Horror film 'Obsession' is a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for

It makes a strange sort of sense that so many new horror filmmakers come from the world of sketch comedy. Jordan Peele is the godfather of this trend, moving from Comedy Central to the Academy Awards with “Get Out.” “Barbarian” and “Weapons” director Zach Cregger started his career as one of “The Whitest Kids U' Know,” and now here comes 26-year-old wunderkind Curry Barker, who along with creative partner Cooper Tomlinson parlayed their popular YouTube channel “That’s a Bad Idea” into “Obsession,” the midnight movie sensation that brought the house down at this spring’s Boston Underground Film Festival.

Part of it is simply survival. Hollywood executives stupidly banish most comedies to streaming these days, so if you’re a funny filmmaker who wants to play in theaters you’d better find another genre. Scary movies are a logical choice because they similarly rely on staging and the element of surprise to elicit an involuntary reaction from the audience. Like comedy sketches, horror films often stem from the literalization of absurd concepts. As Peele is fond of saying, the only difference between comedy and horror is the music.

“Obsession” has scary music, but it’s awfully funny. And I say awfully because it’s sick and disgusting and I cackled like a maniac. Barker’s swaggering big-screen debut is perhaps too simple a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for, pulled off with great style and mean-spirited glee. Shot on a shoestring for $750,000, “Obsession” has a polished confidence that puts major studio efforts to shame, plus a star-making performance from Inde Navarrette as the dreamgirl of your nightmares. It also boasts a couple of shocking moments horror fans will probably be talking about for the rest of the summer. (I apologize to everyone sitting near me for how hard I laughed at the cat thing.)

Michael Johnston stars as Bear, a drippy nice guy who has been not-so-secretly pining for his friend and co-worker Nikki (Navarrette) ever since high school. They’re floating around in that pre-adulthood limbo, working crummy jobs at a music store (owned by an underused Andy Richter) and going to the same trivia night at the same bar every week with the same group of friends, waiting for their lives to begin. Bear wants to spill it all and tell Nikki how he really feels, much to the chagrin of his loutish best friend (Tomlinson) and the girl next door (Megan Lawless), who everyone can see feels about Bear the way he feels about Nikki.

The truth about darling Nikki is that she’s just not that into him, and Bear blows his big chance to confess his crush during a scene that’s almost as hard to watch as any of the horror and gore that follows. In frustration, our friend-zoned hero turns to a cheap novelty trinket he bought as a gag gift from a New Age crystal shop. Called a One Wish Willow, it’s a magic stick that promises to bring whoever snaps it their heart’s desire. Bear wishes that Nikki would love him more than anything else in the world. Maybe he should have phrased that differently.

Now she likes him. I mean, really likes him. Navarrette’s performance is so inventive and unsettling because Nikki no longer seems to be in control of her body, prone to odd facial glitches, muscle spasms and the occasional blood-curdling shriek. She looks at her new lover with a dead-eyed, penetrating gaze, panicking whenever he leaves her presence. The suddenly smothering Nikki moves in and tries to duct tape the front door shut so he can’t go to work. This isn’t anything like how Bear imagined it would be. Yet he happily sleeps with her anyway, pretending not to notice her blank stare at the ceiling while he thrusts away.

Their friends see that something’s wrong here. They figure Nikki’s either having drug problems or a mental health episode, but either way Bear is taking advantage of her like a real creep. There’s a more disturbing movie skirting around the edges of “Obsession,” one about nice boys who can’t handle rejection from a pretty girl and their need to own and control what they covet. To fully reckon with the implications of what happens to Nikki would probably be unbearable to watch, which I’m guessing is why Barker backs away and leans into the sicko laughs instead, going full “Fatal Attraction” when she decides she’s not going to be ignored.

The director made a big splash online in 2024 with “Milk & Serial,” a found footage horror sendup of YouTube prank culture that he and Tomlinson shot for a reported $800. It’s a very clever calling card without being a particularly good movie, though it proceeds from the valid notion that people who play elaborate practical jokes on their friends are disturbed sociopaths. “Obsession” is a huge leap forward in both style and execution, making smart use of silhouettes, backgrounds and Navarrette’s rubber-limbed physicality, with a decibel-crunching sound design hammering the gross-outs home.

One might argue that the plot could have used a few more complications, yet I was deeply relieved we didn’t have to learn any of the lore behind the One Wish Willow. Most modern horror movies would tack on another 20 minutes of exposition about how the mystical wishing stick works, making us suffer through all sorts of stupid rituals and ancient texts. Instead, we get a hilariously unhelpful tech support call. One running gag that really cracked me up is the utter indifference of every customer service person in the movie, all of them rude in their own amusingly specific ways.

Details like that make “Obsession” a rollicking ride, though be forewarned: this is not a film for food critics or cat lovers.

“Obsession” is now in theaters.