Obsessed (2009 film)
Obsessed is a 2009 American psychological thriller film directed by Steve Shill and written by David Loughery. Starring Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, and Ali Larter, the film tells the story of Lisa, an office temp who develops unrequited feelings for her boss, Derek Charles, and repeatedly attempts to seduce him. Derek's wife, Sharon, learns of Lisa's obsessive behavior, and suspects an affair. Obsessed was inspired by the work of directors Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock, and more specifically Fatal Attraction, and its score was written by James Dooley. Lisa and Sharon were dressed in contrasting styles to reinforce their conflicting characters. It was released in the United States on April 24, 2009, by Screen Gems.
Obsessed received generally negative reviews from critics, many of whom were disappointed in the absence of an explanation for Lisa's obsession with Derek. Others noted that the potential theme of interracial conflict between the Charles family, who are black, and Lisa, who is white, was unexplored. The film's storyline has drawn comparisons to that of Fatal Attraction – a recollection in which Elba and Beyoncé have the Michael Douglas and Anne Archer roles, respectively, while Larter is in Glenn Close's – although film critics disliked the fact that Derek did not yield to Lisa's seduction. The fight scene finale between Sharon and Lisa, however, was commended by reviewers, and won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. Obsessed spent its first week atop the US box office, and grossed $73.8 million from theaters, internationally. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on home video on August 4, 2009, in the US and has sold 1.3 million DVDs, worth $21 million of consumer spending.
Plot
Derek Charles works for a finance company and is married to Sharon, with whom he has an infant son, Kyle. While Derek is at work, he befriends a white temporary worker, Lisa Sheridan, who, believing Derek was flirting with her, tries to seduce him. Although Derek repeatedly rejects her, Lisa continues to pursue him throughout the film, and makes sexual advances on him at the office Christmas party. At one point, she follows Derek to his car and flashes him; he forces her out of his car. Derek intends to report Lisa to his firm's human resource management, but learns that she has quit her job. Thinking that Lisa has given up, Derek is annoyed when he receives flirtatious emails from her. Derek and his workmates visit a resort for a conference, where he spots and confronts Lisa, who spikes his drink. Incapacitated, Derek is helpless when Lisa follows him into his hotel room. He confronts Lisa again the following day, and hours later discovers her lying naked in his bed after attempting suicide, and calls for medical help.After repeated attempts to reach Derek on his phone, Sharon finds him at the hospital and suspects that he and Lisa had an affair, as Lisa claims. Police detective Monica Reese at first questions Derek's fidelity to Sharon as well, but soon becomes skeptical of Lisa's claims due to inconsistencies in her story. Refusing to believe Derek, Sharon kicks him out of their house, and he moves into a separate apartment. Months later, Derek and Sharon meet up each other for dinner and finally reconcile. During this dinner, Lisa tricks the babysitter Samantha into letting her in the house under the pretense of being one of Sharon's friends delivering a gift. When Derek and Sharon return home after dinner, they discover that Lisa has been in their house and kidnapped Kyle. Derek goes to his car with the intent to pursue Lisa, only to find Kyle is safely sitting in the back seat. He and Sharon immediately take Kyle to the hospital for a check-up. When Derek and Sharon return home, they find Lisa has trashed their bedroom and removed Sharon's face from their family portrait. Sharon leaves a threatening voice message on Lisa's phone, and she and Derek set up a home alarm system.
Lisa learns that Derek and Sharon will be going away from town for a few days, with Sharon leaving one afternoon and Derek the next day. While Sharon is on her way to pick up Kyle, she realizes she forgot to set the alarm system and returns home. Meanwhile, Lisa breaks into Derek and Sharon's house again and decorates the master bed with rose petals. While setting the alarm, Sharon hears Lisa in the bedroom. She confronts Lisa, who tries to convince her that Derek was having an affair with Lisa. Sharon attempts to call the police, but Lisa stops her, and Sharon and Lisa engage in an altercation. Derek calls the home phone and Lisa answers; he later calls Detective Reese and they both head toward the house to stop Lisa. Sharon chases Lisa to the attic and leads her to a weak spot in the attic floor, where she falls through. Seeing that Lisa is in mortal danger, Sharon reaches out in an tries to grab her and lift her up, but Lisa refuses and tries to pull Sharon down with her instead. Seeing that the floor is beginning to collapse, Sharon pries Lisa off of her arm. Lisa is injured upon falling on the chandelier which she hangs off on. The chandelier soon loosens, but Lisa falls onto the glass table below, and is killed when the chandelier falls from the ceiling and crushes her. Detective Reese arrives as Sharon comes out of the house; she later goes inside the house to investigate Lisa's actions. Derek arrives soon after Detective Reese; he and Sharon tearfully embrace with each other at the end of the film.
