His Creepy Score Made 'obsession' A Blockbuster. What's Rock Burwell's Next Wish?

Before you cognize thing is incorrect pinch Nikki successful “Obsession,” you consciousness it successful nan music.

Seconds aft her aspirant boyfriend, Bear, snaps nan One Wish Willow to make her autumn successful emotion pinch him, she walks backmost retired of her house, a small sheepish and recently smitten. But nan groaning synthesizer underneath her bashful grin tells you thing is disconnected — a crystalline reside now distended, unnerving.

“From that constituent on, there’s a tinge of darkness,” composer Rock Burwell said of that awesome infinitesimal successful “Obsession.” “It was a analyzable segment to fig out, because it’s specified an friendly moment. How tin we benignant of get this emotion that’s disorienting, weirdly playful, but besides twisted and concerning? It’s nan personification of that wish manifesting successful existent time, and nan spectator becoming alert that thing is awry.”

That song, “R U OK” is simply a standout infinitesimal successful Burwell’s people for “Obsession,” nan breakout scary deed of nan summer. The movie changeable Curry Barker onto nan A-list of caller directing talent and made a prima of Inde Navarrette and her virtuosically unhinged capacity arsenic Nikki.

As “Obsession” hits streaming aft 2 months of dominating theaters, nan movie is getting preemptive Oscar buzz, too. Part of that attraction is aimed astatine Burwell’s score, a masterpiece of physics minimalism successful which transportation bends and difficult clashes create nan dread and whiplash that make nan movie truthful tense.

As artificial intelligence and firm consolidation frighten movie and TV budgets and opportunities for emerging artists, Burwell’s activity connected “Obsession” is simply a potent statement for reinvesting successful young, edgy talent.

“I’d beryllium lying if location wasn’t a spot of impostor syndrome that comes pinch doing your first characteristic and it’s truthful well-received,” Burwell said. “But I really dream that location will ever beryllium a spot for that personification successful nan industry, wherever group resonate pinch nan enthusiasm and passion of original ideas. I really, really dream that ne'er dies.”

Burwell — a tall, measured 31-year-old whose crisp cheekbones and mildly ringleted hairsbreadth could person led him successful beforehand of nan camera alternatively — spent his early composing years pinch a musicians’ corporate successful his autochthonal New Hampshire. On nan patio of Lawless Brewing successful North Hollywood, not acold from his location successful nan Valley, wherever he still lives post-“Obsession,” he recalled moving to L.A. successful 2019 pinch a rapper friend and ferociously networking connected no-budget projects successful nan indie euphony scene.

He entered Barker’s orbit successful 2024 erstwhile nan director’s drama team, That’s a Bad Idea, was looking for original euphony and a communal friend deed up a shaper Burwell collaborated with.

“They came to my spot and we produced a drama song, for illustration a Lonely Island type of thing, and they changeable a euphony video to it,” Burwell recalled. “It was during those weeks that nan rumblings of ‘Obsession’ began, and Curry sewage it greenlit. We liked moving together, and he saw that we had a akin wavelength, and he conscionable benignant of tossed it up, like, ‘Hey, really would you consciousness astir scoring a feature?’”

“It’s an insane point to wrap my caput around, to moreover perceive immoderate portion of nan movie beryllium perchance considered for immoderate benignant of Oscar looks,” Burwell said. At first, “it was like, ’Am I nan feline for this job?’”

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

That movie would spell connected to gross much than $400 cardinal connected a fund of little than $1 million. Like Zach Cregger pinch “Weapons” aliases Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” Barker built connected nan run-and-gun inventiveness of nan sketch-group net segment to helm a culture-shifting scary deed connected a minuscule budget. Now Burwell has emerged arsenic nan spine-tingling Angelo Badalamenti to Barker’s David Lynch, aliases possibly a synth-patching Bernard Herrmann to Barker’s Alfred Hitchcock.

The “Obsession” people is an ingenious showcase of decay and reinvention, taking day-spa keyboard swells and wringing them retired beyond recognition. “You Wished for This” careens from ponderous ambience to shredded integer noise; The 2 parts of “Love is successful nan Air” recasts nan yearning of a classical Hollywood emotion taxable into a blood-soaked rictus grin.

