Curry Barker’s Obsession is now playing in theaters, and with the latest hit horror movie now out, many are wondering just how scary and gory the movie all about a wish gone wrong is.
Is Obsession scary?
Due to Barker being a newcomer to the world of feature-length horror, fans are most likely unfamiliar with his previous work. Barker rose to popularity by making a ton of hilarious skits across social media with Cooper Tomlinson in the sketch comedy duo “that’s a bad idea.” However, in 2024, Barker made his directorial debut with the short horror film Milk & Serial, a terrifying film that very quickly gained him a ton of notoriety and eventually led to his creation of Obsession.
For those unfamiliar with Milk & Serial, they might be surprised to learn that Obsession is actually pretty scary. The movie, which stars Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, and Cooper Tomlinson, follows the story of Baron “Bear’ Bailey (Johnston), a man who buys a novelty toy promising to grant a wish, and uses it to wish that his longtime crush, Nikki Freeman (Navarrette), loves him more than anyone in the world. Things quickly spiral out of control, leading to Freeman becoming hyper-obsessed with Johnston in some disturbing ways.
While not traditionally scary in a “jump scare” way, Obsession features a heavily foreboding atmosphere throughout most of the movie. Specifically, any scene featuring Navarrette (who absolutely delivers a stellar performance) is filled with the kind of “scary” that leaves you anxious at what’s about to happen next. Without spoiling too much, Navrrette’s Nikki goes to some very extreme lengths to prove her devotion to Bear.
How much gore is in Obsession?
While leaning away from traditional horror movie scares, Obsession is definitely not afraid of the gore. The movie doesn’t feature as much as in a project like Evil Dead or, recently, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, but there’s definitely some here, but not for a while. The first two acts of the movie are relatively tame, with the story mostly focusing on Bear coming to terms with the fact that Nikki is actually obsessed with him now.
However, when we enter the third act, things go absolutely wild. Without spoiling it, there’s a handful of very chaotic scenes that do use a ton of gore, and will be sure to leave fans shocked as they watch. After seeing the movie, it’s no surprise Barker was the one given the task of directing A24’s upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, a project that undoubtedly will feature a ton of blood and guts.
Obsession is written and directed by Curry Barker (Milk & Serial). The ensemble cast includesMichael Johnston(Slash) as Bear,Inde Navarrette(Superman & Lois) as Nikki, Cooper Tomlinson (Treasure Trackers) as Ian, Megan Lawless (The Hate U Give) as Sarah, andAndy Richter(Elf) as Carter. Since its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie has received a near-perfect approval rating onRotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews.
Obsession is now playing in theaters.