Cast
- Idris Elba as Derek Charles
- Beyoncé Knowles as Sharon Charles
- Ali Larter as Lisa Sheridan
- Jerry O'Connell as Ben
- Christine Lahti as Detective Monica Reese
- Scout Taylor-Compton as Samantha
- Bruce McGill as Joe Gage
- Matthew Humphreys as Patrick
- Richard Ruccolo as Hank
- Nathan and Nicolas Myers as Kyle Charles
Production
Background
The concept of Obsessed was thought up by Clint Culpepper, president of Screen Gems, and was shared with David Loughery, who then wrote the screenplay, taking basic inspiration from the similar stalker thriller Fatal Attraction. Producer William Packer read the script and signed on; executive producers for the film were Glenn S. Gainor, Jeff Graup, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Beyoncé, Mathew Knowles, Damon Lee and Loughery, while Nicholas Stern and George Flynn served as co-producer and associate producer, respectively. Director Steve Shill signed on after reading the script and hearing that Beyoncé was on board. Part of the reason Elba joined in was that the black–white theme was ignored; "It's not mentioned in the film, it's never an issue, and I think that's phenomenal... To me, that was very refreshing that the studio execs didn't want to make an issue of it." Obsessed was allocated a production budget of $20 million. Shill stated that the intended effect of the film was to have the audience discuss the characters' motivations. Writer David Loughery designed Lisa as "not a villain in a traditional sense; she's not setting out to wreck a marriage or ruin somebody's life. She really believes that is in love with her." Lisa's past was deliberately omitted from the film, explaining, "It's scarier if we never really know how she's developed this personality that can go from very loving to ultimately deadly."Casting and filming
The casting directors for Obsessed were Ron Digman and Valorie Massalas. According to Packer, Elba and Saldana were the favorite actors for their respective lead roles; he stated that "they both brought the right amount of depth and sex appeal" to the film. He emphasized the need for actors "who were relatable and who can handle that type of human interplay that we have in the film." Packer showed the film script to Beyoncé's talent agent, who suggested that Beyoncé play the role of Sharon. The producers "immediately... fell in love with that idea; once she suggested Beyoncé, nobody else could play the role." Packer said that Beyoncé became interested in working on Obsessed because the film was not focused on the music industry, and that it was the first time she played a non-singer. Packer also reported that "she was looking for that challenge and welcomed this opportunity". Beyoncé stated that she found it challenging to concentrate purely on "the emotion and the psychology of the relationship". Beyoncé had never taken part in a fight scene, but she was able to learn how to perform the scenes quickly because they were similar to dance choreography, with which she was familiar. Obsessed was filmed over the summer of 2008, and the final fight scene between Sharon and Lisa was shot over one week.Set and costumes
Shill and cinematographer Ken Seng were inspired by Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock when constructing the set, and attempted to make it look both frightening and suburban. Shill stated, "It didn't look like typical Hollywood; it didn't look cosmetic." The Charles' family home was set in a 1923 Altadena, California house, however the action scenes were shot on a separate purpose-built set. The set was customized from a house built for The Stepfather, which in turn was adapted from a block of apartments for Quarantine. The Charles' living room had a ceiling high, and a custom-built chandelier for the climactic ending of the film. According to Gainor, the house is symbolic of the family's aspirations, and is intentionally too large for the three occupants; he said, "It's a little awkward and a little bit eerie." The fight scene was filmed on a sound stage set, rather than in the house, for safety and practicability reasons.Costume designer Maya Lieberman attempted to contrast the costumes of Sharon and Lisa to reinforce the conflict between the two characters. She said, "With Ali, our discussion started with wanting really clean, classic and sharp lines, whereas Beyoncé's character more soft, more textural cashmeres and knits." Sharon wore clothes designed by Zac Posen, Yves Saint Laurent, Jimmy Choo, Diane von Fürstenberg, Valentino, Stella McCartney and Missoni, while Lisa wore Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry outfits. Derek was dressed in Dolce & Gabbana and Versace suits with Thomas Pink shirts to create a "prestigious yet contemporary" look.
