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26 | she/her • they/them

[nessa007]

major production companies watching curry barker (age 26) and kane parsons (age 20) have major success at the box office with their theatrical debut films, obsession and backrooms respectively

[fantasypeasantgirl]

OBSESSION (2026) SPOILERS

I've heard a lot of comments talking about when Bear truly becomes irredeemable. The "what's so bad about being with me?" line, asking to alter the wish instead of cancel it outright, his "as a friend" wish attempt still invalidating Nikki's free will, the sex scene that was bluntly just rape, there's many options to choose from.

But honestly, I think he becomes irredeemable the second he snaps that Willow.

Sure, there's an argument to be had: "He didn't know it'd actually work", but like, what did he think was gonna happen? There's one of two outcomes: either it doesn't work and nothing happens or it works and he forces her into the relationship. Clearly you don't just do something like that knowing it won't work, so he must've been aiming for the latter, which ended up happening.

Also, when Ian makes his wish later in the film, he does it dismissively and bluntly, clearly thinking there's no way that it'd actually work. Meanwhile, Bear says it in this frantic, almost desperate tone. There's desperation there. He WANTED it to work.

Also, let's not ignore that he does this immediately after rejecting the chance to open up to Nikki. He has the choice to be open with her, to actually ask her out, but he doesn't. Why? Whilst it's partially his cowardice and fear of rejection, I think there's also a part of him that knows Nikki's never gonna like him back.

She's moving away, she sees him as a brother and he just avoided his chance to shoot his shot. To Bear, there's no way he asks out Nikki successfully, so he resorts to a bizzare, last-ditch attempt to force her consent, snapping the Willow.

[skullvis]

*Minor Spoilers for Obsession 2026*

So I did go see Obsession again last night and made sure to pay extra attention to Bear’s little opening monologue when he’s practicing his love confession to Nikki.

Bear doesn’t say a single thing about Nikki as a person in his speech. He doesn’t say that he loves her kindness and how she cares for others, he doesn’t talk about how he loves her creativity or care-free spirit, he doesn’t talk about what he likes about her.

He talks about nice things she’s done for him. He talks about what she means to him. He talks about her being there for him, and how he likes how she’s treated him.

And while I won’t pretend that those things aren’t important, they are the only things Bear mentions in his big vulnerable romantic speech.

Bear’s “confession” tells us literally nothing about Nikki other than that she’s been nice to Bear in the past.

But in a subtle way, his “love confession” tells us a LOT about Bear and his actual feelings for Nikki.

He likes that she’s been nice to him. That’s it.

He likes that she’s been nice to him, and whether it was an unconscious process or not, Bear has responded to Nikki’s being nice to him by becoming obsessed and infatuated with her.

To the point that, once he’s (albeit initially unwittingly) in a position of power over her, he completely disregards her personhood and begins to feel entitled to her and her body.

That’s another layer to Obsession that I find absolutely chilling. That so often just being nice or polite to someone won’t lead to them showing you that same kindness in return, but will instead lead them to feeling entitled to you.

[skullvis]

First time watching Obsession 2026 (dir. Curry Barker) moodboard

[he-wears-fine-things-well]

“What’s so bad about being with me?” You raped her. You changed her so fundamentally she is literally not the same person anymore. You took her body and her mind with no consideration for her own feelings about you. You dominate her life in a way she no longer has a life. You took everything from her but her life. She begged you to kill her but in your mind her not loving you was a fate worse than her death. It was never about you but you made it so anyway. She literally doesn’t exist without you. That is what your obsession did to her

[deadpowol]

Obsession (2026)

[mikesapienza]

My "Obsession" film poster.

Now available in my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeSapienzaDesigns

[crimeronan]

gonna go watch obsession in theaters. very excited to have meta thoughts after experiencing it on the big screen. for now i just wanna say that bear killing his cat through the negligence of his poor choices (re: leaving opioids lying around) is a BRILLIANT metaphor and piece of foreshadowing for like. literally Everything that's going to happen in his relationship with nikki.

[cutter-kirby]

this is a moment in the original script that I wish they'd kept in the final version of obsession. the absolute disgusting way that real nikki appearing just becomes routine for bear and he completely ignores her in order to keep her. it's so horrifying the way her torment turns into something he hardly acknowledges

[nessa007]

Inde Navarrette in hair and make-up for OBSESSION (2026) Dir. Curry Barker

[batter-sempai]

So from what I understand this is basically the Iron Lung, Project Hail Mary, Obsession, and Backrooms movies

[yurimom]

obsession was great. the themes are especially great when viewed thru a feminist lens. i think you could even go so far as to view it as a metaphor for reactive abuse (the way bear makes a wish for nikki to love him more than anything in the world / be obsessed with him, then lets everyone believe she’s just gone crazy put of nowhere, all while still not wanting to end his relationship with her. of course it’s not one to one but the subtle themes are there.)

i also enjoyed how the film showed what everyday violations of consent can look like…media often shows the most obvious, often-dramatized occurrences of it, but this depicted a more common way of it showing up.

