“Did You See It?” is a review column where we watch trending movies firsthand and share honest impressions and key highlights. <Editor’s Note>
[Edaily Starin YUN GI BACK Reporter] A woman gazes at a man with a loving look in her eyes. Yet, even as seconds and then minutes pass, her gaze refuses to waver. The woman in front of him is clearly smiling, but the man watching her feels as if he can’t breathe. “Obsession” turns love—the most familiar of emotions—into the most unsettling kind of horror.

“Obsession” begins when Bear (Michael Johnston), who has a secret crush on his longtime friend Nikki (Indie Neveretti), gets his hands on the “One Wish Willow,” which grants one wish of any kind. Bear’s wish is simple: he wants Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world. The wish comes true. The problem is that it comes true all too perfectly.
To put it bluntly, this movie is completely crazy—the story, the acting, and above all, the audacity that drives it. It takes the simple desire—“Wouldn’t I be happy if someone loved me more than anyone else?”—and pushes it to its absolute limit. In the end, love turns into possessiveness, possessiveness turns into violence, and it all ultimately spirals into catastrophe.
What’s terrifying is that *Obsession* doesn’t rely on ghosts or jump scares. In fact, it’s even more chilling when nothing seems to be happening. Just watching Nikki stare silently at Bear with unfocused eyes in broad daylight sends a chill down your spine. The camera doesn’t rush away. It builds tension gradually with long takes, and then tightens the noose with a slowly approaching camera and Nikki’s subtle facial expressions.

That said, it isn’t heavy-handed throughout. It suddenly bursts into laughter in the midst of a horrific situation, only to immediately plunge the audience back into terror. The way the film, which starts out like a romantic comedy, suddenly transforms into a terrifying love story is also clever. Thanks to the pacing that shifts between laughter and horror, the audience is swept along as if riding a roller coaster.
At the center of it all is Indi Nevaretti. She truly deserves the title “Horror Queen.” She shifts in an instant between the face of someone in love and the face of someone who’s completely lost it. The person who was smiling sweetly just a moment ago becomes a completely different being with just a slight tilt of the head. She’s actually scarier when she’s smiling silently than when she’s exploding with rage.
Michael Johnston’s restrained performance is also clever. Rather than joining Niki in her rampage, Bear observes the madness unfolding before his eyes from the audience’s perspective. Because Johnston takes a step back, Neveretti’s performance becomes all the more intense. At the same time, the film doesn’t overlook the bitter realization that this entire catastrophe ultimately stemmed from Bear’s own desires.

The most surprising thing is that the director who orchestrated all of this is Curry Barker, a YouTuber born in 1999. She overcame the constraints of a $750,000 (approximately 1 billion won) budget and a shoot lasting just 20 days through her creativity and pacing. As a result, the film grossed over $480 million (approximately 669.6 billion won) worldwide. What overcomes the limited budget is the youthful audacity of a creator asking, “Just how far can I push this scene?”
Instead of following familiar horror formulas, Curry Barker boldly blends love, laughter, unease, and violence. He creates fear using only people’s gazes and expressions—without ghosts or jump scares. It makes you realize that young creators who grew up on YouTube, like Kane Parsons of “Backroom,” are writing a new grammar of horror.
That’s why, even after the movie ends, Nikki’s gaze lingers in your mind. It shows that people can be scarier than ghosts, and smiles scarier than screams. “Obsession” relentlessly proves this simple truth for 108 minutes. Directed by Curry Barker. Runtime: 108 minutes. Opens September 2.