever saw were Halloween, the original Halloween, which that one, that's a really special one for me because I remember seeing that movie and hating, like, it made me feel really excited and absolutely terrified to the point of being in my room. I had one of those closets with the doors that like kind of fold open. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was, I, which is like, what was in the movie. So I took out all the clothes so I could see the wall. There was no one there. And then I would sleep on the floor on the other side of my bed for like a couple days. And then I wanted to like I asked my dad to see the movie again. And I just, I loved that feeling of being scared. To me, it's the same feeling I get when I'm on a really fast roller coaster.

And it became addicting. And I just started consuming horror. My dad shows. me all the Rob Zombie movies at that age, which was scarring. Luckily, I decided for my outlet to be acting instead of actually committing the murders. Yeah. Play the fire. What a good alternative. Right, yeah. But no, I just, I love horror.

I'm trying to think of some of my, I remember I loved that movie 30 Days of Night. Oh, yeah. It's a great one. God, no, God. We quote that a lot. We do. Yeah, yeah. No, God.

I really, this movie, I saw some of it recently, and it's kind of cheesy, but I really enjoyed 1408. Oh, I haven't seen that in a long time, but it's been on our list. It's on our. Yeah. And just, I mean, there's so many. I mean, I love Rosemary's baby. Mm-hmm. What was it, Jacob's Ladder?

And just, I mean, there's so, I could just, Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies is in my, like, Letterbox Talk 4. But yeah, I mean, I could just keep going and going and going and going. Oh, you know, like one of the most terrifying, two of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen were Green Room. And yeah. And happy something happy. It's where these two like guys torture this family and like kill them all. Oh, is it funny? Get funny games, funny games.

I was going to say that. Yeah, Emily, that one of my all time hated. I can't. No, it's terrible. It's terrible. For me, the ones that I, like, I can watch that movie. Like, that was a rough one for me. That was, that was extreme.

But I can get, I can watch that movie. But for me, the movies that I can't stomach are, like, the human centipede. I knew you're going to say that. The Saw movies. Like, I mean, you know, I, the Saw movies. They're fine now, especially now. Like, they're the earliest, they're a little more dated now. So I can watch them.

But when it's that kind of body trauma, like fingernails, losing fingers, eyeballs. All you just say is fingernails like, and it's like, no. Whatever it is, like, don't touch them. It's no. I'm rewatching Game of Thrones and I'm at the part where the Dion is getting tortured. Oh, it's bad. That felt like it went on for so, like, way too long. Pinky finger.

He's like cutting it open and I'm just a war. Feeling for a joy. I'm scared to do those kind of scenes because I'm trying to think I've definitely been injured. I've done some prosthetic things. It's like a, like for me, I don't know about you guys. I'm curious. For me, a big like cut on the arm or something, that's totally fine. But it went when it's like a, imagine like a needle going into your fingernail or like your eye.

That's, I'm done. I can't look. I can't look. Anyway, I've hijacked this. Let me get to your podcast. I mean, this is all we ever talk about. So this is like actually totally great with us. You're so funny.

Well, for this movie in particular, was there, were there any movies that Curry wanted you guys to watch or things to focus on any research that you had to do for obsession in particular? Yeah, we all watched Hereditary together. Okay. Great. We had a cast hangout.

And we had never met. each other and we played games. We started off, you know, we eased into it, played some games, getting to know each other. And then we watched Hereditary together. And it was a perfect nice. It was like my fourth time seeing the movie and it just gets better and better. You catch little things. I love that film. I think it's a master piece. Emily, we got to get you to watch it one day. I know. Someday. I haven't done that one yet. I haven't done that one yet. I got around him in summer finally. The piano wire. You know, need I say, more. You can look away.

That's like five seconds. It's at the end. I will say, obsession for me is like I, when we started this podcast, a little history, I could not watch scary movies at all. And since doing it and talking about horror and like getting, learning about it, I love horror now.

And the fact that I could like see obsession in a theater. She's made so much, so much progress. Let's applaud my growth. But obsession to me, thank you. Obsession to me is so. because it is like it's scary. You get the thrill.

You get some jump scares. You get like uncomfortable. But it's really, it feels like a roller coaster. You're just like on this ride. You kind of can't look away. So it's like perfect, I think, for any, anybody even curious about scary movies. Because it's just like, it's just so fun. Which I don't know if years ago I would have described any horror movies as fun, but it's so fun.

