How Director Curry Barker’s YouTube Horror Shorts Paved the Way For ‘Obsession’
Back in May, Obsession, one of the highest-grossing films of 2026’s summer, released in theaters. It completely burst past expectations thanks to the artful directing and good use of its budget. If I could boast a little, I wasn’t that surprised, because I had been following the director, Curry Barker, for years on Instagram and YouTube with his comedic skits and short films.
Rolling into the Halloween season, if you want more from Barker but in small bite-sized pieces, then you should really check out his short films on YouTube. This is not a complete list of Barker’s projects below, just the ones you can easily watch for free on YouTube and the ones worth your time. While they may not have the budget Obsession did, they do have some intriguing ideas, from a possessed chair to a serial killer prank show, and perhaps some even have connective tissue to Obsession.
Contemplation (2020)
Contemplation is a short, dark movie about love and suicide. There’s nothing truly compelling about it on the surface, but it’s still a powerful short film. It opens with an unknown female, played by Adlih Torres, in her bathroom with tape stuck to the curtains reading, “Easy Clean Up.” As she starts playing with a revolver, it’s easy to see where things are going until she gets a text from her partner, Greg, which then makes her rethink suicide by gun in favor of pills.
I don’t need to spoil how things end, but in the climactic finale, “Forever” by The Little Dippers starts to play. It’s the same song played throughout Obsession. It’s a good love song, but when used in Obsession and Contemplation, it takes on a whole other bittersweet meaning. Love can be a good thing, but sometimes you just want an out without having to participate in a lengthy breakup conversation.
We Don’t Feel Pain/We Tried a Ritual (2020)
We Don’t Feel Pain, or We Tried a Ritual, is an incredible found footage film that I wish would be turned into a feature-length film. Torres returns as a character, Beth, who is about to go into a ritual with her unnamed friend, who is played by Curry Barker.
Based on internet rumors, Barker’s character finds out that if you look into a mirror with someone else, place chairs back to back, hold something from the dead, and light candles, then you can go to purgatory.
At the stroke of midnight, the two recite the ritual, and nothing seemingly happens until they start testing the theory through bodily harm. There’s more to it than that, but We Don’t Feel Pain is over before you know it, ending on a major cliffhanger.
I’ll be thinking about that object in the sky in the final shot until I die. Between this and Contemplation, it’s already obvious that Barker was obsessed with death and the idea of purgatory early on in his career, but this is only the beginning.
Heavy Eyes (2022)
Heavy Eyes is only five minutes long and is incredibly riveting from start to finish. Curry Barker plays a young man, Seth, stuck on writing his college letter. After his mom texts that she will be home late from the hospital, weird stuff starts to happen around the apartment.
Seth hears thumps, the speaker starts playing music, and then it all turns out to be his mom, who is actually home. Or… is it her? This is another short film with death on the mind, but saying anything more would ruin the direct surprise.
While it’s too short to completely build a universe, I prefer these smaller bite-sized pieces of terror compared to Barker’s longer short films. Between shots of his silhouetted mom and the idea of the “replacement,” you could create a direct line between this and Obsession in terms of ideas and techniques. If there’s one thing clear in my mind right now, no one can replace the type of vibe Curry Barker creates in his fiction.
The Chair (2023)
The Chair is the first real meaty short film Curry Barker wrote and directed for this discussion. It’s also significant because Barker and his longtime collaborator, Cooper Tomlinson, are not featured as actors. Instead, things begin with a shot of a chair in front of a home when an unsuspecting young man, Reese (Anthony Pavone), picks it up in his car.
Upon arriving home and presenting his partner with flowers for their anniversary, she, Julie (Haley Schwartz), is a bit upset by the presence of the chair. After an argument, Reese agrees to do something about it, and then things flash forward to him sitting on the chair where he found it.
Confused, Reese rushes home to find an empty home but is soon greeted by Julie, who has brought back the chair. Without spilling the beans, my favorite scene in The Chair involves Julie waking up, screaming, smiling at Reese as if nothing happened, and then dropping back to the land of dreams.
There’s a link between waking nightmares in this and Obsession for sure, along with seemingly ordinary objects turning the world upside down. It may seem silly to have a horror movie based around a demonic chair, but if you lean into it, you’ll be convinced anything could curse your family.
Milk and Serial (2024)
Last, but certainly not least, the true predecessor to Obsession: Milk and Serial. Released in 2024 and being almost a feature-length film, time-wise, Curry Barker returns to found footage to tell his dark story. The YouTube channel, Prank Bros., is run by Barker, named Milk in the short, and Cooper, who is called Seven.
Seven sets up a fake death stunt for Milk’s surprise birthday using a blank and a realistic gun. While Milk is indeed surprised, this is only the beginning of the film as things rewind and Milk starts to explain his much bleaker background prank.
Without giving too much away, it’s safe to say Milk is on the outs with Seven and is a bit obsessed with the grotesque. He especially loves his bashing brick, perhaps paying tribute in Obsession. Fans know what I’m talking about.
Best of all, there’s a bit of a cliffhanger akin to the ending of The Sopranos, which will hopefully create a friendly group discussion. The twists are actually intriguing, and while rewatches won’t drum up anything new, it’s still a fun watch the first time through.
Curry Barker after making the sauce for Obsession
Short films aside, Curry Barker is going to move on and direct new and amazing things post-Obsession. His next movie, Anything but Ghosts, is set to premiere in theaters in May 2027.
Will that film carry over any themes from Obsession or these short films? Is Barker trying to build a universe? It’s hard to say, but one thing is for sure. I will be in the theater on day one. For now, simply enjoy these short films and celebrate the spooky season right.
Find these Curry Barker short films and more on the @thats_a_bad_idea YouTube channel.
Also check out John Dotson’s review of the film from a screening at the Dallas International Film Festival here!
