This is the phenomenon that obsesses the box office. The independent horror film Obsession has been a real hit since its release on May 13 in France and May 15 in the United States. In one month, it exceeded $287 million in international revenue, including almost $200 million in the United States, and could become one of the most profitable American films, with a budget of $750,000.
Passed by the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Obsession tells the story of Bear, a young man in his twenties, uncomfortable in his skin, madly in love with his friend Nikki. Shy, he cannot admit it to her. While looking for a gift for his birthday, he comes across a magical object in a shop that promises to make all his greatest wishes come true. He then makes the wish that Nikki loves him more than anything in the world. His spell works very quickly. In no time, she finds herself in front of his door, ready to love him forever. But this situation will turn into obsession.
Behind the success of the film, we find a YouTuber. With his horrific sketches, Curry Barker brings together more than a million subscribers on his channel That’s a Bad Idea. Before making Obsessionthe 26-year-old videographer stood out with his horror short film The Chair and his film Milk & Serialuploaded for free on YouTube in 2023 and 2024, which have accumulated several million views. “He was identified with the American public even before his film was released”assures Marine Bohin, film journalist and author of the book Le Cinéma de genre au féminin.
“By being active on the internet, making horrific humorous videos, he was able to train a lot, YouTube was his playground beforehand.”
Marine Bohin, film journalistà franceinfo
“He had plenty of time to test things, and he had the opportunity to learn how to make films with a small budget and a small crew,” continues Marine Bohin. Thanks to his first experiences, the young director delivers with Obsession “an extremely qualitative feature film”she emphasizes.
This mastery of staging is a strength and moviegoers have noticed it. “I find it exceptional that he comes from YouTube, he is very talented and brings a bit of new blood to the genre, it feels good when you are used to very privileged directors that you see all the time”, rejoices Thibaud, a cinema enthusiast, to franceinfo. “He is still far from the star system and that pleases”says Clélia who, with her Lala Cinéma account, reaches tens of thousands of people on TikTok and Instagram. “It’s a changing profile, who managed to make a fairly impressive film with a ridiculous budget, it’s a feat”, praises the content creator.
Obsession does not fit into the box of horror films featuring monsters or psychopaths. Curry Barker’s feature film takes place in a rather banal everyday life, with which spectators can easily identify. It subtly evokes the toxic masculinity of Bear, who convinces himself to be “a good man” until the end.
A situation which can be much more chilling, for spectators, than screams, shadows and “jump scares”, frequently used in horror cinema. “When we go to see a horror film, we go there to have a sort of collective catharsis, to live a group experience. When I saw this film in the cinema, the whole room was vibrating, it was very impressive to see”, says Marine Bohin.
“We can see it as a sort of metaphor for the control that a man can have over a woman in a relationship.”
Marine Bohin, film journalistà franceinfo
This clever mix of the classic register of horror and the evocation of a social subject encourages young people to go to theaters. “It’s interesting to go see these kinds of horror films because many people think that horror films are very clichéd or only very scary when in reality, genre films are there to send messages. Obsession speaks about a subject that concerns our generation”, explains Clélia.
“Horror cinema has always captured the issues and problems of society”, supports Marine Bohin. Social networks are flooded with analyzes ofObsession around consent and control. “It’s a film that shows the desire of men to have control over women’s bodies”assures a tiktoker. “The film mainly shows how the male character treats her as an object he wants to possess, not as a person. He takes advantage of her emotionally and sexually”we read on another account.
The excitement around the film is also based on word of mouth online. “It is for this reason that the film is still being released a month later, which is extremely rare.“, explains Marine Bohin. “I’m very selective about horror films because I’m often disappointed. With the many positive reviews that I saw on social networks, I let myself be influenced by the craze to go see it and in the end, I really liked it, it’s a very good film with an original story.”tells Pierre, a 31-year-old movie buff, to franceinfo.
With its themes and the profile of the director, the feature film appeals to a young audience. “Everyone is talking about it, it made me want to go see it. I loved it, I saw it six times. It became one of my favorite films”confides Isaac, 21, for his part.
Scream 7, Scary Movie… Face à Obsessionthere is no shortage of horror sagas in theaters. They always attract but some spectators get tired and look for something new. “On the international horror scene, there are a lot of franchises that are repeated or more niche films that only come out at festivals”déplore Lala Cinéma.
“‘Obsession’ is a film for the general public and it brings a real freshness to genre cinema.”
Clélia, cinema content creator on TikTok and Instagramà franceinfo
Faced with the drop in cinema attendance, producers no longer want to take risks by putting on display actors almost unknown to the general public. For Marine Bohin, “they are wrong”. “The proof with Obsessionthere are no stars in it and it works very well”she assures. “I think the public is hungry for new faces, because seeing familiar faces is certainly reassuring, but aren’t we more drawn into a story when it’s played by actors we don’t know?”asks the journalist.
“In the United States, the debate is: ‘Isn’t this the end of the franchises of the 1980s and 1990s that we have stretched in all directions?’, in favor of the films of the YouTube generation”, Pierre-Antoine Capton, producer at the head of Mediawan, told AFP at the beginning of June. “Today, what is certain is that we are going to look for new directors and screenwriters who create fiction or works on YouTube to bring them to the cinema”he added.
Le succès du film Obsession coincides with that of another horror film signed by a YouTuber, released a few weeks ago in the United States. The yellow corridors as far as the eye can see Backroomsdirected by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, terrified tens of thousands of spectators upon its release, totaling $160 million in revenue at the American box office. The two feature films hold their own against a major Hollywood production, The Mandalorian and Grogulatest avatar of the Star Wars franchise.
