Be careful what you wish for — and who you text. Ahead of the release of Curry Barker’s film Obsession, fans can now text the girl of Bear’s (Michael Johnston) dreams as Focus Features runs a new marketing stunt for the film, allowing audiences to get up close and personal with Bear’s increasingly frantic (and maybe volatile) crush.
The stunt began with billboards erected in Los Angeles and New York City, featuring messages from Nikki (played by Inde Navarrette in the film) asking fans to text her. As time went on, the billboards were spray painted with increasingly frantic messages, like “are you ignoring me?” and “are you busy?”, before escalating into all caps obsessiveness, reading “why haven't you texted me” and “why don’t you love me” in unsettling capitals.
If you’re still tempted to contact her after all that, fans can opt in to the text line at 724-876-4554 to receive messages and loving voice memos from Nikki. But be careful what you’re getting yourself into, because texting her might make her obsessed…
Obsession is directed by Barker from his own script, starring Johnston, Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter, with producers James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, Roman Viaris, Jason Blum, Leonora Darby, Mark Lane, David Haring, and Ruzanna Kegeyan. The film’s synopsis is as follows:
After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Obsession is Barker’s second film after his debut Milk & Serial went viral on YouTube. He’s also set to direct a new installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise — though he has some, uh…interesting thoughts on the original.
Obsession hits theaters on May 15.