Music
The film score for Obsessed was written by James Dooley. The beginning of Obsessed, where the Charles are seen in their home, plays adult contemporary music in the background. The remainder of the film's first act is supported by light piano instrumentation, and occasional "low-register whoosh-thump noises, of the kind you might hear in a stalker movie", according to Sady Doyle of The Guardian.Studio recorded songs on the soundtrack of Obsessed are "Any Other Day", "Black and Gold", "Soul Food", "American Boy", "Jolly Holly ", "I'm Gonna Getcha", "The Christmas Song", "Play That Funky Music", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Wild Thing", "Oye Al Desierto", "Destiny", "Meet the Brilliant", "Golden", "Bambool Wall", and "Smash into You".
Release and reception
Obsessed premiered at the School of Visual Arts, New York City on April 23, 2009, and opened at US cinemas the following day. The film began showing in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2009.Critical response
Obsessed received generally negative reviews from critics. Based on 85 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Rotten" rating from critics, with 19% positive reviews and an average rating of 3.7 out of 10. The site's consensus reads "The inevitable Fatal Attraction comparisons aside, Obsessed is a generic, toothless thriller both instantly predictable and instantly forgettable." Another review aggreatator, Metacritic, gave the film a weighted mean score of 25 out of 100, based on ten reviews from mainstream critics. A common complaint about the film was that, unlike most "deranged stalker"-themed films, Obsessed did not explain why Lisa was so determined to seduce Derek, who showed no interest in her at all. Variety John Anderson and The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt criticized Lisa's lack of motive and backstory. Stella Papamichael of Digital Spy called the film predictable and blamed the well-defined morality of the characters. She wrote, "Unlike the bunny-boiling '80s classic Fatal Attraction, the characters are drawn in 2D. They are either good or bad, and there is absolutely no attempt to understand what drives them either way." Liz Braun from Jam! lambasted the lack of character development in Obsessed and called it "a chemistry-free movie". Jason McKiernan of Filmcritic.com described the film as "so steeped in the formula of the psycho-sexual suspense flick that it works as both a thriller and a comedy" and "very good trash".Reviewers also noted that the potential for interracial conflict remained unexplored; Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman wrote, "The movie wants to tease us with intimations of a steamy biracial liaison; it just doesn't want to actually go there." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe was disappointed that "Obsessed basically plays it safe. The obvious racial buttons are never pushed". Greg Quill from the Toronto Star agreed, and wrote that Shill and Loughery "stripped the drama of its potentially gripping – and obvious – racial overtones". However, Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out that having the two female roles of differing races "creates racial tension", and noted similarities to "the racially charged" Lakeview Terrace, which Loughery also wrote. Braun was of the impression that a well-written script was replaced by the film's "racial politics". When Derek confronts Lisa at the business conference, she threatens him with a sexual harassment complaint; Sady Doyle from The Guardian wrote that this alludes to "the history of black men being lynched for their perceived threat to white women". Doyle pointed out that historically white women are more revered for their beauty than black women, which is a side theme of the fight between Sharon and Lisa. Melissa Anderson of LA Weekly suggested that awkwardness of the interracial relationship of Derek and Lisa as a reason why the filmmakers did not have the two characters partake in any sexual activity.
Critics drew close comparisons between Obsessed and Adrian Lyne's 1987 stalker thriller Fatal Attraction. However, two distinctions noted were that Obsessed contains no bunny boiling-like incidents, and that Derek and Lisa did not actually have sexual intercourse. John Anderson of Variety wrote, "If Derek had actually slept with Lisa, a la Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction, Obsessed would at least have had the spurned-woman gambit to play, however hoary." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero out of four stars, and wrote that Derek's lack of interest in Lisa allowed for no conflict in the film. Travers concluded, "Everything you need to know is in the trailer." The Daily Telegraph Tim Robey thought that Obsessed would have been more entertaining had Lisa's character been fiercer like Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction. Rickey opined that while the lack of infidelity made the film less thrilling, it "is about the sanctity of marriage rather than the shame of adultery."
The final fight scene between Sharon and Lisa was lauded by critics. Marjorie Baumgarten from The Austin Chronicle stated that, despite the predictability of its plot, Obsessed caters to "the American moviegoers' appetite for a juicy catfight." E! Online's Natasha Vargas-Cooper lauded the choreography and noted the scene as the highlight of the film. McKiernan called it the "best knock-down, drag-out girlfight" of 2009. However, Alex Navarro from Screened called the fight "boring" because of the poor filming and editing of the scene.