3 reasons why Netflix’s Secret Obsession is so bad it’s good

In case you find yourself overwhelmed by the mass of award-winning content available to stream on Netflix, the platform has provided viewers with an alternative that, while we can’t promise is necessarily worthy of your time, is most certainly so bad, it’s actually good.  

Enter Secret Obsession, a cheesy psychological thriller directed by Peter Sullivan, which just so happens to star The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’s Brenda Song as Jennifer, and Under the Dome’s Mike Vogel as Russell. 

Considering the movie’s two-minute trailer managed to give away the film’s entire storyline long before it had even aired, it’s interesting to note that the Netflix Original now has the internet talking. As such, there’s no denying the streaming platform knew exactly what it was doing when it green-lighted the project, which has unsurprisingly left a trail of memes in its wake. 

If you’ve gotten this far, then it’s safe to assume you’re at least a little tempted to set aside two hours of your precious time to watch Secret Obsession. For further convincing, read on to find out why the cringe-worthy, comical, and also somewhat creepy film is the perfect Friday night flick.

It is filled with clichés

Secret Obsession’s plot is ridiculously predicable. So predictable, you’ll likely think you’ve seen it before. If you’ve watched the trailer, then there’s no need to proceed with caution, because we’re not exactly letting you in on anything you don’t already know. 

A woman has an accident that leaves her with amnesia, her husband takes her back to their home, and she later discovers that he isn’t actually her husband. There’s the token detective with a troubled past who repeatedly fails to call for backup, she has no family or friends to wonder where she’s disappeared to, and the home she’s being held hostage in is rather remote and lacking in mobile reception. 

Ominous music predicts each and every twist and turn, the protagonist is alerted to multiple red flags that she continuously ignores, and viewers are left with countless questions at the conclusion of the film.

It is wildly unrealistic 

One of the most entertaining features of the film is just how unrealistic it really is. First and foremost, how was Russell able to claim he was Jennifer’s husband without ever having to prove his identity or produce a form of identification? The doctors knew full well they couldn’t rely on Jennifer to identify the man, given that they had just diagnosed her with amnesia.

Russell later appeared at Jennifer’s side with a scrapbook that was so obviously photoshopped, it was almost painful to sit idly by while this fact was overlooked. Nonetheless, no one questioned its authenticity, and Jennifer was discharged from the hospital after an indeterminate amount of time and next to no rehab.

A number of smaller inconsistencies also served to drive home the ridiculousness of Secret Obsession. How was Jennifer able to break out of the bedroom using a bobby pin on multiple occasions? How was she able to guess that the password to Russell’s computer was her own name? And how was Detective Frank Page able to match one of Jennifer’s tattoos to her maiden name?

Comically, Russell decided to bury the only witness – a large man who he had managed to easily overpower and strangle in the front yard of a house lit up by street lamps, as a car alarm alerted the neighbours to his whereabouts – in the middle of his backyard. Not only was the mound of dirt that he was buried under not flush with the level of the ground, but it was also in plain view. 

While Jennifer was able to yank her foot out of the chains that were used to tie her to the bed, she was unable to remember that emergency services are able to be called without mobile reception, and Russell was unable to catch her as she ran into the woods, despite her injury. 

On top of the countless details that were overlooked above, the internet is in hysterics over just how fake the bodies of Jennifer’s parents looked, how large the mound of scrambled eggs Russell had served her for breakfast seemed, and just how many times he had disappeared to run errands, leaving her alone to snoop. 

It purposely pokes fun at the thriller trope 

As previously mentioned, it seems likely that Netflix produced Secret Obsession – a movie that is very much in the vein of those that typically air on the Lifetime channel – in an effort to emulate the success of numerous other low-budget, cringe-inducing films. 

Reminiscent of The Princess Switch – a Christmas movie that was riddled with editing errors when Netflix premiered it last November – there is no doubt that Secret Obsession is purposely poking fun at the tropes of the film genre it falls under. Nevertheless, it’s most certainly a film worth watching if you’re prepared to laugh your way through the majority of it.