The monkey paw trope is an extremely versatile concept for the horror genre. The notion of someone’s wish coming true at a great cost usually lends itself to some deliciously sadistic poetic justice and the movie Obsession from director Curry Barker is the latest example of that. The inciting incident comes when the main character comes across a product called the “One Wish Willow,” which grants him his fantasy in real life.
If Obsession becomes successful enough for a sequel, Barker would want to explore more “wishes-gone-wrong” with the One Wish Willow in episodic television. According to Bloody Disgusting, Barker told Total Film,
I obviously have a couple more things that I’m excited about next, but I do see Obsession 2, maybe. Or even, what really is exciting to me, is maybe an anthology. Like a one-hour episode… each episode is a different wish that goes completely off the rails.”sponsored content
Barker even started brainstorming, “Maybe I’ll direct the pilot with the same DP, and then you could invite other filmmakers to give their spin at it. That would be really cool.”
Starring Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, Obsession is a story about a hopeless romantic who makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him. A sinister enchantment ensues. Here’s the official synopsis: After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter are also in the cast.
James Harris of Teashop Productions produced the film with Haley Nicole Johnson of Under the Shell, Christian Mercuri of Capstone Pictures, and Roman Viaris. Blum’s fellow executive producers are Leonora Darby (Teashop), Mark Lane (Teashop), David Haring (Capstone), and Ruzanna Kegeyan (Capstone Pictures).
Our Chris Bumbray had a blast with the film when he saw it at SXSW. He gave it an 8/10 and said in his review, “Barker guides the film with a sure hand and doesn’t shy away from hammering home his message about the difference between real love and obsession. Many will note the movie’s gallows humor, with gore-heavy moments happening so randomly and brutally that you can’t help but laugh at how demented they are—only to realize moments later that what you’re watching is, in many ways, a classic horror tragedy.”