Obsession Director Curry Barker Says Gen Z Is 'Tired of Slop' and 'Will Show Up' for Good Movies

Hot disconnected the heels of different palmy play astatine the container office, Obsession manager Curry Barker has said that, if there's thing he's learned successful the past month, it's that "Gen Z volition amusement up" to theaters if the films are bully enough.

As audiences caput to the movies successful droves to cheque retired Backrooms and Obsession, Barker has recovered himself caught successful a question of appreciation for low-budget horror. When asked astir his takeaways connected Happy, Sad, Confused, helium touched connected the important relation Gen Z played successful the movement.

"The acquisition is that Gen Z volition amusement up to an archetypal film," Barker explained. "Maybe that's each that needs to beryllium said: that we volition amusement up to a film. I don't deliberation it's astir IP, necessarily. You cognize what? It's not adjacent astir being archetypal oregon not being original. I deliberation we're each truly bare for bully stories, and we're benignant of – and I tin lone talk for myself – a small bushed of films that consciousness rushed oregon overly produced."

Curry Barker. Photo by Harold Feng/WireImage.

Barker, 26, falls firmly successful the Gen Z camp. While Obsession has made waves arsenic an archetypal fearfulness pic since its wide merchandise successful May, his aboriginal successful Hollywood volition spot him trying to beryllium helium tin some proceed to archer archetypal stories and dive into franchise filmmaking.

His adjacent movie is Anything But Ghosts, different archetypal communicative that stars Barker himself, Cooper Tomlinson (Obsession), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad). Further down the roadworthy is his Texas Chainsaw Massacre task with A24.

From Barker's constituent of view, moviegoers his property simply "want bully stories with bully characters, and adjacent bully filmmaking." When asked astir what helium wishes studios understood astir Gen Z audiences during an interrogation with The Hollywood Reporter, Barker offered a blunt response.

"I privation they understood that we're bushed of slop," helium said. "We privation bully movies back. People are inactive bare for movies that are archetypal without immoderate large IP, arsenic agelong arsenic the communicative is good."

While immoderate viewers, careless of age, volition beryllium determination to spot Anything But Ghosts oregon his Texas Chainsaw Massacre time one, others are hoping a due Obsession 2 is connected the way. For now, Barker has said helium has "a chill idea" for a follow-up, but he's not successful immoderate unreserved to marque it happen. While we hold to perceive more, you tin work IGN's 8/10 Obsession review.

Photo by Harold Feng/WireImage.

Michael Cripe is simply a freelance writer with IGN. He's champion known for his enactment astatine sites similar The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be definite to springiness him a travel connected Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).