Ep. 138: Curry Barker's "Obsession" (2025)

Love stories usually start with a spark. This one starts with a curse, a coworker crush, and a wish that should never be granted. We’re Sam, Chad, and Mike, and we’re diving into Curry Barker’s Obsession (2025), a listener pick with a jaw-dropping 94% Rotten Tomatoes score. Bear is a socially awkward music store employee who can’t risk rejection, so he reaches for a shortcut: a magical charm called a one-wish willow. When he uses it to force Nikki to love him, the film snaps from awkward longing into psychological horror, where “romance” turns into surveillance, confinement, and a steady collapse of autonomy. We talk through the moral line the movie crosses early, and why Bear feels less like a victim and more like the engine of the nightmare. From there, we get into the craft that makes Obsession so effective: Indy Navarrette’s performance, the unsettling switches in Nikki’s behavior, and the film’s smart use of shadows, silhouettes, and negative space to create fear without leaning on heavy CGI. We also hit our usual categories, including tropes, one-liners, what holds up, what doesn’t, the most gratuitous moment, and the scenes that made us laugh out loud even while we were cringing. Then we bring the research: the surprisingly small budget, practical stunt choices, and an alternate ending that changes the emotional wreckage. If you’re into modern horror movies about obsession, cursed wishes, and the real-world terror of control, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the show with a horror fan, and leave a review. What did you think the wish really cost Nikki? Head to www.screamsandstreams.com for more information related to our episode.