Netflix’s newest hit series is certainly living up to its name – Obsession.
As in, it’s become everyone’s newest obsession! Social media has lit up with praise and comments on the steamy new series.
After the news that Sex/Life won’t be coming back for a third season, Obsession came just in time to give viewers a bit of raunch, a bit of risk and a whole load of Richard Armitage.
Written by Morgan Lloyd-Malcolm, Obsession focuses on a forbidden affair between top surgeon William (The Stranger's Richard Armitage) and his son’s fiancée Anna (Happy Valley’s Charlie Murphy).
Is Obsession on Netflix based on a true story?
The steamy drama isn’t based on a true story, but it is based on a book.
The series is based on Josephine Hart’s 1991 novel Damage – and Netflix weren’t the first to adapt the novel into a cinematic romp.
Damage was previously adapted into a 1992 film starring Jeremy Irons (House of Gucci) and Juliette Binoche (Chocolat).
Obsession takes the novel into a new direction, however. An intentional choice to focus more on the female character’s perspective.
In an interview with Stylist magazine, the show’s writer Morgan Lloyd-Malcolm explained, “I loved the book… but it was written entirely from a man’s point of view. Anna, his lover, is portrayed as a kind of vamp who comes into the family, blows everything up and then disappears. Her primary function is to serve the purpose of what the male lead needs.”
“I said, ‘If I’m going to do this, I want to make sure I dig into Anna and why she behaves in the way she does.’ I wanted to try and understand the characters in the story – and especially Anna – in a way that wasn’t just two-dimensional.”
Netflix’s Obsession – how many episodes will there be?
Obsession has been billed as a standalone, limited mini-series made up of four hour-long episodes.
All four episodes are streaming now, exclusively on Netflix. Because of the source material, a second season is unlikely.
What happens at the end of Obsession?
*Stop reading now if you want to avoid Obsession spoilers*
So, after four episodes of intense, well, obsession between William and his daughter-in-law / mistress, a happy ending for the pair was likely never on the cards.
On the penultimate episode, the pair are caught by William’s son (and Anna’s fiancé) Jay.
A shocked Jay turns to leave, pursued by his naked father who abandons his tryst to try and stop him. But disaster strikes.
William finds Jay in a pool of blood, after having fallen from the banister. Jay dies in his dad’s arms, never getting to really recover from the shock of finding his dad sleeping with his fiancée.
Losing his son isn’t the only karma William experiences. His wife Ingrid blames him for Jay's death and demands a divorce. Meanwhile, Anna decides to abandon it all and jets off on what would’ve been their honeymoon, alone.
Proving that nothing can stop his obsession, William follows. He tracks a, seemingly unbothered Anna, down to a sunny spot where she could have been toasting her nuptials with Jay.
As they reflect on the chaos behind them, William tells Anna he "couldn't change a thing.” But she decides to end it. She tells him not to look for her again.
The next time we see them both William appears to be alone, living in the flat which witnessed the death of both his son and his affair. He’s still obsessive, reading Anna’s diary.
Anna, meanwhile, is shown in therapy. But just as she begins to open up about her harrowing time with William, she shares a lingering look with her older therapist, reminiscent of the look that started it all with William.
Will the cycle continue for Anna? Netflix leaves that up to viewers’ imaginations.
Is the book ending different?
Netflix’s ending does differ from the original book.
In the novel, William's character (who's called Stephen and is a British politician instead of a surgeon) lives a solitary life abroad, consumed by his obsession.
He spends his remaining days staring at photographs of Anna and his son which cover his walls.
