When filmmaker Kari Barker first burst onto the scene with her viral YouTube horror short Milk & Cereal, she quickly became a filmmaker to watch in the genre. Now, with his feature directorial debut, Obsession steps into larger territory with Barker Focus Features, supporting a darkly humorous, twisted cautionary tale about desire, control, and the dangerous side of wish fulfillment. The film takes a familiar romantic setup and turns it into something extremely disturbing.
The story follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a lonely, hopeless romantic working in a music store who is quietly in love with his childhood friend and co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrete). After another failed attempt to express his feelings, Bear heads to a mysterious crystal shop and purchases a strange trinket called the One Wish Willow. He makes a desperate wish: that Nikki will love him more than any other person in the world.
The wish is fulfilled in the worst possible way. Nikki’s emotions become overwhelming, obsessive, and unstable. His affection becomes suffocating, almost violent in its intensity. She cannot tolerate being away from the bear, reacting with panic when he leaves, and when her love turns into attachment she begins to display very disturbing behavior.
Instant connection between leads
A big part of what makes the film successful is the chemistry between its two lead characters. The emotional weight of Bear and Nikki’s relationship is necessary before the fear completely takes over. “Inde and I had an instant connection,” Michael Johnston recalls of working with his co-star. “The moment we met while studying chemistry, we jumped straight into some of the most intense scenes in the film, and it was as if Nikki and Bear had met before us.”
Inde Navarrete also shared that despite Nikki’s extreme emotional arc, she immediately connected with her character when reading the script. “He’s the first character I completely understood,” Navarrete says of her initial reaction. “It was a very exciting feeling to have the confidence to know who your character is.”
Bringing Nikki’s transformation to life
Navarrete’s performance becomes one of the strongest elements of the film, especially when Nikki’s personality begins to change in disturbing ways after the wish takes effect. Director Currie Barker was reportedly surprised by how naturally she settled into the role from day one. Barker revealed, “On the first day of shooting, Ende’s first take was when Nikki gets nervous after their kiss, and the first take is what you see in the movie.” “When we saw it the first day, we knew we had the perfect actor for the role.”
Interestingly, given his personal distance from the horror genre, his ability to create such profound emotional shifts is even more surprising. “I’m a big fan of horror, but Inde is the opposite,” laughs Johnston, recalling his time off-camera. “We watched Hereditary, and she literally ran out of the room. Then to see her step on set and become the engine of horror in this movie was incredible.”
director’s perspective
For Curry Barker, the goal was to balance discomfort with dark humor while maintaining an emotional core. The film uses fear not just to scare, but as a way to reflect on relationships, insecurities, and passion. “Passion, we have famous directors – says Currie Barker.
Film Obsession stars Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrete, Andy Richter, Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless.