The phrase “be careful what you wish for” warns that our desires can bring unintended consequences. The classic horror story The Monkey’s Paw from 1902 by W.W. Jacobs remains the definitive example: Mr and Mrs White’s wishes are granted literally, but at a cruel, ironic, or devastating cost for daring to tempt fate. In his feature debut, Obsession, writer/director Curry Barker pushes that idea to its most unsettling and darkly comedic extreme. When a shy music store employee uses a supernatural gift to make his crush fall in love with him, a gruesome and wildly unpredictable chain of events unfolds, giving the classic cautionary tale of desire and possession a distinctly modern horror twist.
The path from comedian and sketch creator to horror filmmaker has proven to be a surprisingly effective pipeline, with directors such as Zach Cregger and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou emerging as standout voices in the genre. Following the viral success of his found-footage horror Milk & Serial on YouTube, Curry Barker appears poised to join that list. Blending his background in sketch comedy with a clear love of horror, the YouTuber-turned-filmmaker has crafted an indie festival hit that leaves audiences shrieking and laughing in equal measure.
Obsession is a wildly high-concept horror film built around a single wish spiralling disastrously out of control. Bear (Michael Johnston) is an awkward and often afraid young man who struggles to express himself, spending most of his time with his childhood friend and co-worker Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), as well as fellow employees Nikki (Inde Navarrette) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Secretly infatuated with Nikki, Bear is too anxious to admit how he feels. One particularly funny opening scene sees him awkwardly rehearsing a confession to Nikki with a diner waitress, much to Ian’s amusement – and more importantly, his judgement.
Trying to find a way to break the ice, Bear searches for a gift for Nikki in a quirky new-age store. There, he comes across a supernatural trinket known as the “One Wish Willow,” which promises to grant a single, non-reversible wish when snapped in half. Despite the shopkeeper warning him about the endless stream of customer complaints tied to the object, Bear selfishly uses the charm on himself, wishing for Nikki to love him unconditionally. What he unknowingly unleashes, however, is a possessive, unhinged, and relentlessly devoted version of Nikki who will do absolutely anything to remain by his side. Barker has an outrageous amount of fun exploring just how far the definition of “anything” can go.
In the era of the manosphere, it’s not difficult to read the film’s wish-granting object as a metaphor for masculine control and entitlement. Bear may be timid and insecure, but his desire for Nikki to “love him more than anyone else in the world” reveals a deeply selfish impulse that quickly rebounds on him in both grotesque and disastrous ways. Whether it’s moving into his apartment, refusing to leave his side, or smothering him with affection in every possible setting, Nikki transforms from Bear’s innocent crush into an inescapable nightmare. Some of the film’s most chilling moments arrive when Nikki briefly snaps back to her original self, screaming in terror as though trapped beneath some kind of psychic possession.
With a budget of just $1 million, Obsession still looks and sounds remarkably polished. Taylor Clemens shoots the film in a murky, brown-tinted palette that lends everything a grimy, suffocating atmosphere, often obscuring Nikki’s face in shadow for unsettling effect. Rock Burwell’s eerie score cleverly slips in and out of the diegesis, mirroring Nikki’s unpredictable shifts in behaviour. Her vocal performance becomes increasingly volatile too, with screeches, whimpers, and piercing outbursts that reflect Bear’s steadily unravelling mental state.
In the film’s second half, several monstrous sequences land with shocking brutality and unrelenting impact, with a few stretching the indulgent 109-minute runtime. Even so, Barker’s script maintains enough tonal control to let bursts of dark humour break through, allowing audiences to laugh even as the set pieces grow increasingly absurd. Michael Johnston does an ample job of portraying Bear’s ever-worsening situation, even if he occasionally struggles to break away from a permanently “sad puppy dog” expression. Inde Navarrette is the film’s standout, delivering an all-encompassing performance that runs the full gamut of the horror lexicon and anchors the film’s escalating chaos.
Obsession uses its uncomplicated premise to explore how desire can curdle into control, particularly the destructive way men attempt to shape and possess women’s autonomy. With a showstopping performance from Inde Navarrette, an incisive script, and confident direction from Curry Barker, the film finds inventive ways to make the familiar “make a wish” trope feel fresh, unsettling, and unpredictable. Under its disturbing craft, it highlights how quickly male insecurity turns into coercion – and how damaging cowardice can be in place of honesty. We all make wishes, but Obsession shows some gifts are wrapped in consequence.
