“Obsession” is about a guy who makes a wish for a girl to love him “more than anyone in the entire world.” What follows is a classic horror movie trope: the girlfriend from hell. One of the movie’s tag lines is “be careful *who* you wish for.” And younger audiences are flocking to see “Obsession,” making it a genuine Gen Z phenomenon.
The film’s writer-director-editor, Curry Barker, is also part of that generation. The 26-year-old, who had previously been making content for YouTube, is now responsible for a film that has made over $230 million (so far) on a budget of $750,000. Hollywood has taken notice. Barker has been offered an eight-figure deal for his next movie, sight unseen.
For Wesley Morris, the success of “Obsession” raises a bigger question about relationships today: Is *this* how the young folks think about love—as something that should appear instantaneously, without effort, but might also ruin their lives?
With all this in mind, Wesley invited Angelica Jade Bastién, a pop culture critic with New York Magazine, onto the show to ask, “Are the kids all right?”
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
