Obsession (2025)

For his stunning theatrical feature debut, writer/director/editor Curry Barker drew inspiration not directly from the obvious source material of W.W. Jacobs’s classic short story The Monkey’s Paw, but from the now-classic Halloween episode of The Simpsons inspired by it. This is fitting because, while Obsession is easily the scariest movie of the year so far, it is also one of the funniest, and Barker’s keen sense of the fine line between comedy and horror is just one of the many things this movie has going for it. Rest assured, there are far worse fates than a dry turkey sandwich. 

Barker comes from a sketch comedy background, following in the footsteps of other recently minted horror masters like Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope) and Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons), with whom he shares not only a strong comedic sensibility, but also their socially conscious satirical edge and talent for unnerving surprises. Get Out in particular comes to mind when witnessing the bone-deep horror of what Nikki (Inde Navarrette) is subjected to at the hands of her supposed friend Bear (Michael Johnston), and the unexpectedly over-the-top violence of both Cregger’s features also has its place here. Barker deserves all the praise he’s received and more, but the lead performance in Obsession is also an all-timer for the genre, and for movies in general. 

Navarrette absolutely tears down the house as Nikki, just your average fucked-up girl looking for her own peace of mind (to paraphrase another high-concept favorite), who has the terrible misfortune of being the object of Bear’s unrequited crush. Bear is the kind of all-too-common “nice guy” more inclined to milk his cat’s death for sympathy than to admit his feelings for a woman when she asks him point-blank. While shopping for a thoughtful gift to try and weasel his way into Nikki’s heart, he stumbles upon this story’s monkey paw, a mystical toy known as the One Wish Willow. Simplicity itself, the small piece of wood magically grants one wish to whomever breaks it in half whilst voicing their desire aloud. 

Bear, of course, doesn’t really believe it will work, and perhaps that is why he is rather careless making his wish: that Nikki will love him “more than anyone in the fucking world.” Predictably, this quickly becomes more than he bargained for, but there is little else predictable about the way his misguided wish plays out, and I would never stoop so low as to spoil any of the delicious turns this devilishly entertaining ride takes. Barker and company ingeniously turn the audience’s identification with the protagonist—who is certainly believable, if certainly not sympathetic—on its head, making us root for the ostensible monster. 

In that way, Obsession is something of a riff on Frankenstein as well as The Monkey’s Paw. Nikki becomes a monster because of what Bear has done to her, and only a fool would fail to see that he is the real villain. “Be careful what you wish for” is a well-worn sentiment, but the freshness Barker and his stellar cast and crew bring to it here is both unexpected and very welcome. Obsession is an absolute must-see for horror fans.