There’s a new trend generating big bucks at the box office: short-form comics making horror movies. This trend started perhaps in 2017, when Jordan Peele, one half of the hit sketch comedy duo Key & Peele, wrote and directed Get Out. In 2022, YouTubers Danny and Michael Phillippou, famous for their horror comedy videos, went mainstream with the Aussie horror film Talk To Me. Zach Cregger, one of the comedians from The Whitest Kids U’ Know, made Barbarian that same year. And now, in 2026, YouTuber Curry Barker has burst on to the scene with his theatrical debut, the Blumhouse horror film Obsession.
Obsession tells the story of a man named Bear, who uses a novelty gift to make a wish that his friend and crush Nikki loved him “more than anyone in the world.” He is quickly surprised to learn that his wish came true, and what follows is a truly sinister and unsettling film about power and control in the dating world. Actress Inde Navarrette turns in an instantly iconic horror performance as Nikki, a woman trapped in an obsessive love that she never signed up for. In just its opening weekend, the film rang up more than $17 million in ticket sales in the US on a budget of just $1 million.
So what accounts for this stunning success? Well, first and foremost, Get Out, Talk To Me, Barbarian, and Obsession are all well-observed, well-made horror movies made smartly on reasonable budgets. But they also come to audiences from known creators who are doing something new. In an age of so many entertainment options, creators with real connections to fans are maybe best equipped to cut through the noise and motivate people to head to the theaters. Once a debut film is well received, the ground is laid for these filmmakers to launch themselves into rarified air as name-brand directors. Obsession is a fun, small horror movie that is connecting with audiences. It’s almost certainly also just the start for a talented young creator with a devoted fanbase that is only growing every day.
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