Stephen King's Thoughts On Obsession Might Surprise Horror Fans
by Witney Seibold · /FilmCurry Barker's horror film "Obsession" has quickly proven to be one of the more significant movies of the 2020s. Barker is part of a new wave of (as is worth noting, largely male) YouTube creators turned horror filmmakers, a group that includes Kane Parsons ("Backrooms"), Markiplier ("Iron Lung"), Chris Stuckmann ("Shelby Oaks"), and Kyle Edward Ball ("Skinamarink"). Having been produced on a budget of just $750,000, "Obsession" has now joined last year's "Sinners" as one of the rare original box office smash-hits since 2020.
The story of "Obsession" is a typical Monkey's Paw tale and was even inspired by an episode of "The Simpsons" that puts its own spin on that narrative tradition. It centers on Bear (Michael Johnston), a young man in love with his co-worker/friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Upon buying a mysterious stick called a One Wish Willow, Bear uses it to wish for Nikki to fall wildly in love with him. It works, but the magic spell isn't as clearcut as Bear initially assumed. Nikki becomes quite affectionate, yet she also starts to behave in disturbing and threatening ways. Gradually, Bear realizes that, in making his wish, he did something horrible to Nikki ... and now she's doing horrible things to him.
Critics have responded well to "Obsession," and rightly so. It's a good, slick, scary crowd-pleaser that's well-wrought and consistently scary, all the way down to its unexpectedly bleak ending. But how does the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King, feel about it? Perhaps surprisingly, he's more restrained in his praise than you might expect, writing on Threads:
"I gave 'Obsession' a B+ in my movie book, but I keep thinking about it. That weird mixture of humor and horror."
Stephen King has given Obsession a B+
Mind you, a B+ from Stephen King is nothing to sneeze at, as his taste in horror movies is pretty good (his opinion on Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" notwithstanding). But again, his response to "Obsession" could be considered unusual for a project that's quickly made a huge impact on pop culture. Compare that to his reaction to Netflix's recent "Lord of the Flies" miniseries, for example.
King's certainly right about "Obsession" having a streak of humor, as a lot of its terror comes from socially awkward moments involving Nikki's demonic behavior. There is a scene, for instance, where Nikki wants Bear to stay home from work so they can be loving and sweet together. Nikki is all grins and purrs while Bear becomes increasingly uncomfortable, having seen something that the audience hasn't yet. A reverse shot suddenly reveals that Nikki has somehow taped Bear's front door shut with many, many rolls of duct tape. Bear, not wanting to upset the terrifying Nikki, pretends like nothing's wrong. It's the kind of "awkward humor" scene that would feel appropriate for a Will Farrell film.
"Obsession" is also full of "fear laughs" — that is, terrifying moments that make audiences jump or squirm, followed by a relieved laugh to break the tension. Curry Barker knows how to make those scenes work. He's only 26, but kicking his career up a gear with such a huge hit spells good things for both the filmmaker and his movie's stars alike. Up next for Barker is a horror comedy flick titled "Anything But Ghosts" and, apparently, a new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie. We can hope that he continues to find ways to make fresh and interesting films.
"Obsession" is still playing in theaters right now.