Director Curry Barker Reveals ‘Obsession’ Originally Had a Completely Different Ending

Director Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession almost ended in a very different way, according to new comments from the filmmaker.

The film, which is Barker’s feature debut after gaining attention online with his earlier work Milk & Serial, has become a major talking point in the horror community. Obsession follows Bear, played by Michael Johnston, a quiet young man who uses a supernatural object called a One Wish Willow. He uses it to make a wish that his crush Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette, will love him more than anyone else. The wish comes true, but it quickly turns into something dark and destructive.

The story has been praised for mixing horror with emotional pain, especially in how it treats Nikki’s experience. Instead of focusing only on scares, the film shows the heavy emotional cost of Bear’s decision and the damage it causes to everyone around him.

In his interview with Entertainment Weekly, Barker revealed that the ending of the film was not always set. He said multiple versions were filmed, including one that went much further in a tragic direction.

“We shot both; we shot this ending that you see in the movie, and we shot the ending where she ends it all,” Barker said. “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, 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.”

At one point, Barker considered an ending where both main characters would die, similar to a Romeo and Juliet-style conclusion. That version would have made the story even more final and tragic. However, it did not end up being used.

Instead, the final version of Obsession ends with Nikki surviving, but in a deeply damaged emotional state. The decision to keep her alive came after discussions with people close to Barker, including his father, screenwriter Jeff Barker, who helped shape the final direction of the story.

The director explained that the choice changed the meaning of the ending. While death might have felt like closure, survival leaves Nikki trapped with everything she has experienced. The horror does not end when the story cuts to credits. It continues in her mind and in her future.

Inde Navarrette, who plays Nikki, also spoke about the ending in an interview with Collider. She described how the film focuses heavily on Nikki’s emotional journey and how the final scenes are meant to stay with the audience.

“She’s gonna sit with the grief,” Navarrette said. “And also, at the same time, we’re following her this entire time. Curry was like, ‘No, we really want to sit with her.’ And that’s why we got the ending that we did.”

In the version that made it to the screen, Nikki is forced to face the consequences of everything that happened while trapped in a nightmare situation caused by Bear’s wish. Even though she survives, she is left alone with trauma, loss, and no clear way forward.

According to Barker, the decision to let Nikki live was made because it created a more disturbing and lasting emotional effect. Instead of offering closure through death, the film leaves her alive in a world that no longer feels safe or normal.

The final result is a horror ending that avoids simple answers. Obsession does not end with relief. It ends with uncertainty, pain, and a sense that what happened cannot be undone.

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