Mama Bear Explained: What Curry Barker’s New Horror Short Is Really About
Obsession's Curry Barker has a new short film just as beguiling and intriguing as his last movie.
This article contains spoilers for Mama Bear.
Horror fans’ latest obsession is back with a new short film. Just days before Halloween, Obsession director Curry Barker returned to his original format with Mama Bear, a five-minute short film that once again deals with the supernatural and a cursed relationship.
But unlike Obsession, Mama Bear isn’t quite as clear in its plot, let alone its themes. No need to waste a One Wish Willow hoping to understand it. We’re here to explain the story of Mama Bear and what it could mean.
Mama Bear Plot Synopsis
Mama Bear opens with blackness and the sounds of Jazzersize, a cheesy version of Van Halen’s “Jump” playing from an exercise show on the television. The first visual we see is that of Floyd (Jon Lee Richardson), a young man in a cleaning company uniform dozing on the couch of a stately home, a collection of neglected supplies waiting next to him. The camera lurches forward as Floyd’s phone starts buzzing, getting closer with each ring until its sleepy owner finally answers.
The voice on the other end immediately shocks Floyd awake, warning that a woman named Lacey (Katie Sarife) is coming to kill him because she doesn’t care about the justice system. A clearly confused Floyd demands an explanation, but the other person provides none, just simply ranting about how much he loves Floyd and believes in justice, even if Lacey does not. The voice pauses just long enough to let out something like a chuckle, which Floyd takes as indication that this is all a joke, allowing himself to exhale. The voice quickly disabuses him of that notion and demands to know Floyd’s location. When Floyd answers “the Wilsons,” the voice mutters, “We’ve got him,” and hangs up.
At this point, Floyd begins to take notice of all the signs he missed. He sees multiple missed calls from Lacey and his mother, and a voicemail from the former that consists of little more than screaming. Floyd’s phone dies before he can play more, and, while he searches for a way to charge, he sees three things: a trail of blood on the floor, a bloody wrench on the table, and a shadowy figure (Joshua Snyder) in the corner. A startled Floyd demands answers from the figure, who gives no answer, only takes disconcerting and unnatural shapes.
Then, Mrs. Wilson (Ericka Kreuz) arrives, chatting on her phone about an impending divorce and insisting that her ex can have “Milo” instead of the house. She’s shocked to see Floyd still there, and even more shocked by the blood and the presence of the shadowy figure. She shuts the door as Floyd tries to explain that he has no idea what’s going on, which she takes calmly but with concern, especially when the voice on the other end of the phone starts giving directions.
Before she can follow the advice of the voice, a gunshot blows open the door and in strides Lacey, still in her pajamas and her face distorted by tears and anger. She demands to know why Floyd did what he did, and Floyd insists he cannot answer and does not know. Unsatisfied, Lacey begins shooting wildly at Floyd, sending him crawling behind a couch. There, Floyd once again insists that he doesn’t know anything, but Lacey won’t hear it. She fires multiple times into the couch, cutting through Floyd.
That’s when the shadowy figure emerges, showing himself in full. He looks like Floyd, covered in blood and flashing a cruel smile. Confused, but realizing she killed the wrong person, Lacey screams as we cut to black.
That’s what happened on screen. But what happened offscreen?
The Meaning of Mama Bear
Clearly, Lacey thinks that Floyd killed somebody close to her, presumably with the bloody wrench, and instead of waiting for the law to sort it out, she wants to take vengeance into her own hands. Also, the crime was notable enough that others heard about it, including Floyd’s mom, his friends, and possibly Mrs. Wilson’s lawyer, who may have been coaching her on how to handle the fact that Floyd was still in her house.
Furthermore, the crime must be horrific enough that Floyd’s friends would turn against him, using the pretense of caring about him to find out about his location and hunt him down.
Nothing in the movie explains who Floyd killed, but the title of the movie gives a suggestion. “Mama Bear” is a colloquialism, popularized by former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, to describe a mother who will do anything to protect her children. Palin and others use the phrase to imply righteous lawlessness, as if they will destroy anything and anyone who gets in between her and her children.
From that hint, and the anger and shock of everyone around them, it seems that Lacey thinks that Floyd killed her child, possibly a child they had together. That theory certainly tracks with Obsession, which also dealt with a relationship turned horrific. Furthermore, the relative young ages of the main characters heightens the anxieties around parenthood and other markers of adulthood, something touched on in Obsession and has served as the thematic driver of many great horror movies, including David Lynch‘s Eraserhead.
Other elements in the film reinforce this broken family theme, such as the brief inclusion of Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson clearly has some form of success, complete with a nice house and the money to pay someone to clean it. But she’s also in danger of losing the house as her marriage falls apart. There’s a real coldness when she offers up Milo in exchange, whether Milo is a pet or a child. Combine those points with the fact that Floyd’s mother has literally lost contact with her child.
Mama Bear also carries Obsession‘s concern with the loss of selfhood. Floyd obviously did not kill anyone. Instead, it was a demon or creature who looks just like Floyd, something that Floyd recognizes as himself, but isn’t him. Moreover, the way that the Other Floyd responds to his questions by contorting itself furthers that misrecognition, refusing to use words when it answers and only using strange, inexplicable gestures.
Finally, Mama Bear shows that Barker hasn’t lost his comic timing. Before making his feature film debut with Obsession, Barker made comedy shorts on the internet, mostly absurd sketches with perfect comic timing. As dark as Obsession often gets, it also has comedic elements, from the presence of Andy Richter to the moment when a wish for a million dollars comes true.
A New Obsession
Together, then Mama Bear is a short about the loss of self and the fear of family, all in an absurd and elliptical short film. Or it may not be any of those things. Where Obsession was a film that got overdiscussed and overanalyzed, with good reason, Mama Bear may be just more of an exercise, where the ambiguity is an intentional part of the final work. Perhaps we’re not supposed to know what happened.
Whatever the purpose or meaning, we can be sure of one thing. Mama Bear proves that Obsession wasn’t a fluke, and Curry Barker is already establishing himself as a master of horror.