{"id":949468,"date":"2026-05-10T01:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949468\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:28:14","slug":"extremely-graphic-new-r-rated-movie-inspired-by-the-simpsons-treehouse-of-horror-delivers-madness-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949468\/","title":{"rendered":"Extremely Graphic, New R-Rated Movie Inspired By The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror Delivers Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Chris Sawin<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t | Published 7 seconds ago\t\t<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bear (Michael Johnston) has a crush on his childhood friend and co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette). It\u2019s not just a little crush, as Bear has been in love with Nikki for as long as he can remember, but he can\u2019t tell her how he feels. His best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and his girlfriend Sarah (Megan Lawless) encourage him to just tell Nikki how he feels, but he never capitalizes on the opportunity.<\/p>\n

The four of them work at a music store together, and Nikki tells Bear she\u2019s going to put in her two weeks because it feels like the right time to move on. One night, Bear is supposed to meet his friends for drinks, but stops at a new-age shop to get Nikki a gift. He winds up getting a One Wish Willow, a gag toy that seemingly grants wishes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After Bear fumbles what is perhaps the widest opening anyone could have to tell their crush that they have feelings for them, he uses the One Wish Willow himself and wishes that Nikki loved him more than anyone in the world. Unfortunately for him, the toy actually grants his wish, but he never could have imagined the weight of a wish that heavy. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Curry Barker\u2019s Obsession Was Inspired By The Simpsons<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Obsession, Curry Barker\u2019s first theatrical feature film. He got his start on YouTube<\/a> with Cooper Tomlinson as a part of the sketch comedy duo \u201cthat\u2019s a bad idea.\u201d In addition to comedy shorts, Barker also dabbled in horror. His directorial debut, Milk & Serial, was made in four months on an $800 budget. The film was released for free on YouTube, went viral, and is the reason Barker is a film director today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Obsession was initially inspired by the \u201cTreehouse of Horror II\u201d episode of The Simpsons<\/a>, specifically the segment where Bart finds a monkey\u2019s paw that grants wishes. Conceptually, Obsession is a lot like Osgood Perkins\u2019 The Monkey. Both films are about a cursed item or toy that does exactly what it\u2019s advertised to do. But whereas Perkins\u2019s film is practically built around a cast of asshole characters, essentially bridging the gap between unbelievable deaths, Obsession has a more coherent story; most of the characters are still selfish assholes, but the gore feels earned.<\/p>\n

Deep Into Unrestrained Madness<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the first hour of Obsession, the film is mostly driven by dialogue that explores how the wish has affected Nikki, and by the slow reveal of just how deep into unrestrained madness Nikki has been thrust. It\u2019s also safe to say that Inde Navarrette\u2019s performance will make or break your opinion of the film. It\u2019s a tricky situation because Navarrette does a stellar job of bringing this insanity to life, but there\u2019s no arguing that she\u2019s annoying as hell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On one hand, that is kind of the point of Bear\u2019s wish; that he\u2019s bitten off more than he can chew, and we as the audience have to pay for that in some regard. But Navarrette\u2019s screeching tantrums, as Nikki\u2019s overwhelming clinginess overshadows the undeniable creepiness, unexpected moments of humor, and any other positive qualities this tiny $1 million supernatural horror film has.<\/p>\n

What Obsession gets right about Nikki is that there seem to be momentary lapses with the wish where she regains control and has just enough time to scream<\/a>, \u201cWhat the f\u2014 am I doing\u201d before jolting right back into Bear worship mode. Nikki\u2019s reactions in the film are what keep it interesting. You never know how far she\u2019s going to go because just when you think she\u2019s crossed a line, she surpasses it in the next scene. This film treats Bear\u2019s cat as if it\u2019s auditioning for Bernie in Weekend at Bernie\u2019s, and most of that is Nikki\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In addition to acting erratically and violently, Nikki basically starts glitching as if the wish is altering her perception of reality. Bear wakes up in the middle of the night to find Nikki standing in the far corner of the bedroom, hiding behind furniture in the darkness. She begins yelling and doing strange things with a flower vase before moving around the room unnaturally.<\/p>\n

At Its Nastiest In Its Last Thirty Minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n

As mentioned previously, Obsession rides on dialogue and unsettling behavior for its first hour. This is noteworthy because the bright red movie standee for Obsession at the theater featured a quote calling the film a blood bath. Obsession is at its nastiest in its last 20-30 minutes. Without spoiling too much, Nikki really only mutilates two things throughout the film; herself, not included. She likes to come back around to the things she\u2019s destroyed. Maybe it\u2019s because there are things that Bear enjoyed that weren\u2019t hers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But that nastiness isn\u2019t just referring to the blood spilled in Obsession. Bear\u2019s friends reveal their true nature near the end of the film, and it\u2019s at a pivotal moment in the story. Bear figures out a way to break the wish, but one of his friends lets him down big time. The film takes a huge swing with its finale, as its final moments are incredible. It\u2019s bleak and devastating, but it\u2019s also something the film builds up from the moment Bear walks into the store inquiring about the One Wish Willow.<\/p>\n

Curry Barker has crafted something mostly special for an almost non-existent budget. The story is compelling, the acting is solid, and Obsession feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison to similar horror films. However, it\u2019s disappointing that one shrill character trait nearly ruins the entire film. It\u2019s because of this that Obsession will have to settle for being a well-made, well-written film dominated by one aggressively irritating character, which will hinder future rewatches much like Frank Darabont\u2019s The Mist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Obsession will be released in theaters on May 15 through Focus Features. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chris Sawin | Published 7 seconds ago Bear (Michael Johnston) has a crush on his childhood friend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[264894,138234,77,153771,35938,139151,264895,264896,138235,3943,107759,96264,6082,229065,15937,264897,84892,16,15,44324,1737],"class_list":{"0":"post-949468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-cooper-tomlinson","9":"tag-curry-barker","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-focus-features","12":"tag-frank-darabont","13":"tag-inde-navarrette","14":"tag-megan-lawless","15":"tag-michael-johnston","16":"tag-milk-serial","17":"tag-movies","18":"tag-obsession","19":"tag-osgood-perkins","20":"tag-reviews","21":"tag-the-mist","22":"tag-the-monkey","23":"tag-the-monkeys-paw","24":"tag-the-simpsons","25":"tag-uk","26":"tag-united-kingdom","27":"tag-weekend-at-bernies","28":"tag-youtube"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116547689928819873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}