Curry Barker‘s directorial breakout is making a splash with its opening weekend, and he’s already considering a followup.
The Obsession writer/director recently admitted to a “plot hole” that bothers him in his horror film, now in theaters, and how the rules of the One Wish Willow impacts a potential sequel or anthology series.
“I mean, it’s kind of a plot hole. It’s something I don’t like to think about too much, because it totally doesn’t make sense that there’s a world of people just making wishes,” he told Total Film after a recent screening. “It really doesn’t make any sense at all.”
In Obsession, Bear (Michael Johnston) makes a wish on a mysterious novelty item called a One Wish Willow that his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) would love him more than anything in the world. Bloody consequences ensue before it’s casually revealed that everyone gets to make one wish on the One Wish Willow, which actually comes true.
Barker continued, “If the One Wish Willow actually works, which it does in this lore, and people are just making wishes left and right, there would be some crazy—like, dragons would exist. And none of that. The world is pretty normal from what we see in this movie. So, it doesn’t really make sense.
Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston in ‘Obsession’ (2026) (Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection)
“Here’s my take; every time someone makes a wish, they enter into an alternate reality where their wish comes true, so you’re not experiencing everybody’s wish at the same time. And that’s why—but that doesn’t make sense because the money falls from the ceiling. Yeah, it’s broken,” he conceded, referencing a scene in which Bear’s friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) wishes for a large sum right in front of him.
With a full slate that includes Blumhouse’s Anything but Ghosts and A24’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Barker is still open to revisiting the world of Obsession and the One Wish Willow.
“I obviously have a couple more things that I’m excited about next, but I do see Obsession 2, maybe. Or even what really is exciting to me is maybe an anthology, like a one-hour episode,” said Barker. “Each episode is a different wish that goes completely off the rails. Maybe I’ll direct the pilot with the same DP, and you could invite other filmmakers to kind of give their spin at it. That would be really cool.”
