How a Classic ‘Simpsons’ Episode Inspired the Horror Sensation ‘Obsession’

As of June, Curry Baker’s supernatural thriller Obsession held a 96% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.2-star rating on Letterboxd.

The film marks the second feature from the filmmaker and former YouTuber. Starring Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston, Obsession follows two close friends whose lives spiral after they encounter a mysterious force that grants wishes with unintended consequences.

While the film has attracted attention online, Barker has shared several behind-the-scenes details about how it came together.

Barker said the idea for Obsession came while he was sitting with friends after landing a small acting role on an episode of the FX comedy series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

The concept was inspired by Treehouse of Horror II, a season three episode of The Simpsons that featured a cursed monkey’s paw granting wishes with unintended consequences.

“I was thinking that I’ve never seen a straight crazy horror [based on that idea],” Barker told Variety, adding, “We’ve seen ‘be careful what you wish for’ tons of times. But we’ve never seen my version of it. I instantly started thinking about what I could do with that.”

In a separate interview with IndieWire, he said he intentionally avoided using a monkey’s paw in the film because it felt too recognizable.

“And so then I went down this rabbit hole of trying to find things that you could make a wish off of,” he said.

“You’ve got the wishing well, you have shooting stars, a wishbone you break in half, but nothing really worked well for the movie.”

Barker revealed that he voiced One Wish Willow operator heard during a phone call with Bear.

“I recorded that dialogue in my room, way after we shot the movie,” he told Polygon. “I was editing in my room so I was able to just do whatever I wanted with it. I just got my phone out, and I was just like, ‘Hey, what’s up.’”

The theatrical version of Obsession ends with Nikki surviving after Bear’s death.

However, Barker said he originally planned to kill the protagonist alongside the rest of her friend group.

“I was really obsessed with this Romeo and Juliet ending, actually,” Barker told Entertainment Weekly.

According to Barker, the production filmed multiple versions of the ending, including one in which Nikki survives.

"We had shot a ton of different versions of the official ending, the one that’s in the script, the one that I was excited about," Barker said. "And I was like, ‘Okay, we’ll do one ending where [Nikki] survives, but we’ll just do one take of it, and then we’ll move on’."

Barker said his father ultimately persuaded him to keep Nikki alive.

“I just remember my dad and multiple people around me being like, ‘Dude, I think it’s way more disturbing if she just survives this thing’. I was like, ‘Ah, you’re right’. And so we switched it.”

Barker also revealed that an early version of a conversation between Sarah and Bear included a confession about Nikki’s feelings.

“There was a version where Sarah tells Bear that Nikki admitted to her that Nikki actually had feelings for Bear,” Barker told Polygon.

“I thought that was really heartwrenching if it turns out that Nikki liked Bear along and then this happened, but that obviously didn’t make it in.”

He also pointed to an early clue in the film that hints at Nikki’s emotional state.

“No one ever has picked up on this, but there’s this line in the beginning that says Nikki was crying in the break room. You can hear it at the trivia bar. They talk about, ‘Why was Nikki crying in the break room?’ And Ian’s like, “I don’t know, maybe she...” But really it’s because Ian had told her that he wanted to [end their casual hook-ups],” he added.

Barker said the ending in which Nikki survives was completed in a single take because of the technical demands of the scene.

“It was a very technical shot, and so we only gave her one where she survives,” Barker told Entertainment Weekly.