Curry Barker created the viral horror movie Milk & Serial, a found footage film he released on YouTube, grabbing over 1.6 million views. Barker has taken his success from social media and written and directed his first feature film, debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, called Obsession. The dark and eerie horror film follows the journey of a hopeless romantic attempting to get his crush to love him back.
Obsession follows Bear, someone stuck in the friend zone who makes a wish that his longtime crush will fall in love with him. Things take a sinister turn when a web of obsessions and manipulation comes with unfortunate consequences. The film stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette in the lead roles.
Obsession Review
The film opens with Bear sitting in the middle of a restaurant practicing a speech he plans to give his longtime crush. Later that night, Bear gives Nikki a ride home, where she confronts him about whether he likes her. Despite his true feelings, he lies to her, saying they are really good friends. After she got out of the car, Bear used something he got from the “woo-woo” shop to make a wish that Nikki loved him more than anything in the world.
The “spell” quickly works, with Nikki beginning to express her feelings for Bear. A montage of the foundation of their relationship starts with the two being in this bubble. At the center of it all is Nikki’s father, who is apparently sick, but Bear’s best friend, Ian, does some digging only to find out that her father isn’t sick at all. At this point, Bear realizes that his wish might’ve come true but isn’t so sure he wants it all to stop.
Curry Barker asks, “How far would you go to get what you want?” The concept of the friend zone has been played out in many ways in film history. Barker’s twisted mind takes us on a twisted ride that begs the real question of being careful what you wish for. Barker’s script is daring, creepy, and downright haunting. And in his direction, I was awed by his ability to capture this odd sense of claustrophobia within Bear that makes you feel trapped with him.
Michael Johnston had quite an interesting role in navigating the ins and outs of his portrayal of Bear. Bear isn’t much of a likable guy, and even as things unravel for him, you aren’t convinced whether to feel sorry for him or maybe believe he was getting what he had coming to him. Johnston’s ability to portray that claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in something he couldn’t get out of was brilliant.
A star is born in the world of horror with Inde Navarrette. Her portrayal of Nikki is by far one of the best performances of the year. The flip from the somewhat innocent haunt to obsessive, creepy, and overbearing lover was masterful. Navarrette made a name for herself on Superman & Lois, but I can see a long, bright future for her as being one of the queens of horror. There were a few moments that Nikki downright scared the hell out of you, including in the moments when she goes from soft-spoken to this loud, haunting tone.
Narratively speaking, Barker’s biggest issue was letting things go on for far too long. Mostly everything falls into place the way Barker intends within the first and second acts, and while he never truly loses steam, the third act almost felt a little too long. There are little moments here and there that felt like they could’ve been trimmed to make this a little tighter. This was one of the few things holding this back from being a damn-near perfect movie.
Is Obsession Worth Watching?
Curry Barker’s Obsession is a twisted horror love affair with a star-making performance by Inde Navarrette. This is far and away the best horror movie of 2025. Barker’s creative horror mind is something we should all get used to seeing because this is just the beginning for him. If Obsession gets a wide release, it has all the makings of being a box office hit with a cult-type following.
Obsession premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 4-14.
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