The Obsession Beyonce

[Garoa Wolff]

Obsessedis a 2009 American psychological thriller film directed by Steve Shill and written by David Loughery. Starring Idris Elba, Beyonc, and Ali Larter, the film follows Lisa Sheridan (Larter), an office temp who develops unrequited feelings for her boss, Derek Charles (Elba), and repeatedly attempts to seduce him. Derek's wife, Sharon (Beyonc), learns of Lisa's escalating behavior and suspects her husband is having an affair.

Obsessed premiered at the School of Visual Arts on April 23, 2009, and was theatrically released in the United States the following day. The film was panned by critics, who criticized the absence of an explanation for Lisa's obsession with Derek, failure to explore the potential theme of interracial conflict between Lisa and the Charles family, and the fact that Derek did not yield to Lisa's seduction. It also drew unfavorable comparisons to Fatal Attraction (1987), although the climactic fight scene between Beyonc and Larter was widely praised, winning the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Despite the critical reception, the film was a modest success at the box office, grossing $73.8 million against its $20 million budget.[2]

Derek Charles works for a finance company and lives with his wife Sharon and their two-year-old son Kyle. While he is at work, he is friendly to a temp, Lisa Sheridan. Believing Derek was flirting with her, she tries to seduce him.

Although Derek repeatedly rejects her, Lisa continues to pursue him, and makes sexual advances toward him at the office Christmas party. Later, she follows him to his car and flashes him until he forces her out of his car. Derek intends to report Lisa to human resources, but learns that she has quit her job.

Thinking that Lisa has given up, Derek is nervous when he receives flirtatious emails from her. He and his workmates visit a resort for a conference, where she shows up. When he confronts her, she spikes his drink. Incapacitated, she then follows him into his hotel room.

Derek confronts Lisa again the following day, and hours later discovers her lying nude in his bed after attempting suicide, and calls for an ambulance. After repeated attempts to reach him on his phone, Sharon finds him at the hospital and suspects that he and Lisa had an affair, as Lisa claims.

Detective Monica Reese questions Derek's fidelity to Sharon, 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.

Three months later, Derek and Sharon reconcile over a birthday dinner. While they are out, Lisa tricks the babysitter Samantha into letting her into the house under the pretense of being one of Sharon's friends delivering a gift.

When Derek and Sharon return home from dinner, they discover that Lisa has been in their house and taken Kyle. He goes to his car with the intent to pursue her, 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 out of town for a few days, with her leaving in the afternoon and him the next day. While Sharon is on her way to pick up Kyle, she realizes she forgot to set the alarm system so returns home.

Lisa breaks into the Charles' house and decorates the master bed with rose petals. While setting the alarm, Sharon hears the sound of a champagne cork pop. Going up the stairs, she confronts Lisa, who then tries to convince Sharon that she and Derek are having an affair.

When Derek calls the home phone, Lisa answers, prompting him to alert Detective Reese as he rushes home. Sharon chases Lisa to the attic and leads her to a weak spot in the attic floor, where she falls through. When Sharon tries to help Lisa from falling all the way she reaches out her hand to her, but Lisa tries to pull Sharon down with her instead. Sharon pries Lisa off of her arm, causing her to grab hold of the chandelier she falls onto.

The chandelier loosens and 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 and embraces Derek. The detective enters their house to investigate.

The casting directors for Obsessed were Ron Digman and Valorie Massalas.[3] According to Packer, Elba and Zoe 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."[8] Packer showed the film script to Beyonc's talent agent, who suggested that Beyonc play the role of Sharon. The producers "immediately ... fell in love with that idea; once she suggested Beyonc, nobody else could play the role."[9] Packer said that Beyonc 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".[8] Beyonc stated that she found it challenging to concentrate purely on "the emotion and the psychology of the relationship".[10] Beyonc 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.[11] Obsessed was filmed over the summer of 2008,[12] and the final fight scene between Sharon and Lisa was shot over one week.[13]

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."[4] 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 (2009), which in turn was adapted from a block of apartments for Quarantine (2008). The Charles' living room had a ceiling 25 feet (7.6 m) 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.[4]

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 Beyonc's character [wore] more soft, more textural cashmeres and knits."[4] Sharon wore clothes designed by Zac Posen, Yves Saint Laurent, Jimmy Choo, Diane von Frstenberg, 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.[4]

The film score for Obsessed was written by James Dooley.[14] 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.[15]

Obsessed premiered at the School of Visual Arts, New York City on April 23, 2009,[17] and opened at US cinemas the following day.[18] The film began showing in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2009.[19] It was screened at 2,514 theaters and grossed $11,209,297 on its opening day of April 24, 2009;[20] it ended its opening weekend at the top of the box office, with gross revenue of $28,612,730 in those three days,[21][22] and became the second-biggest opening weekend for a Screen Gems film ever.[23] The film spent its entire first week of release at number one and grossed $34,802,334, however it slipped to number three the following week due to the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.[22][24]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 19% based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The inevitable Fatal Attraction comparisons aside, Obsessed is a generic, toothless thriller both instantly predictable and instantly forgettable."[18] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 25 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[26]

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.[27] Variety's John Anderson and The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt criticized Lisa's lack of motive and backstory.[3] 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."[28] Liz Braun from Jam! lambasted the lack of character development in Obsessed and called it "a chemistry-free movie".[29] 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".[30]

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