For Halloween, the director of "Obsession" gifted us a new short film It's called "Mama Bear", it's on YouTube, and it was written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker

Curry Barker is back, specifically on YouTube. The director and screenwriter behind Obsession, the horror and cinematic phenomenon of the year with worldwide box office earnings of over 500 million dollars, has published a new short film on his channel that's a bad idea. The short, titled Mama Bear, was sponsored by Windows, though Barker directed, wrote, and edited the project entirely on his own.

Several members of the Obsession team returned to collaborate on the short, which was shot just three and a half weeks before its release. The title adds to Barker's personal portfolio and shows that he hasn't forgotten the world of the internet from which he came — a world where his previous short films are also available, alongside the comedy sketches he created with channel co-creator Cooper Tomlinson.

Many have drawn a connection between the short film and Obsession, particularly with regard to the title, Mama Bear. The male character in the horror film is named Bear, played in the movie by Michael Johnston. The co-lead is Inde Navarrette, who, around the same time as the short's release, is set to host Saturday Night Live for the first time. In the near future, the actress will also play Rogue for Marvel in the X-Men cinematic film. Two fine Halloween gifts, then, for fans of what is already a horror cult classic.

But let's take a closer look at the connections between Mama Bear and Obsession.

The references to "Obsession"

One element linking the film and the short is a figure that appears at a certain point in the story — and from here on, we'll be getting into spoilers. In the story, which runs under five minutes, we see the protagonist Floyd, played by actor Jon Lee Richardson, asleep on a couch and suddenly woken by a phone call. But it's not the only one he's received: the young man has been contacted by his mother and by a girl named Lacey (Katie Sarife), while on the phone is someone presumed to be a friend, who warns him that the girl is on her way — and indeed she shows up with a gun. Meanwhile, a shadow appears in the living room where the protagonist is sitting. A figure that only at the end we discover to be a doppelgänger of the young man, likely responsible for the wrongdoing Floyd himself is being accused of.

In this dark figure, which emerges from a corner and never shows its face, one can detect a reference to the scene in Obsession in which Nikki (Navarrette) blends into the darkness of the house. In fact, it happens more than once that the young woman's face is invisible to the eye, hidden by shadow. This is something of a signature for Curry Barker, as seen in his earlier works as well — for instance, the short film Heavy Eyes, also on YouTube: individuals who dwell in darkness and create a sense of unease both in those who face them and in those watching them through a screen.

Does Mama Bear have a meaning?

If the question is what Mama Bear actually means, the answer is that — as is often the case with horror-supernatural-unsettling works — there may not be one, even though many viewers in the comments below the short are already attempting to offer interpretations. Some, given the title and the double lurking in the shadows, have theorized that the characters exist within the same universe as Obsession. Others have ventured a more complex explanation, one that could nonetheless fit within the framework of the story Barker presents. It should be noted, after all, that in his YouTube work Barker has almost never sought out meaning that is immediately accessible to his audience, preferring instead to confuse and unsettle viewers rather than offer them something perfectly legible.

The hypothesis put forward is that of a doppelgänger who, in place of the real Floyd, has committed a violent act that, in reference to the title, may involve a potential child or someone dear to the character Lacey — who could therefore be the mama bear of the title. Not noticing Floyd, the girl fires and only afterward realizes something is wrong. These are, of course, all lines of reasoning that cannot definitively establish the narrative intentions of Mama Bear, but the conversation the short has managed to generate certainly amplifies its impact.

Or is it simply a taste of Curry Barker's next film?

Some, as with Obsession, want to see in Mama Bear a connection to Curry Barker's next film, Anything But Ghosts, a horror comedy coming to cinemas on May 7, 2027, produced by Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster. The feature, written by Barker alongside his collaborator Tomlinson, also sees the duo in the lead roles, joined by Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul.

Anything But Ghosts is the story of a pair of fake paranormal investigators who suddenly find themselves dealing with real ghosts. Whatever the intent behind Mama Bear, all that can be said is to enjoy it for what it is — another piece of madness produced by the "mind of Curry Barker," as written in the title card of each of his works. While waiting for Anything But Ghosts, there's nothing left to do but catch up on the rest of the filmmaker's short films, perhaps alternating them with some of the hilarious comedy videos also on that's a bad idea.