And so I'm curious like what parts of it. of the scary stuff or the not scary stuff are the most fun being in where you're like, oh my God, we're like making a horror movie. Well, this is something that I like to talk about. It's that the scariest parts on the screen, the dark scenes, the gory scenes, the jump scares, nine times out of 10 feel the least scary

when we're filming. Like, especially those, like, for me, you really have to just rely on the director and their vision because usually it's fully lit. It's not dark. That's all after. And it feels so silly what you're doing. And you don't, you don't hear the sounds. You don't hear the music. You don't know how the director's going to edit the scene. And especially the jump since the timing is such a crucial thing. That all comes together in the edit. So, and here's the thing.

As an actor, you know, I want to be, I want to do my character justice and that's really all I can focus on in the moment. And I think, like, in my opinion, the actor's most important job is to be present. Like, do your work first and then so that you can show up and be present for new discoveries. Some of my favorite parts of obsession in particular and some of my, that you can see some of my influence from like my things that I like to watch are. moments that were just me genuine being present in the moment because when you believe it and it's real like for me the actor that's going to help the audience it's the movie's only going to be as scary as my character is scared but genuinely scared so you have to kind of let there's like this element of letting go and that's not just in that aspect it's also with the trust in the director and um i i think honestly for me I don't know about you, Megan, but going forward, like, obsession has really set the bar high on so many different levels.

And I just hope that I have the opportunity to continue working with, well, I'd love to work with Curry again, but to continue working with directors that know what the heck they're doing. Like, they're editing the movie in their head. They show up with a specific vision. Like Curry's scary scenes in the movie were so incredibly thought out all the way down. He had, like, illustrations of each shot. Like, he already had temp music that he was playing while he was putting them together. He had a slide show. He showed it.

It was great. So we were able to just lean in and trust him. And that's when it felt like we were, yeah, we're making a horror movie because we knew what we were shooting. And Curry let us see the monitor too, which a lot of directors don't do. Sometimes you feel like you're flying blind as an actor. Like you don't see like all the shots and you're not quite sure how it's going to come together.

And sometimes you're like, I don't even know if it's going to look good. Like, did I do good? Sometimes. It's every time. Yeah. Yeah, but Curry, so, like, yeah, he does have such a clear vision and everyone's included in that vision, you know? Like, he brings everyone in on his world and his ideas. And that helps you, like, on the day as well, like when you're filming because I feel like you can believe it and, like, trust yourself in, in these situations and these scenarios way more when you see the vision as well, you know.

Yeah, I think, yeah, it's acting. we talk about a lot on this podcast, it can be like, I think it can feel kind of silly sometimes. Like you said, like, it's like not scary when you're like being scary. But if you know what the larger vision is and you're like all in it together, you can really, I think the scariest thing we think in watching a scary movie is watching someone be scared because that's what tells you how to feel. So the fact that you were able to feel that way on set is like, yeah, I think really gets the vision across. And then kind of on the like opposite end of that thought, does being in a scary movie now change how you want?

watch scary movies at all. Does it change that experience? Are you still able to like turn that part of your brain off, be an audience member? Or are you watching it like being like, I know how they did that, you know? Right, right. I've always caught myself like ever since I started acting and like working on sets, like thinking about how did they set up that shot? Or like, or like if there's like green screen involved or something, like I know the actors

like reacting to nothing. and has to act like petrified, like looking at, you know, a dot on the wall. I've always thought about that type of stuff. But I don't necessarily feel like it takes me out of experiencing the story either. I think there's like even more of an appreciation for the art form because there's an understanding of what it takes to make films. How do you feel like that? I completely agree with what you said.

And to add to that, I also think personally, I'm so desensitized to, it's incredibly, incredibly rare that I will scream or jump. I just don't think I'm capable anymore. Yeah, you started so, start so young. Yeah. And really the last movie that really got to me, and I didn't even jump or anything, just a movie that made me feel that like that adrenaline rush to the max to where afterwards I was like glowing was the blare. project, which I only saw for the first time a few years ago. And I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it.

