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Obsession

Obsession

Thriller · Mystery · Drama · 1976

A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.

Movie details

Obsession

“A bizarre story of love.”

1976 Thriller · Mystery · Drama 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Obsession?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Lady from Shanghai

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A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

The Mask of Dimitrios

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Appointment with Death

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Bill Baker, an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma, travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, Allison, who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit. Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Brian De Palma

Written by

Paul Schrader · Brian De Palma

Cliff Robertson

Cliff Robertson

Michael Courtland

Geneviève Bujold

Geneviève Bujold

Elizabeth Courtland / Sandra Portinari

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

Robert Lasalle

S

Sylvia Kuumba Williams

Maid

W

Wanda Blackman

Amy Courtland

J. Patrick McNamara

J. Patrick McNamara

Third Kidnapper

S

Stanley J. Reyes

Inspector Brie

Court is in session

Put Obsession on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.