By: Emily Parsons, Editorial Intern
Spoilers from “Obsession”
Imagine, suddenly, you become separated from your body, and your will is under someone else’s control. What do you think will happen? Apparently, nothing good.
“Obsession” follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a loser obsessed with his close childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrete). Bear is a depressed coward unable to express his true feelings due to his deep fear of rejection, while Nikki is a bright, creative writer eager to move forward with her life. Bear’s character is an accurate representation of insecure males who are unable to accept rejection from women and a terrifying twist of what happens when you wish for someone to center their entire life around you. Bear was never in love with Nikki, but was in love with the idea of being with her – relating to how many people experience limerent-driven attractions. Many relationships now are similar to this trope, especially with the presence of internet platforms and people’s lack of face-to-face connection.
This concept that Curry Barker tackles is a clear metaphor for the widespread issue of dysfunctional relationships and lack of genuine bonds in the modern age.
At only 26 years old, Curry Barker created Obsession, an indie horror movie now recognized as the highest-grossing film ever made with under one million dollars. His self-taught filmmaking skills may be proof that you don’t always need millions of dollars or film school to create a Hollywood masterpiece.
Barker dropped out of the New York Film Academy campus in Los Angeles after meeting Cooper Tomlinson (who plays Ian in Obsession). They created a comedy-horror YouTube channel called That’s a Bad Idea, where Barker began experimenting with his individual, unique film style. Their YouTube channel has collected a large audience over time, now with 1.5 million subscribers, contributing to the popularity of Barker’s first film release.
Other filmmakers like Issa Rae, who created a YouTube comedy series in 2011 called The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, and Quinta Brunson, who made an Instagram series in 2014 called The Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date, followed a similar route in pursuing film as a career — using the internet to share their creations and gain a following. Curry Barker, Kane Parsons and Markiplier are all recent examples of online content creators who used their platforms to pursue their aspirations in film.
Film directors like Barker will keep theater alive in this generation if their future releases have as much praise and attention as Obsession. The popularity of this movie poses a question: What else will Gen-Z filmmakers bring to the table in the upcoming years, and how will Hollywood change?