If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces but I am hoping to generate a few bucks to pay for my web site and some other costs. Paid subscribers do have access to frequent premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!

I went to see Obsession recently, the remarkable new horror movie from a sketch comedy artist named Curry Barker. He is 26 years old and directed what has become one of the greatest box office success stories ever. Obsession cost about $750,000 to make, and has earned about $425 million at the box office. You don’t need to be an accountant at a drug cartel to realize that is a good return on investment.

I’ll summarize the movie without spoiling it. A young dude has strong feelings for a friend of his, and isn’t sure if she feels the same way. He ends up making a wish that she would love him more than anything else in the world.

The dream comes true, and it goes horribly awry (though I will say, Obsession is one of the funniest movies I have seen this year, too). She becomes obsessed with him, so every waking moment of every day is devoted to him, and only to him. There are moments when the old version of her sneaks through, but the auto-pilot zombie version of her eventually always take control again.

You can probably feel the parallels, right? This lovely young woman has been devoured from the inside by this obsession, and it has turned her into a shell of herself. Every action must support her addiction: him.

The part that hit me the hardest was the idea that the good, normal version of her was in there, trying to escape. But a monster had taken over her body, and fighting against it was hopeless.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, because I actually thought the ending was quite good. But needless to say, the obsession doesn’t just drift away in the wind—she needs help.

I loved the movie. I thought it did a beautiful job, intended or not, of capturing the craving of someone who needs that one thing to fix everything else. I’d give it 3.5 stars out of 4, with my only minor critique being that I think the lead dude is only an okay actor. I actually found him a little grating, otherwise this might be one of the better horror movies I’ve ever seen.

This newsletter is a place of joy and laughter about the deadly serious business of sobriety. So, as I will often do, let me close with a joke:

Two drunks are talking.

First drunk: “You want to go for a walk?”

Second drunk: “Isn’t it windy?”

First drunk: “No, it’s Thursday.”

Second drunk: “Me too. Let’s get a beer.”

(Credit: AA Grapevine, January 2003, Buck R. from Silver Spring, Maryland)

Please spread the word to a sober friend! Find me on Substack… or Twitter… or Facebook… or Instagram… or YouTube. And introducing my web site, LOLsober.com.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nelsonh.substack.com/subscribe