Director Curry Barker On ‘Obsession’: I love Putting Ordinary People In Extraordinary Circumstances (EXCLUSIVE)

Every horror fan is familiar with the classic cautionary tale: a desperate soul stumbles upon a supernatural object, makes a self-serving wish, and inadvertently unleashes a nightmare. But in his upcoming supernatural romantic horror film “Obsession,” director Curry Barker is looking to dismantle the trope entirely.

The film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), an awkward music store employee who uses a supernatural item to force his childhood crush, Nikki, to fall madly in love with him. What follows is a sinister downward spiral that challenges the very definition of romance.

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Speaking exclusively about the project, Barker reveals that his primary goal was to take a well-worn narrative and inject it with a jarring dose of reality. “I wanted to take a story we’ve all seen before - a wish story - and ground it in the real world, flipping it on its head to make something completely new,” Barker says. “I love putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, but what matters just as much is that every character reacts in natural, believable ways.”

Rather than painting a black-and-white picture of an innocent victim and a monster, Barker intentionally leaned into psychological complexity, particularly when it came to developing Johnston’s character.

“With Bear, I set out to create a protagonist who isn’t simply a good guy,” Barker explains. “He’s flawed, gray, capable of both vulnerability and cruelty. I didn’t want to dictate how the audience should feel or point to what’s right or wrong.”

Ultimately, Obsession isn’t designed to give theatergoers an easy out or a comfortable moral high ground. Barker hopes the film’s haunting ambiguity will linger long after the credits roll. “My goal was to present the story honestly and let the audience wrestle with it themselves,” Barker says. “I want people leaving the theater still talking - arguing over how they felt, what they would have done differently, and whether what they saw was love or obsession.”

Obsession releases in theaters across India on May 29.