Review: Be careful what you wish for in 'Obsession,' an old but effective nightmare retooled for Gen Z

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As young men flinched and gasped around me at the Los Angeles premiere of “Obsession,” I almost had to laugh.A slight head tilt, creepy smile or strange movement from star Inde Navarrette was enough to make them jump, and I had the realization that the most terrifying thing for a young man these days is an emotionally unregulated and unpredictable woman.

Keep that one in your back pocket, ladies.The young man behind “Obsession,” 26-year-old filmmaker Curry Barker, has certainly tapped into that unique fear with his splashy breakout horror film “Obsession.” It’s his second feature, arriving hot on the heels of a self-distributed film, “Milk & Serial,” an outgrowth of the sketch shorts he’d been making for YouTube with collaborator Cooper Tomlinson, who also co-stars in the new film.Written, directed and edited by Barker, “Obsession” comes from a simple, familiar premise, executed with a dark and dread-filled flair.

Barker combines the monkey’s paw and Pygmalion myths in this story about a young man who wishes that his dream girl would fall in love with him.You know what they say about love spells (don’t do them), and the way things unfold in Barker’s vision is bleak, bloody and seriously disturbing.Our unlucky simp is Bear (Michael Johnston), one of a quartet of early-20-something friends who work at a music store and get drunk at trivia nights as often as possible.

It’s clear from the start that even though Bear is crushing on Nikki (Navarrette), it’s actually Sarah (Megan Lawless) who has feelings for Bear, while Ian (Tomlinson), his best friend, weirdly undermines his efforts with Nikki any chance he gets.Movies If you want big popcorn fare from the best directors in the blockbuster game (Spielberg, Nolan, Ridley Scott), it’s here, along with a number of promising indie swings.Hoping to confess his feelings and win her over, Bear buys ...