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THE OBSESSED MOVIE REVIEW
“Are you in love with that girl?”, “No sir, I’m just very obsessed with her!”. Giuseppe loves the things he loves. Whenever something grabs his interest, he throws everything else away and devotes his life to his new passion. From singing and collecting bugs to the oddly specific hobby of “throwing five peanuts into the air at the same time,” he puts his heart into mastering every aspect of it before moving on. Considered the oddball of the town and nicknamed “The Obsessed,” Giuseppe is still seen as a harmless and friendly individual—even if the rat he befriends and talks with might be the only one willing to vouch for him. Giuseppe’s eccentric nature is thrown into new territory when he meets Pechka, a beautiful foreign balloon seller. Interpreting love as his new obsession, Giuseppe decides to learn everything he can about Pechka. Believing it to be romantic, he begins to spy on her and gather information about her life. Not wanting the smile to ever vanish from her face, Giuseppe decides to fix every problem in Pechka’s life without her knowing about it. All of this leads to him becoming tangled in a mob war, pretending to be a miracle healer, and committing some very ethically questionable actions with the help of his rat friend and the “power” of his obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Based on the novel by Shinji Ishii, directed by Wataru Takahashi, and featuring songs by Awesome City Club, the movie takes a story that on paper could easily turn into a creepy movie about a stalker and instead tries to transform it into a charming, self-aware musical comedy. Much like its protagonist, The Obsessed tries to turn the awkward into something compelling, jumping from one thing to another, including different movie genres. But did we finally get a good anime musical? Did the cartoonish art style get in the way? And did the creators manage to find the perfect balance between heartfelt emotion and hilariously over-the-top comedy? Honest and Silly? And just how far can a story take its insane premise? Those are questions Spidermike will have to challenge Maciej Kur to answer without spoiling the second half, where the story takes a very unexpected—and genuinely chilling, yet beautiful turn.
DIRECTED BY: Wataru Takahashi
YOUR REVIEWERS
Maciej Kur (Infestation)
Maciej Kur is a Polish comic and film script writer, director and reviewer, and decidedly the biggest fan and most loyal supporter of Oneofus.net. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a master’s degree and the Academy of Film and Television. Co-creator of the comic book series Dollicious and Emilka Sza (with Magdalena Kania ) and Lil i Put, (with Piotr Bednarczyk ) and many others. Awarded in 2014 for a comic book in the spirit of Janusz Christa and awarded for “Złoty Puchar” in 2023. He wrote scripts for new comic books in the Polish cult series “Kayko and Kokosh”, as well as episodes of an animated series based on it (available on Netflix). He wrote for many other shows including “Kicia Kocia” (Kitty Kotty), “Pompik the Bison”, “Pucio”, “Hip-Hip and Hurra” and the upcoming animated movies “The Shrew of Destiny” and “Tytus, Romek and A’tomek”. He also directed a documentary about Polish animation legend “Witold Giersz”. Big lover of the art of animation and comic books.
Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)
The man with the ever-changing nicknames. Born in Austin, Riojas was rocketed to Del Rio, Texas, a literal Smallville. In his youth, he was bitten by a radioactive… okay, look. Mike is not very good at this whole “talking about himself” thing. But he has been so obsessed with comics, video games, and anime since childhood- that if one has to choose between listening to Joe Quesada or Mike over any obscure Spider-Man trivia, they go to him (or, at least Martin Thomas once said so). He is also a big fan of “Ghostbusters” (he even owns his own jumpsuit and two, that’s right, TWO proton packs!), collects toys and video games, and will defend “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” if provoked. He lives in Austin with his beloved Dachshund-Maltese and trusted sidekick, Dean. He can also be heard on RageSelect. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram.
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