The Scariest Scene in Hereditary: How a First-Time Director Pulled It Off

16 May at 16:00 Comment Views: 24

When Curry Barker set out to craft his debut horror feature, he sought a touch of genuine dread—and found it closer to home than expected. He reached out to his father, the playwright Jeff Barker, who makes a cameo in the film. The elder Barker, already eyeing a transition into screenwriting, jumped at the chance to pen a haunting monologue delivered midway through Obsession. The result was nothing short of bone-chilling.

“My father possesses a natural inclination for the macabre,” Barker tells Polygon. “I suppose it’s a family trait.”

Written, directed, and edited by Barker—known for his earlier work on short films like The Chair and Milk & Cereal—Obsession masterfully fuses the cautionary, “monkey’s paw” style of folklore with the visceral, demonic terror of The Exorcist. The film stands as one of the most unsettling horror entries of this decade. While difficult to categorize, watching it evoked a level of physical anxiety I haven’t felt since the debut of Hereditary—a film that shares a similar preoccupation with the horrors of possession.

The story follows Bear (Michael Johnston), an insecure young man captivated by his coworker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette). After purchasing a “One Wish Willow” novelty toy, Bear makes a desperate plea for Nikki’s affection. He gets his wish, but the romance quickly turns into a nightmare as Nikki’s devotion spirals into a terrifying, possessive obsession that suggests a sinister entity has usurped her humanity.

We sat down with Barker to pull back the curtain on the inspirations behind the film, the secrets of its most disturbing scenes, and his vision for a potential follow-up.

[Editor’s note: The following contains minor spoilers for Obsession.]

Polygon: Obsession blends two distinct horror subgenres—the “monkey’s paw” fable and a possession narrative. How did you arrive at that fusion?

Curry Barker: I previously made a short film titled The Chair, which featured a character named Julie who could shift between erratic emotional states. I loved exploring that duality. I wanted to build a feature-length project around that concept—where the central threat is that instability. I wanted it to feel grounded and raw, using that supernatural element as a way to escalate the horror whenever the entity resurfaces within her.

Inde Navarrette is phenomenal. Some of her expressions are deeply unsettling. Was that performance practical, or were you relying on VFX?

A lot of it comes down to lighting and contouring to accentuate features. We were careful not to lean into “demon” tropes—blackened eyes and heavy prosthetics—to avoid the uncanny valley. We wanted her to remain human, just… not quite right. But truly, 90% of what you see is just her performance.

One of the standout moments is when Nikki reads a twisted story about Hansel and Gretel at a party. How did that come to be?

I had the foundational concept: I wanted an allegory about siblings, mirroring how Nikki initially views Bear as a brother. It feels transgressive, and that’s the point. Since Nikki is a writer in the film, I wanted her literary voice to be distinct from mine, so I invited my father to contribute. He really leaned into the creepiness.

It’s fascinating that your father is the one who wrote that scene.

It was a bit surreal, but my father has been a storyteller for years and is now a full-time screenwriter. He has a mind perfectly suited for this kind of darkness. It runs in the family.

The visual of the door covered in duct tape is incredibly claustrophobic. How did you pull that off?

It was vital that we didn’t show the door too early—I wanted to hold on Bear’s reaction first. There was some pressure to cut to the reveal, but I knew holding the shot was more effective. As for the construction, our art department was brilliant. Because we shot out of order, they created a modular sheet of duct tape that could be removed and replaced easily. It was a clever practical solution.

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