The movie "Obsession" came out in theaters a couple of weeks ago and suddenly became the topic that EVERYONE was talking about.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
And if you, like me, suddenly want to know everything about it, here are 17 facts about the making of the film that you probably didn't know, but definitely should:
🚨Warning! HUGE spoilers for "Obsession" ahead.🚨
1. Obsession director Curry Barker is a 26-year-old YouTuber and comedian best known for his channel That's a bad idea.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2. The entire film was shot in just 26 days.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
On the topic: The latest episode of Euphoria was even more raunchy than the last—here's a full recap of the most shocking moments.
3. The idea for the film actually came to Curry while watching an episode of The Simpsons. "In one of the Simpsons episodes, [Bart] had a monkey's paw and he was making wishes and stuff," he told Triple J.
It was the second Simpsons Halloween special, "Treehouse of Horror 2." In the episode, a family travels to Morocco and buys a cursed monkey's paw to make wishes. Then, all of their wishes take a very, very dark turn. "And I actually remember that moment, I remember sitting on the couch and thinking, 'Oh my God,' and writing it down. And after that, I just kept developing the idea," Curry said.
4. And his mother helped him with the idea of creating a willow tree that symbolizes one wish.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Curry recalled how he struggled for a long time to decide what form the magical object would take. "I didn't want to use the Monkey's Paw because it was too recognizable," he told IndieWire. "So I delved into searching for things to wish on. There were wishing wells, shooting stars, a wishing bone you could snap in half, but nothing seemed suitable for the film.".
«"My mom actually helped me with the design. She's a graphic designer, and I told her I wanted it to look timeless, like it was from the '50s or '80s, and I wanted it to have this retro feel, like it's been around forever and you can't pinpoint exactly when it was made," he told Movable Fest.
5. Father Curry actually wrote a creepy story inspired by the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale that Nikki reads at the party.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
«"My dad was just starting out in screenwriting, and I said, 'Yeah, if you want to try it.' So I let him write the script, and he did some really creepy stuff," he told Polygon.
6. Curry wanted to reshoot some scenes in the house that was used for the party, but by then the house had unfortunately burned down in the Los Angeles fires.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
See also: If you answer 25 questions of this medical test correctly, you're practically a doctor.
7. Inda Navarrete, who played Nikki, had to learn how to scream "properly" before filming the movie.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
She explained, "I didn't know how to scream before. I don't have a very high voice, so it was intimidating. Screaming properly, if you will. Funny voices, monologues, movements, everything. I didn't know if I could do it well, but Curry and I worked hard on it to get it right.".
8. Michael Johnston didn't actually audition for the role of Bear. One day, he received an email from his representatives asking him to read the script, and he immediately fell in love with it.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, «I got an email from my reps with the script, and they were just like, „Here’s the script. Read it. Let me know if you’re interested, and then we’ll go from there.“ I read the script in one sitting. I was about to leave. I don’t even remember where I was supposed to go, and I said, „I’m just going to look at a few pages.“ I read the whole thing and canceled my plans. I loved it. I’m a big horror fan. And I said, „What can we do? How do we move forward?“ They set up a meeting with Curry, and we hit it off right away. I ended up being invited to read for Nikki with the girls. I read with several girls. Inde was the last one in.».
«I think everyone knew it was perfect. There was a lot of excitement. And then a little later, I got the call that I got the part. So it wasn’t like you’d have to audition first; it just landed on my desk. I found out later that someone knew someone who suggested me. I want to give a shout-out to Skyler Zurn [casting director for Obsession], she really… they did a huge search for this role, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it.«.
9. Inde said she drew inspiration from Mia Goth and her performances in the groups X, Pearl and MaXXXine.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection, A24
She explained, «I think when you look at Mia Goth’s work, especially in Pearl, X, and MaXXXine, she’s a human being first and foremost, and the «crazy» part—in quotes—takes a backseat. But you always see her as a person, first and foremost. So my goal in creating Nikki was not to show her crazy side as madness, but to show her as a person experiencing very strong emotions and feeling everything to the extreme. What does that look like in practice? Obviously, it’s scary at times. But I really wanted to show it that way. That way, you could empathize with Nikki, who’s hiding behind the mask.».
