YouTube creators are taking over the multiplex. According to Rolling Stone, two horror films dropped in May and immediately shattered box-office expectations — both made by filmmakers under 30 who built their empires online.
Michael Johnston stars in Obsession, directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker. Johnston's character Bear pines for his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarette), a setup that goes catastrophically wrong when he finds a magical "One Wish Willow" that actually works.
Bear wishes his crush loved him more than anyone else in the world — and the spell delivers with nightmarish precision. The film draws from The Monkey's Paw and a classic Simpsons episode.
Navarette plays the possessed young woman spiraling into madness. The cast is virtually unknown except for a small Andy Richter cameo. Industry insiders predict Navarette will advance significantly in the industry.
Both films demonstrate that online fanbases are now a Hollywood pipeline. Studios are suddenly interested in what these Gen-Z directors produce next. The two films proved that internet-native filmmakers can compete with legacy blockbusters.