And, you know, there's like, I wanted a lot more from it. Obviously, it's a low, low, low, low, low budget movie. But the, the tone that they created in that movie was just unreal. But actually, that's not the right word. It was so real. Found footage always gets me the most to the, because of exactly that. It feels like you're stumbling into a documentary. But it's so hard.

to get found footage right. Like it all comes back to the how grounded and real the performances are. And that's the thing for me, for me, I can look past the technicalities of the scares and everything because I'd usually see that stuff coming. When the actor's performance is so incredibly masterful, like Tony Colette and Hereditary or, you know, like any, anyway, I'll just stick with her because like I can't get her out of my head for that. You almost don't see things coming because you're so invested in their performance and you just cannot look away. You can't blink. So that's when it gets me.

So I think for me, that's really important to keep it scary. And anything can be scary. Sometimes like a look over into a corner and there's nothing there. One of the scariest scenes in Hereditary for me was when Tony Klett saw like a shadow of her mother in the corner, flipped the lights, which there was nothing there. That haunted me. Right in the beginning. And to your point, like no scary sound design right there. No, like, loud noise.

It's just, it's just, you just see it. Yeah. Yeah, you just like move past it. And you're like, wait, did you all see that? Right. Yeah. This is going to come out after the movie releases. Why?

Okay. So we have a, we can do spoilers. And a spoiler we particularly wanted to talk to you both about and particularly your experience, Megan, is the. I know. My first scene. What was filming that like? I'm assuming there were some prosthetics, some fun makeup. What's going on in that scene for you?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, that was so fun. I've never done that before. And I just, I mean, that was my favorite day on set. It was just so crazy, fun and technical. And yeah, I mean, they had me do a cast of my face. They could build a dent.

Yeah, I was going to say even that feels a little scary. Guys, that is like no joke. I thought I was fine. Like, I've never really felt like claustrophobic. Like, I'm not a classic claustrophobic girly. When they pour that stuff over. Is that a thing? Clostrophobic girlies?

I don't know because I'm not one, but I'm here I am now. I'm sure they're out there. They pour that stuff on you and, you know, it's like putty or like whatever. It's like, oh. And then you, and then it starts to dry. And it just becomes like cement, like stuck to your face and you get so claustrophobic. Don't they do little straws?

Yeah. Oh my gosh. It's so scary. Isn't that in, um, I was going to, that's in a movie and now I can't remember what movie it is. Wait, wait, wait. But I was like, this is smart because it's really scary. It's in the Mia Gough golf, golf movie.

Yes, Maxine. Maxine. It's a Maxine. Yeah. No, that. Okay, that in itself was scary. Yeah, it's just so claustrophobic. I almost had a panic attack, which has never happened to me before.

And then I literally had to go into Zen mode and meditate because I would have, yeah, started to hyperventilate in there. But that was cool. I'd never done that and like got that out of the way. Cool, new experience. And then like they made a doll version of me that looked like me. Also scary. Weird. We would walk into the room and there'd be the little double me.

Couple teeth. There are two dolls, right? One was super smashed and one was just about to get smashed. But it always had a few missing teeth and it really made me uncomfortable. And you're sitting in the car next to the doll. The whole day. Scary dolls. Yeah.

So that's also, that's scary too. I had to start having conversations with it to lighten the mood. Yeah. It wasn't very talkative. But it did just have a random stream of blood like at lunch. I was sitting there just like chill and waiting. And I turned over and I just. I heard like this air noise and then it just went like.

Oh my God. Yeah, it was like the uncanny Valley version of me. Yes. And then there's just the one that's like, I mean, who is that? Like her face is like done, like gone. Just hanging out and like in the rooms around our set, like in the green room and stuff. For a while. That thing floated or that thing was on set all the whole time in like a bucket or something.

Yeah, it was. It was a little off-putting, but yeah. And then just filming it was so fun. There was a lot of technical elements. We've talked about this so many times, but like we only had two takes basically to get the shot because of the glass, the breakaway glass. We only had two of those. So there was like pressure, a lot of technical elements with the timing and, you know, got to make all that believable and, you know, get my head bashed. And it all ended up working out.

I mean, the second take is the one we used. And it was so fun. I loved doing it. I mean, it feels like if you're in a horror movie, you don't get to do a little bit of that. You'd be a little disappointed. Like, well, what was I here for? That's what I'm here for.

Everyone in this movie, except for Andy Richter. He'll get another chance. He got off this time. Everyone in this movie got screwed up really bad. Yeah. As an actor, I love this stuff where I'm like screaming and terrified and yeah. Yeah, just letting it rip. Like, I live for that.

Megan, did you do like, so smash, smash, mash. There were like, uh, uh, did you record those later in ADR? Oh, yeah. Yes. What is crazy? That's my favorite thing to do. Yeah. Just watch yourself get your head bashed and try to vocalize it.

