Overview
A man's past haunts him when he meets a woman who looks just like his lost love.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- romantic
- foreboding
- late night suspense viewing
- cinephile movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized the film as an exceptionally stylish, romantic suspense melodrama, while disagreeing over whether its Hitchcockian homage was inspired or derivative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Michael Courtland becomes attached to Sandra because of her resemblance to his supposedly deceased wife Elizabeth, turning mourning into a project of emotional restoration.
De Palma's sweeping camera movements, romantic score, and heightened treatment of guilt and desire make melodramatic excess central to the film's effect.
The Elizabeth Courtland and Sandra Portinari identities are central to the film's suspense and its eventual revelation.
The film explicitly echoes Vertigo through doubles, romantic obsession, traumatic loss, and recurring visual motifs of disorientation.
Films like Obsession, and why
Vertigo
shared psychological thriller structure, romantic fixation, identity manipulation, and elaborate visual style
The Conversation
shared neo-noir atmosphere, guilt-ridden protagonist, convoluted mystery, and fatalistic romance
Body Double
shared melodramatic suspense, deceptive identities, romantic obsession, and stylized direction
The Vanishing
shared psychological mystery, traumatic loss, and an emotionally driven search for hidden truth
Movie Details
- Director
- Brian De Palma
- Release Date
- 1976-08-01
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (334)
Cast
- Cliff Robertson
- Geneviève Bujold
- John Lithgow
- Sylvia Kuumba Williams
- Wanda Blackman
- J. Patrick McNamara
- Stanley J. Reyes
- Nick Kreiger
- Stocker Fontelieu
- Don Hood
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Artiflix
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Obsession about?
- A grieving New Orleans magnate finds a second chance at love in Italy, only to become ensnared in a labyrinth of resemblance, guilt, and concealed identity.
- What is Obsession like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Obsession as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Obsession violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Obsession as mild.
- What did critics think of Obsession?
- Critics broadly recognized the film as an exceptionally stylish, romantic suspense melodrama, while disagreeing over whether its Hitchcockian homage was inspired or derivative.
- Which films are like Obsession?
- Films with a similar feel include Vertigo, The Conversation, Body Double, and The Vanishing.
- How long is Obsession?
- Obsession runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch Obsession?
- In United States, Obsession streams on Artiflix.
