Angel he calls me, does he know that I'm falling?

“Hey man, your main character isn’t sympathetic enough, could you fix that?”

Nikki being the victim in this movie is literally not up for debate btw.

Bear f*cked up big time. He paid the price, sure, but not before causing a lot of damage and trauma around him. Especially to Nikki.

There are two key moments for me that clearly highlight how Bear is truly not a good guy and never was. At all.

Firstly, and most importantly, when Nikki asks him to kill her as her possessed self is sleeping and unaware of their interaction. This is Bear’s first very straightforward opportunity to fix his mess. If he truly cared about her and her wellbeing, he would take immediate action. Like kill himself. Sucks, but gotta do what you gotta do, man. But no, of course. Bear takes personal offence into the idea that she’d rather die than forcefully be with him. It’s pathetic and enraging. Let’s remind ourselves here that Bear is regularly r*ping her (and forcing other forms of intimacy on her as well), enslaving her mind and quite literally stealing her entire life from her. The notion of consent is simply nonexistent and he’s actively okay with that. Before everything spirals into total chaos, he just wants to alter his wish, not erase it fully. He still wants that control over her, whether she is happy or not. She pleads for liberation from this curse and Bear decides to victimize himself, be selfish again and then he walks away. Ruining his ultimate chance.

Secondly, the suicide scene. Here’s the thing… It’s too late at this point. He missed out on several opportunities to make things better and he kept on prioritizing his power over Nikki. It led him to a point of no return where his life is irreparably turned upside down, his two closest friends were killed (because of him) and Nikki’s possessed self represents a very real danger for him (all his fault, once again). There is only one way out of this: He needs to die. Even with this unavoidable truth, Bear manages to fail again. He swallows all the pills and a few seconds later, he cowardly tries to undo his actions. The storyline leads to him overdosing and dying regardless, but this moment is decisive to represent his true character. It still wasn’t enough, somehow, for him to end it all. Truth be, it was unfortunately too late for Nikki one way or the other. The trauma was just too massive with the murders and the self-harm. He ruined her entirely.

If you ask me, the title is about him being horrendously obsessed with her, not the other way around. His obsession led him there. He refused to take a risk and potentially get in the friendzone. This was unthinkable and impossible to accept for him.

And also, that sickening story she presents at the party… It’s not just to generate a deeply uncomfortable and eerie atmosphere, it’s not just to shock the audience with its content. It’s about them. It’s literally them. She mentioned feeling a sibling-like connection with him. Nikki is being abused and tortured by someone she considered a brother. This is a tale about his cruelty. This is her cry for help. And it breaks my heart.

it must have been equally terrifying for her as it was for the real nikki to have someone else fight for control over what she perceived as her body. the scene where she's sobbing in the corner, terrified of her dreams is now more sad than terrifying to me. real nikki, who has just been raped by her once best friend hurting so badly that it seeps into entity!nikki's nightmares. entity!nikki who doesn't understand why the thing she wanted so badly is causing her so much pain. why she can't bring herself to lie in bed next to the man who is the center of her world.

and the worst part is bear doesn't even seem to like her. she's trying so so hard; she made a lovely memorial for his dead cat, she waited for him to come home all day without moving an inch, she made sure to be the most doting girlfriend at the party, and he's not pleased by any of it. he seems disturbed and angry and scared and she has no idea what to do to make it better. to make it worse, he keeps asking her to behave like the original nikki but he was the one who wished for her!! she can't be like nikki because nikki was simply not capable of loving bear even a fraction of how much she does!

she can't seem to reconcile it; he wanted her so badly he conjured her into reality and now he doesn't want her anymore. she doesn't know what to do. she tries everything. she obsesses over him, she threatens to hurt herself, she gets rid of that bitch sarah who keeps distracting him and trying to steal him away, and then dresses in her clothes for good measure and he still doesn't want her.

and then finally in a fit of desperation, she makes the wish and for one beautiful moment its all perfect. he's finally looking at her the way she looks at him. and then he's dead and she's lost everything.