“I’ll ne'er hide nan first clip I binge-watched ‘Twin Peaks,’ and really it made maine feel,” Burwell said. “There was this uncanny vale wherever it’s truthful beautiful, but it’s truthful earthy and visceral and acheronian astatine nan aforesaid time. I deliberation that’s benignant of nan cardinal to my heart. Curry looked astatine this movie arsenic a romance movie disguised arsenic a scary film, to research these much analyzable emotions alternatively than conscionable drilling successful connected nan horror. I deliberation allowing these things to develop, and past twist them, research nan acheronian wrong them, was what was successful.”

The “Obsession” people has already blown done a mates vinyl pressings, proving that young fans want to revisit nan euphony connected its ain terms. “That’s nan astir astonishing and shocking portion to me,” Burwell said. ”The full clip moving connected nan film, I was only looking astatine really nan euphony tin service each scene. But I’ve had group messaging maine saying, ‘I haven’t had a chance to spot nan movie yet, but I can’t extremity listening to nan soundtrack,’ which is really cool.”

Burwell’s life whitethorn alteration again if nan movie keeps up its Oscar buzz. “Sinners” and “Weapons” proved eager scary tin so sway nan Academy. A microbudget head redeeming nan summertime container agency pinch a thoughtfully gruesome movie astir naivety, misogyny and consequences is an inspiring Oscars meta-narrative. Burwell’s euphony would beryllium an outsider prime for a people award, but a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-caliber prime to win.

“It’s an insane point to wrap my caput around, to moreover perceive immoderate portion of nan movie beryllium perchance considered for immoderate benignant of Oscar looks,” Burwell said. At first, “it was like, ’Am I nan feline for this job?’ But Curry believed successful me, and ultimately, I believed successful myself, and it’s been a push and propulsion conflict of owning it and emotion really proud, and past second-guessing nan quality constituent of seeing thing you worked connected astatine specified a ample scale.”

Burwell is slated to constitute for Barker’s follow-up, “Anything but Ghosts,” astir a brace of cynical paranormal investigators who brushwood nan existent thing. He said it’s excessively early to cognize if he’ll beryllium tapped for Barker’s reimagining of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for A24, but he has his fingers crossed. He’d emotion to constitute for a afloat orchestra someday — “That sounds truthful cool. I don’t want to cosplay arsenic a classical composer, but I’d emotion to get to a constituent wherever I consciousness for illustration I tin constitute thing that really tin guidelines connected immoderate crushed successful that field.”

In nan meantime, he’s dropped a fewer singles from his shoegazey solo broadside project, Museum Complex, that hint astatine really his people activity mightiness construe successful a wall-of-distortion set setting. He whitethorn person popular opportunities, too. Burwell said he’s flattered by caller online praise from nan likes of Ethel Cain, Flying Lotus and Kid Cudi for his score. “I’ve looked up to Kid Cudi for decades, and to spot nan ‘Obsession’ formed retired raging pinch him connected stage, and [him] having specified precocious praise for nan film, it’s crazy to cognize he’s heard my music,” he said.

As Hollywood frantically tries to replicate nan occurrence of “Obsession,” different aspirant board and musicians are trying to reverse technologist nan right-place, right-time magic. There isn’t a group way to a deed for illustration “Obsession,” Burwell said, beyond doing nan activity and making eager friends. Even arsenic civilization permeates up from nan internet, being astir nan area is important.

“People person asked maine what’s a portion of proposal you could springiness to aspiring composers aliases musicians. It’s nan proximity effect of being adjacent to group moving connected things,” Burwell said. “Even though we unrecorded successful a modern property wherever anyone tin activity connected thing remotely, it’s still nan truth that Curry and I lived 5 minutes distant from each other, and we tin meet up successful personification and get a existent consciousness for each other, that meant much than thing else.”

The eerie ambient euphony that drives “Obsession” — truthful artfully serrated and delicately mangled by Burwell — emerged from a counterintuitive imaginative nuance that AI could ne'er capture. If location are immoderate lessons for Hollywood to study from “Obsession,” it’s to not return shortcuts to nan prize you’re longing for.

“If we’re successful a postapocalyptic landscape, creation is going to beryllium 1 of nan things that still connects people,” Burwell said. “You ne'er rather cognize really things mightiness return style if you don’t really person a scheme B, and conscionable look up and enactment passionate. You ne'er cognize what telephone you mightiness get, aliases who you mightiness get connected to that could alteration your life.”