They are literally doing ADR. He's like, okay, make some like grunt noises as if you're getting your head smashed. Like, okay. Do that. And he's like, okay, can you make some like gurgling noises? Like there's blood caught in. They were cut from the film. They were cut.

I know. I noticed that. Give us a gurgle cut. Maybe it's too, like, difficult to hear. But, yeah, I'm literally like, like, like, like, how my head is about. I'm still like alive. Gurgling. I was like, oh my God, this is so dark and terrible.

But so funny. Those ADR sessions are just like, you know, creating after like. Kind of silly. You got to trust the vision. Exactly. That's an prime time example of silly. Movie magic. Movie magic.

Before we wrap up with you guys, I mean, we kind of talked about a feel like a little thing. But do you have like a favorite memory from, shooting this movie that could have been on set or off, just like a thing that you'll take with you? Let me think. There's so, I mean, the whole thing was fantastic. I mean, you know, it was like, this is a cliche, but it really was like a summer camp. We all just kind of jumped into this thing. I mean, you know, I, Megan was probably there for a quarter of shooting. Yeah. But, you know, obviously, Bear's point of view, so I was there

every single. I didn't miss a day. I think there's only one shot of the movie that I wasn't there for. It was like a like a hand thing. But then we ended up redoing it anyway. But like, yeah, the whole experience was so amazing that it's hard to pinpoint just one moment. I mean, we genuinely had such a blast. The chemistry between all the whole cast and crew was something that I've never experienced before and that I'll be chasing for the rest of my career as an actor. Maybe let me think. I would say just the, like for example, there's a scene at the end of Bear in the bathroom and it's a long scene and there's no dialogue. Like that was really rewarding to film because I got to internalize all of my kind of character work, but there was no dialogue.

So that was just a really rewarding thing to be allowed to just like completely be in the moment and it felt like it was all coming from me and that I was trusted with this like huge. opportunity to do this. That for me, that felt incredible. But it really is just a collaboration. I could go on and on. But it's hard to pinpoint a moment. But I loved every day that Megan was on set. And I wanted more.

I was like, I want more scenes with Megan. I know. I would just come visit set sometimes because I just wanted to hang. Like, we really all became such great friends. Great sign. And I've never had friendships with, like, everyone on the cast and crew in the way. that I have with obsession, like where we, you know, we want to see each other and check in like every, you know, however many weeks just to like see each other. But yeah, I second like everything you

said. I also love the scene you're talking about Michael. I just like love your performance. But yeah, I agree with everything. The whole experience was like next level. I hope to experience that again. What? Say it. I have it. It just came to mind. And you, you know, you know, this one. I forgot about this. Locked out. What? Locked out. Yeah, I talked about this. Tell the story. Okay, so it was all my fault too. Was it you? Because I talked about this. I was like, what is this thing in the door? And I took it out. Yeah. Okay. So basically we were filming overnight. It was cold and dark. And we were supposed to be walking out of out of work, out of the music shop.

And, um, tell them what it was. What was it really, the building? The building was actually like some building on the Pomona campus. Um, it used to be like a mental hospital. Oh,

okay. Mental hospital building. Yeah. Okay. Um, and we were shooting off hours. You know, it's like the middle of the night.

So they were like, hey, we prop this door open. It doesn't close fully. Like, don't let it close fully. because we'll be locked out of the building and we'll have to call a groundsman to like come and unlock it. And we're like, okay, word.

And then I guess Michael, I didn't even know it was you, but Michael accidentally closed the door whilst we were inside like before they called action. Well, I was like the door has to be shut for us to exit the door. And behind us, there's this like area where everyone was like, it's haunted. Do not go in there. It's also dangerous. There's broken glass. There's shit everywhere. And it was terrifying.

And the worst part were these little windows that were all fogged up, you could look through. Oh, my God, it was horror. And of course I locked us in there for like 10 minutes. Yeah, we like walked around and explored because like they needed to call someone to come unlock the door. We were trapped in there. Oh, no. You're screaming. It's giving haunted vibes.

Yeah. Wow. That was funny. I'm glad you guys made it out of there. Yeah. Well, I feel like we almost, they almost got us. I don't know. It was scary.

