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Folklore in Obsession Everyone Missed

Folklore in Film

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Willow branches have long been considered powerful, even magical. But did 2025’s Obsession accurately represent willow folklore?

Or did writer/director Curry Barker ‪@thats_a_bad_idea‬ invent his own lore?

00:00 Intro
00:39 The Inspiration for Obsession (2025): What the Film Borrows From 1902’s The Monkey’s Paw (and What It Changes)
03:30 Is the One Wish Willow in Obsession Real?
04:12 What Is the One Wish Willow in Obsession Based On? Willow Wands in Ritual and Folklore
04:27 Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld
06:11 The Power of Willow Branches (and Guanyin) in Chinese Buddhist Tradition
07:03 Different Meanings Behind Bending Willow Branches vs. Breaking Willow Branches Across Cultures
08:47 The Connection Between Willow Trees and Death Across Cultures
10:52 The Orpheus of It All: How Willow Branches Represent Both Love and Death
11:07 Love, Marriage, and Willow Wands: How Willow Was Used in Marriage and Courtship Rituals
13:02 Hair-Snatching in Obsession Explained
14:42 The Ending of Obsession Explained: Cats, Shrines, and Binding Spells
15:20 How the Hansel and Gretel Fairytale Inspired Obsession
18:06 Why Did Bear’s Wish Go So Wrong in Obsession?
19:19 Folklorical Accuracy Grade for 2025’s Obsesssion

Got demons and devils on your mind? You might like these:

-Folklore in The VVitch Everyone Missed
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-Folklore in Hokum Everyone Missed
-Folklore in Nosferatu (2024) Everyone Missed
-Folklore in Army of Darkness Everyone Missed

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20 Comments

@FolkloreInFilm Creator 3 days ago Pinned

snap to it: the transcript for this video, with links to resources and references, is now up on the Folklore in Film website: https://folkloreinfilm.com/2026/09/30/folklore-in-obsession-everyone-missed/

@NewMessage 2 weeks ago

⚠*WARNING!!!*⚠
Do not wrap anyone's hair around the One Wish Willow, unless you wish to turn them into weapons.

@DeuceRumbo 11 days ago

Great video! One small correction at the end, Curry Barker clarified stating that the Willow itself isn’t inherently evil or cursed, but rather the nature of Bear’s wish is what yielded the negative result.

@X2behav 2 weeks ago

To me the obsession is Bears , and her actions are a reflection of it.

@rennis3447 9 days ago

Probably worth mentioning that people have been chewing on willow bark for thousands of years because it contains salicin which eases fevers, aches, and pain. 19th century scientists isolated the salicin and synthesized it into acetylsalicylic acid, the main/active ingredient in aspirin.

@andydavis8437 2 weeks ago

Once again I direct you to the 1990 Icelandic folk horror, The Juniper Tree staring Bjork. Its themes of; Forced Love, Binding Spells, Loss of Autonomy and Trees as cursed Conduits, in this case a Juniper Tree. are strikingly similar to Obsession; Making a pact/wish under the tree is not without a heavy personal cost.

@Lack_of_response 2 weeks ago

I can’t help but think there’s a connection between the one wish willow and Aunt Gladys’ houseplant in Weapons

@lord-licht 12 days ago

This was SO interesting! Glad you also mention that this is a story abt Bear abusing Nicki, not a romance!

@spiralali 11 days ago

My one wish: I wish all human beings would treat each other with kindness and respect.

But I might not use a One Wish Willow to make it. Your point about breaking the stick, versus winding and bending it, feels like a wise observation.

@misabelrodriguez1163 2 weeks ago

Wish Nikki has a very childlike aspect to her, like her throwing fits and general lack of emotional regulation. This makes sense since Wish Nikki only came into being when Bear makes his wish and thus is technically a child.

@steverlfs 2 weeks ago

Was not the willow tree growing over the grave of Aschenputzel's (Cinderella) mother a willow tree? Here the ghost of her mother granted the wish, which was later turned into the fairy godmother.

@bobmcbob9856 12 days ago

Balkan Romani (Gypsy) communities have women and children throw willow crowns into rivers to make wishes on St. George’s Day/the spring festival Ederlezi

@izzycurer1260 9 days ago

Small note: Gilgamesh and Inanna weren't actual siblings. Inanna later asks Gilgamesh to marry her. Rather, there seems to have been a cultural convention in Mesopotamia where people called one another 'Brother' and 'Sister', like they do in church. So for instance, when we see Inanna visiting Ereshkigal in the underworld and they're calling each other "My Sister", it's probably not supposed to be taken literally. They're just trying to be really polite and cordial to one another since they're meeting as enemies.

@kittycatcitycat 10 days ago

The idea in the Finnish ballad that you'd make some kind of disciplinary whipping tool out of willow may be at least as practical as mythological. Switches and whips for humans and animals bennifit from being made from strong, flexible, springy woods. Sigh - dark stuff.

@eastward98 1 day ago

Making a shrine for someone is very typical "otaku" behaviour as well. You become so obsessed with someone that you collect things that remind you of them or photos of them because you want to be with them all of the time. Through a folkloric lense, it's an interesting human behaviour that we, in a way, can feel a psychic connection to the object of our affections by creating a physical symbol that "ties" them to us and puts out emotions into the world.

@rafaelblæcwulf 2 weeks ago

I second the statement about the year that generated the best people. This year that happened 30 years ago was the best

@ss-oq9pc 2 weeks ago

He's going to make another movie, not a direct sequel though.

@kittycatcitycat 10 days ago

Willow is a good basketry tree, because of how hard it is to break-- how it can be re-softened and shaped whole. I intuitively like them picking the willow as the mythological plant in Obsession, because the alliterative reference we think of for willow, beside the newly invented "One wish willow" is "weeping willow", like a hunched woman grieving with hair and tears trailing down in the branches. The idea that one can only break the strong, flexible willow once and then it gives you momentary ultimate wish flexibility --sure. That's pretty good. Of course, this beg the question: how does one harvest the magic willow to put into little red-cardboard packages without exhausting the wish power?

@HELyasss 12 days ago

I think my wish would be to live financially comfortably, this way I'd have enough money to pay my bills, be able to treat myself once in a while, and even be able to give back to charity or help out my loved ones.

@Psychosofi 12 days ago

Two things: isn't the Holly tree the magical wishing tree in americana-folklore? That's where you get the magic of Holly-Wood.
And, is that the Blasphemous soundtrack in the background?