Obsession Wins Raves for Inde Navarrette as 26-Year-Old Curry Barker Pushes Horror Limits
Updated
Updated · Toronto Star · May 14
Obsession Wins Raves for Inde Navarrette as 26-Year-Old Curry Barker Pushes Horror Limits
7 articles · Updated · Toronto Star · May 14
Inde Navarrette emerges as the standout in “Obsession,” with the review calling her turn as Nikki a star-making performance built on precise physical and vocal control.
Curry Barker’s debut reworks the Monkey’s Paw myth for the incel era: Bear, a lonely music-store clerk, uses a One Wish Willow to make his crush love him, only for the fantasy to curdle into coercive horror.
Nikki’s shift from rom-com ideal to terrifying captive gives the film its force, while Michael Johnston’s Bear is portrayed as weak and morally compromised rather than sympathetic.
At 26, Barker is credited with refusing to soften the material; one blunt-force-trauma sequence was edited to satisfy ratings requirements, though the film is still described as brutally intense.
The review says that mix of craft, cruelty and dark humor should appeal most to hardcore horror fans, while still offering enough substance for viewers usually wary of the genre.
Will Curry Barker's brutal take on toxic love make him the new king of horror?
Does 'Obsession' critique toxic masculinity, or does its extreme violence simply exploit the issue?
After its controversial R-rating edit, will fans ever see the film's original, uncut version?