On topic: Only those who regularly watched Disney Channel after school will be able to guess these songs from "High School Musical" from one screenshot.
10. To achieve the effect of the Bear's door being taped up, the art department created a removable sheet covered in tape.
Main characteristics
Curry said, "To make things easier, the art department did this: 90% of tape isn't stuck to the door. It's a big sheet. A big sheet and a bunch of tape. So the tape is only attached to the wall at the edges. Once you peel it off, you can remove this big piece they designed. It was very clever.".
11. There was no choreographer on set, so all of Nikki's weird moves were created in collaboration between Inde and Curry.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Inde said, "We didn't have a choreographer, so Curry and I just practiced pop-n-lock moves. We'd just do it, and he'd be like, 'No, I want it like this,' and we'd move our arms a certain way. I used to be a dancer, so that helped a little. We really worked on it—not for very long, because he knew what he wanted, but I felt like his little puppet.".
12. Curry made a brief appearance in the film as a telephone operator named Willow who grants one wish.
«"That was me," he said. "I recorded that dialogue in my room, after we'd shot the movie. I edited it in my room, so I could do whatever I wanted with it. I just pulled out my phone and said, 'Hey, how are you?'".
13. To make Nikki look even more creepy in the shadows, she was given "uncanny valley" makeup. Makeup artist Kate Oja explained that no prosthetics were used, just "light and shadow.".
14. The scene where Nikki smashes Sarah's head with a brick was actually longer than shown in theaters. To ensure the film's wide release, Curry and his team had to cut it.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
On topic: Sorry, but this time-limited 80s TV show quiz only applies to people born between 1961 and 1979.
He said, "When I heard the news that I might have to cut it, I was really upset at first. But we cut it, and I feel like the integrity of the scene was preserved... I'm actually surprised how much we were allowed to keep.".
Inde explained, "Also, they cut the scenes after the impacts. Curry wanted to play with the idea of what happens to the human body after such impacts, like gurgling sounds, so there were human-like gurgling sounds that might have been too gruesome for an R rating, so they cut those scenes down a bit.".
15. This car scene had several variations. One of them is the version where Sarah admits that Nikki really was in love with Bear.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
«"There was a version where Sarah tells Bear that Nikki confessed her feelings for him," Curry told Polygon. "I thought it would have been really heartbreaking if it had turned out that Nikki had liked Bear all along and then this happened, but obviously that version didn't make the cut.".
16. The film had an alternate ending in which Nikki dies along with her friends. Several different versions of the final scene were ultimately filmed.
Main characteristics
«"I was actually very drawn to the Romeo and Juliet ending," Curry explained, adding that it was his father who convinced him to keep the ending where Nikki survived.
Inde told The Hollywood Reporter: "The original ending was that after all the trauma and pain, I would choose a different way of life. At the last second, they said, 'Let's try this,' and from other people's perspective, which is a huge compliment to me and I really appreciate it, they did one take, and they thought it was magical and captivating, and they knew that was the ending.".
17. Finally, Curry already has ideas for a sequel or an anthology series centered around Willow, the One Wish Granter.
Focus Features / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
«"I have a couple of other projects that really interest me, of course, but I think 'Obsession 2' could be interesting too. Or what really excites me is maybe an anthology, like an hour-long episode," he said. "Each episode is a different desire, completely out of control. Maybe I'll shoot a pilot with the same cinematographer, and we could invite other filmmakers to contribute. That would be really cool.".
The film "Obsession" is now showing in cinemas.
Your Daily Brain Workout: Most People Won't Finish the Mega-Word Chain This Weekend—Can You?
Also in the TVAndMovies section: No one born after 1990 has seen 35 of these 42 cult classics.
Also in the TVAndMovies section: How well do you know the origin stories of Disney princesses? I'd be very impressed if you scored 20/20.
Read about it on BuzzFeed.com