I liked it. I mean, once you know you made it out, it's sort of like, well, that was cool. I had fun, but I can tell you what, Indy was not impressed. She was like Michael, she was like, Michael, you, you, I'm not having it right now. I was like, I know, I'm sorry, I messed up. That's so funny. We are so excited for this movie. So excited for you guys, thrilled for everybody.

It's, I mean, this independent movie that's poised to be this massive, success. I heard you guys broke a Rotten Tomato's record today. Did you guys hear about this? I'm looking right in this very moment. Let me check because we were at 79 and when you get to 80, it's like sort of, oh no, it didn't do it automatically because we're at 81. But yeah, we have a 96 and I heard that it was so far the highest rated movie of the year across all genres. Hell. Yeah. Oh my God. Incredible. It's so good. We're telling, We're going to tell all our listeners to go see it. I think I'm going to see it again this weekend.

I loved it. I know. I want to see it again with people. It's like it's so fun to see it in a theater. Yeah. Yeah. The best. Thank you both so much for joining us.

Thank you. Thank you guys for having us. And yeah, truly, congrats. It's really, it's so great. Thank you. Great yapping with you guys. Yeah, it was great talking. Yeah.

All right. That was our interview with Michael and Megan. in what absolute dears. Dears. True dears. Not at all like bear. Oh, the thing I wanted to say about bear, the name bear, I mean, this was not,

oh yes. This was not Curry's intention. Because again, I've seen every comment on every aspect of this film. Perfect. But was that bear is like a cuddly pet name and also like a vile, a vicious, not vicious, sorry, Wes would be so much. He heard me say that, but like a predator.

Right, right. Yes, strong. Dangerous. Dangerous. In certain scenarios. Powerful. If you get in the bear's way, the bear will sit on you and eat you alive. So you can't say that about everything.

But it's not the bear's fault, obviously, which is different than it being this bear. You just, you know, bears the animal, they're not villains. But you get what we're trying to say. Yeah. It can still tear you limb to limb. It's like two meanings. Like it can be cute or cuddly and it could be scary and dangerous. And so I thought that was kind of a clever.

But he had said that that was not the intention. I love the honesty. Thank you for the honesty, Curry. I do. I appreciate it. Wow. It's also like, yeah, it's so exciting. We got to speak to Megan and Michael,

I think the day after the premiere. Yeah. Like, so it's also, it's so exciting. I felt this way talking to Mallory Johnson as well from Is God is that like, it's so exciting to talk to actors who are not yet as big. they are going to be. Right. And like, it's so fun to have gotten to speak to them. And they're just like, you know, catapulted. Yes. And then, and well deserved. And it's like so, I'm just so excited for them. I'm so happy for them. Yeah. It's really cool. And nice to know that they are

lovely people as well. Yeah. Like we should be, it's fun to discover new people. I love that that is happening. It really is. It really is a delight. So congratulations to, to everybody. To everybody. Congratulations. And congratulations to us. Thank you for giving us a good movie. Yes. Congratulations to horror fans. Boy, we're really getting some goodies. Yeah, this has been a great year.

Full horror sweep at the Oscars. Oh, my God. Maybe. There's a lot still to come. Maybe. So stay tuned. Fuck the Odyssey. It will get zero.

Yes, more to come. Obviously, we love you all very, very much. And why don't you love us? love me back. We're all of us here at Too Scary Didn't Watch. Goodbye. Mean it. Mean it.

We didn't. We made it. Thank you all for listening to another episode of Too Scary Didn't Watch. If you enjoy the show, please remember to subscribe and rate us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Five stars only, or we will haunt you. And if you simply can't get enough of us, we have good news for you. We have lots of bonus content available on. on our Patreon at patreon.com slash TSDW podcast.

You'll get access to video trailer reactions, two bonus episodes a month, the power to vote for upcoming episodes, and more. And last but not least, you can follow us on social media at TSDW podcast. We'll be back next week with a new episode. We love me. That was a hate gum podcast. Hi, I am Mandy Moore. Sterling K. Brown.

And I'm Chris Sullivan. And we host the podcast. That was us now on HeadGum. gum. Each episode, we're going to go into a deep dive from our show, This Is Us. We're going to go episode by episode. We're also going to pepper in episodes with different guest stars and writers and casting directors. Are we going to cry? Yes. A little bit. Are we going to laugh? A lot. A whole lot. That's what I'm hoping, man. Listen to that was us on your favorite podcast app or watch full video episodes on YouTube or Spotify, new episodes every Tuesday.