bear did indeed take advantage of nikki while she was in a mentally unstable state. he was well aware her consent was compromised. all the while he is very insecure about it, knows what he is doing, becomes aware even that nikki is aware and it is hurting her, continues doing it. i love that this film names this. it even critiques “not like the other girls” anti-feminism through sarah, who sees it as nikki taking advantage of bear…then she ironically tries to take advantage of bear’s vulnerable state herself by coming onto him.

also on a smaller note nikki’s batshit incestuous gorey hansel and gretel story had great prose i enjoyed it. my partner pointed out that before the wish, nikki saw bear as a little brother figure. meaning the hansel and gretel thing very well could have come from real feelings of disgust, like it nearly feels like an incestuous relationship to her.

and the ENDING. a lesser film would have insisted that, in these circumstances where the wish can only be broken if one of them dies, the male lead must survive between the two. but there was no self sacrifice from nikki out of “love”, there was no moment of lucidity or jealousy or rage where she kills herself, bear is forced by the narrative to take full responsibility for what he has done to nikki. what’s more— he reaches for a gun, almost uses it, ultimately decides on overdosing on pills. my partner and i personally think this was intentional commentary on masculinity, by having bear consider, then reject, the way men typically choose suicide in favor of the way women typically choose it. just a fun detail and maybe we’re both batshit.

good movie. all of that said though i’m sure a lot of people will boil it down to “haha women are soooo crazy…”

[susiephone]

i love that Obsession didn't do the "oh if you'd just asked her out she would've said yes" thing.

like that kind of "you didn't need magic, you could've gotten what you want the honest way" dramatic irony can be effective and i see why a lot of writers use it for "be careful what you wish for" plots like these, but i love that Obsession is like, "no. she doesn't like you like that. there is no version of this where you end up dating her, and you need to get over it."

and nikki clearly did value bear's friendship and care about him; if he'd been honest with her about his feelings, she probably would've tried to let him down easy and remain friends - but of course, it's unlikely that he would've been willing to remain friends. bear's both too cowardly to admit the truth to nikki (which would've prompted her to reject him outright and at least given him closure), and too obsessed with her to just quietly accept that it wasn't gonna happen (which would've let him maybe start to get over his crush and move on). he's both convinced they belong together and unwilling to be direct in doing something about it, and he doesn't get even the barest comfort of knowing the real nikki loved him all along. she didn't. she liked him, but she didn't love him. and he swapped her out for a version of her that "loves" him... but doesn't like him. and he still wanted to try and make that work, even knowing the real nikki was trapped and miserable inside the shell of her body, being used by the thing he willed into existence. the tragedy doesn't happen because what he wants is within reach and he doesn't realize it - the tragedy happens because what he wants is impossible, and he refuses to see that until it's too late.

[furiosa-femininst]

Based

[crimeronan]

So You Watched Obsession And Want To Mainline Curry Barker's Short Horror:

wonderful news!! curry barker is one of my favorite (if not my favorite, hands down) short horror directors. as someone who has watched hundreds and hundreds of short horror films on youtube.

here are five of his films with the runtime and a quick summary of each. (sorry if i miss any, these are what i remember off the top of my head!) i've avoided spoilers beyond the basic premise, but every single one of these deals with Absolutely Haunting Thematic Shit:

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THE CHAIR - 25 minutes

when horror connoisseurs hear "curry barker," they usually think of the chair first. barker was approached to make this into a full-length film & pitched obsession instead... GREAT choice, as i don't think the chair would Work with extra runtime.

a man finds an old chair on the side of the road and brings it home to his girlfriend. strange events begin to unfold -- his girlfriend's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, he's losing time, he's unraveling at the seams....

if you enjoyed the fucked-up relationship dynamics in obsession then you will probably have a good time.

-

MILK & SERIAL - 62 minutes

barker's other best-known horror film. a twisty found footage thriller about youtube pranksters whose pranks Go Wrong (TM).

i can't say much more than that.... if you watched obsession and thought "pretty good, but pretty predictable. i wonder how curry barker would handle a psychological thriller with more plot twists??"

boy, does this film have an answer!!

-

ENIGMA - 20 minutes

this is a psychological thriller about a man dealing with the impending end of the world. explores how other people are also dealing with the end of the world.

i fear i'll give a skewed impression if i say this one is sort of a feel-good film..... but OF the films on this list, it's Certainly the most optimistic. my partner rafi (who really hates depressing horror) watched it with me and concluded, "oh, that was kind of sweet, actually!!"

this one's great if you want a palate cleanser after The Unrelenting Gutwrenching Horror of obsession.

-

WARNINGS - 20 minutes

my personal favorite!! criminally underrated!! upsetting in a way that stuck to my skin for days!!

a man starts receiving strange written warnings on halloween. things around him begin to unravel.

similar to the chair in its unsettling surreality, but with a bit more supernatural influence imo. you'll recognize a lot of parallel imagery to obsession, especially with Strange Movement and Nightmare Experiences.

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HEAVY EYES - 5 minutes

the shortest one on this list if you just want to dip your toes in real quick... a pretty easy time investment if you've never watched short horror and aren't sure if you'll like it!

a boy's mom comes home unexpectedly at night.

the only problem?? she's still texting him from the hospital where she works.

this one is both scary and ended up Way More Haunting than i thought a 5-minute short could. even thinking about it makes my stomach kind of hurt.

[newgodpho]

Obsession (2026)

[deadpowol]