The Final Obsession (Short)
Rebecca Hughes (Wensday Greenbaum) is a well-known actress whose films are popular on a Lifetime-like TV channel. She’s not really a great actress, but she has a great support system. She also has an obsessed fan in Jacoby (Dan White), who knows everything about Rebecca’s life, including the fact that her husband is cheating on her. He’s been keeping to himself, mostly, although he does make disturbing calls to her house involving heavy breathing, but he’s ready to make his dream life with Rebecca come true, and it just happens to coincide with her finding out about her husband’s indiscretions.
Writer-director Adam Theroux’s short film, “The Final Obsession,” moves between Jacoby watching Rebecca’s films and Rebecca’s personal life, which has become fractured by tragedy. The performances aren’t always strong, but the storytelling is effective for the type of movie he’s making, which is an escalation, and convergence, that we expect, but aren’t sure how it’s going to get there. When it does get there Theroux’s got some unsettling moments in store for the viewer that will get under our skin, and into our head. We don’t really know what fate will befall Rebecca and Jacoby, but Theroux draws us into the characters enough to leave us asking such questions, and caring what the answers may be, which is always a good way to close things out.
