The Art of Young Filmmakers

Obsession, a psychological horror written by Curry Barker at just 26 years of age. The two main actors are Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston. Currently, it has received a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Where do I start? Well the overall film was well written and the actors carried it their roles out to a T. Inde Navarrette really captured the chilling role with her transitions in facial expressions and the subtle edits made this even greater. 

I think with the director being in his 20s has given a whole new perspective to horror films and the genre itself.

Usually when we think of horrors it is something chasing a helpless victim, a possession or supernatural beings. Obsession did more than that. It made it relatable. I know you’re probably thinking how is a horror film relatable? But that right there is what made it an A* horror. 

I have got to admit there were some laughable and strange moments which made it relatable. However, you would like to think your life story isn’t as extreme as the film which includes bloodshed.

The young man, Bear, wished to be loved more than anyone else (the tough life of a hopeless romantic). The wish came true and Nikki became consumed with her own love for him, that was a good thing right? For him, he found it scary but tolerable, outsiders thought she was crazy, Bear thought he was doing the right thing by protecting her and loving her but in a detached sort of way. 

In the end the moral of the story is be careful what you wish for in essence. However, personally I think it’s much more than that. You want something so badly and you are chasing it; when you finally get it you don’t know what to do with it and if it is actually real. I’m going to throw in a philosophical approach here and question is anything actually real and perspectivism takes the drivers seat here because after all he is the one living his own ‘truth’. 

The dualism approach which René Descartes was researching back in the 1600s is the link or distance between body and mind. The mind wants something but the body in the physical world makes it seem as though it is not encompassable. At the end something happens and it’s like two alternate universes cross over but it is as though they cannot exist in the same time or space. So one has a tragedy and the other is left distraught, in effect, one tried so hard to be with the other in this universe but it wasn’t possible and denied all laws of physics therefore it ended badly. 

That is a topic for another day, overall I would rate the film a 5/5. The actors, the storyline, the plot twists, special fx; I don’t think they could have done better, especially with the budget. The psychological horror was produced with a micro budget of $750,000 and achieved a gross of over $379.5 million - making it one of the most profitable movies of all times. I think this speaks for something! Curry Barker at 26 years old achieved something many mainstream Hollywood directors haven’t. 

Should we let young directors have more creative freedom over the film industry?

Written by, Lacey Martin