One of the most controversial dramas right now is Obsession (Obsession, Love And Envy), an adaptation of a novel Damage (1991) by British writer Josephine Hart.
Short film 18+ with a duration of 4 episodes, aired on April 13, about William (Richard Armitage), a successful surgeon in London (England), entangled in a false and obsessive love affair with Anna (Charlie Murphy), the fiancée of William’s son.
In episode 2, William follows Anna to Paris (France) and rents a hotel room that she just paid for. Anna’s scent lingered on the bed sheets, making William unable to control himself, leading to the scene of the middle-aged male doctor “comforting himself” while smelling a pillow.
Richard Armitage’s character is so obsessed with his son’s fiancée that he follows her to Paris, rents out the room she used to live in, and “comforts” with the pillow she gives her. Photo: Netflix.
The scene shocked viewers. Most criticized the film scene naked, too realistic. They are also annoyed with the male lead’s image of intrigue, perversion, and immorality.
Many critical comments were left on Twitter: “After watching the movie, I think I will bring my own pillow and bed sheet next time I rent a hotel”, “This man is a father, husband and bad people. The pillow doesn’t deserve this treatment”, “The lesson learned after watching this movie is never to trust any man. They would rather hug another woman’s lightly scented pillow than be faithful to their own wife.”
Richard Armitage explained that the controversial scene was not in the script but came up with his and his colleagues when they were trying to get into the character with a psychologically deviant.
“It all happened unexpectedly because that scene in the script was written completely differently. We prepared a tissue with her lipstick stain on it but it didn’t work after that. I don’t think it should be funny in any way. So we left it open and a little improvised. Charlie sprayed the scent she used during the shoot into different positions on the bed without my knowledge. However, it did give me inspiration and the idea of the scene flashed. Creating it was really not in the plan,” he revealed to Independent .
Despite the “burning eyes”, Obsession not received by the audience. The movie only received 21% of the audience rating on the site Rotten Tomatoes. The audience criticized the plot and characters in the film as bullshit, which did not bring any meaning, and instead looked like pointless porn.
Obsession was criticized as pointless porn. Photo: Netflix.
According to NY Post
