- Title: Secret Obsession
- Director: Peter Sullivan
- Text type: Film
Secret Obsession is a film about a woman named Jennifer getting into an accident and forgetting everything. I felt very on edge whilst watching the film “Secret Obsession.” The character Ryan Garrity was impersonating Jennifer Allen’s real husband, Russell Williams. This uneasy feeling came from the fact that after Jennifer’s “accident,” Ryan Garrity took advantage of her memory loss, and took his obsession with her to the next level. Throughout the film right up until the ending, there was an imbalance of justice. Ryan had stopped at nothing to ensure he could make a life with Jennifer. He took it into his own hands to kill her parents, her actual husband Russell, and even a man who dropped off flowers to the hospital for her. When Jennifer finally shot him at the end of the film, she was getting justice for not only herself, after the mental and physical torture he had put her through, but also for the four people that he had killed. Ryan had now committed those murders for nothing because he ended up in the same place as them. A turning point for Jennifer, leading up to this moment was when she was looking through a photo album in bed. She was trying to jog her memory of her life before the accident. She noticed that one of the pictures didn’t seem right, as from the front her “husband” had grey hair, but from behind in the mirror reflection, his hair was brown. This made her question him. From that point, she couldn’t fully trust him. But it was when she found her ID in his wallet, she knew for sure that he isn’t who he said he was. Jennifer knew that her only option was to kill him in order to get justice for herself, but also for his victims. Throughout this film, Ryan Garrity also felt he was getting justice for himself. He had loved Jennifer for so long but she never reciprocated the feelings, which left him hurt and upset. He felt the only logical thing to do was to kill her husband Russell and get her into an accident. Ryan wanted this so he had the opportunity for her to fall in love with him. This is showing justice because he was getting what he felt like he deserved to have, a life with Jennifer without Russell getting in the way. “I probably would have killed you, too, but… the funniest thing happened. Fate gave me a chance.” Through Ryan saying this, it is showing justice as he is justifying his actions, whilst still holding himself accountable. I feel like this is a form of justice in Ryans perspective as he is taking responsibility for his actions, but he is now getting what he feels like he deserves, which is Jennifer. Jennifer’s and Ryan’s perception of justice are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. This has made me realise that justice is a broad concept which every individual person perceives in different ways, and acts upon in different ways. This film has taught me a lot about justice but more specifically, that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So because Ryan Garrity took the lives of four innocent people, it was only fair that his life is taken away from him to regain moral rightness. In Ryans perspective, it was only fair that Jennifer’s husband died so he had a fair opportunity to love her, this can be seen through Ryan Garrity saying “All I have ever wanted is for you to love me.” This quote is showing an imbalance of justice, as he is indicating that Jennifers love is all that he has ever wanted, and what he feels like he deserves. This imbalance of justice in Ryans perspective is due to Jennifer never falling in love with him, which makes him feel like he is not getting what he deserves. This film is filled with extremely relevant topics in the present day, identity theft, stalking, obsession, and murder. These actions are all occurring in this film, and are real-life issues that exist in the world. These issues also go hand in hand with the concept of justice, as justice is the act of being equal to your actions and showing moral rightness. This is why the people who commit these crimes end up dead, or in jail to reset their moral compass. “Secret obsession” captures all of these ideas and is able to present them in a believable and modern way. I can connect to this film as I understand the feeling of wanting to get justice for myself after someone has turned out to be not who they say they are. I also feel like this film has many ideas that not only I can relate to but many others can relate to as well.