Before Obsession Streams on Peacock, Meet 26-Year-Old Writer, Director & Former Barista Curry Barker
Director Curry Barker opens up about his path from Starbucks to horror filmmaking success.
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Key Takeaways
- Obsession, streaming July 17 on Peacock, became one of 2026’s biggest horror hits, earning attention for its unsettling premise involving a wish that turns unrequited love into dangerous obsession.
- Writer/director Curry Barker built his career through low-budget YouTube horror projects with friends, including the viral short The Chair and found footage film Milk & Serial.
- Barker secured funding for Obsession by pitching producers a concise high-concept story, while balancing scriptwriting with his job as a Starbucks barista before the film unexpectedly became a global theatrical success.
Though Focus Feature’s Obsession was released in May, the pop culture zeitgeist is still talking about 26-year-old writer/director Curry Barker’s provocative horror hit, which begins streaming this week on Peacock.
The fifth highest grossing domestic film of 2026 so far, Obsession has earned tons of attention for its mix of scares and the thought-provoking conversations its generated around the "One Wish Willow” choice that lovelorn Bear (Michael Johnston) makes to get the “love” of friend and co-worker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette).
With the movie streaming exclusively on Peacock beginning Friday, July 17, attention is being heaped upon relative newcomer Barker, who first garnered attention by making sketches and super indie productions with his creative friends. In a recent episode of Universal Entertainment and Fandango's Seen on the Screen podcast, Barker reveals the work they put into getting eyes on their low budget projects, and the opportunities he pursued to get Obsession funded and then greenlit, all while working at Starbucks.
RELATED: Meet the Obsession Cast: Who Plays Who in 2026's Biggest Horror Hit
How 26-year-old Obsession director Curry Barker started making films
Curry Barker is a native of Mobile, Alabama who fell in love with horror at the tender age of 11 watching the 2003 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. By high school, Barker was making music and sketches on his YouTube channel. He then packed up for Los Angeles and began taking film classes, where he met Cooper Tomlinson. Together, they formed the sketch group, "that's a bad idea.”
In 2023, Barker uploaded their original horror short, The Chair, which amassed 10 million views on YouTube. The next year, they released the found footage horror film Milk & Serial, which also went viral.
Barker told Seen on Screen that releasing it online was a last ditch shot to get it seen. "We made that thing for no money. It was just us friends on the weekends,” he revealed. “Then, we sat on it. I had finished it but it was just on my desktop. We wanted to break into the traditional space. We finally had real managers and we were shopping it around town, hoping that somebody would want to distribute it, and nobody really was biting on it."
RELATED: When Does Obsession Come Out on Peacock?
What are the origins of Curry Barker’s Obsession?
After The Chair went viral, Barker’s manager was approached by producer James Harris, who wanted to turn that short into a movie. “I heard that opportunity and I was like, 'Okay, that's awesome, but I'm really excited about this Obsession idea that I've been toying around with.' Could I pitch you that instead?" ” Barker asked when he met Harris.
Harris agreed, and Barker gave him the elevator pitch that secured his funding. "It’s about a guy who's has a crush on a girl, but he's completely friend-zoned by her. Then he makes a wish that she loved him back, and she becomes obsessed with him. That's the movie," Barker told Seen on the Screen about the pitch.
When he wasn't working as a Starbucks barista, Barker spent all of his free time writing the script for Obsession. “It became so important to me, then I guess the pressure was kind of on because of me recognizing this opportunity,” he said. However, he never believed it would become the success that it is today. “There was no way in the world that it would become a worldwide theatrical release."
Little did he know that at the time of this writing, the film has already grossed over $427 million at the global box office!
When is Obsession streaming on Peacock?
Writer/director Curry Barker’s Obsession streams exclusively on Peacock beginning Friday, July 17.
