Somewhere along the way, we seem to have reached the conclusion that internet culture and modern technology are decidedly “uncinematic”. No matter how well researched they are, productions that try to incorporate computers, phones and social media into their stories oftentimes end up feeling like that one SNL sketch where Steve Buscemi asks: “how do you do, fellow kids?”
Thankfully, this difficulty in depicting online interactions on the big screen hasn’t stopped some intrepid filmmakers from coming up with high-tech hits like Livescream, Spree and even Daniel Goldhaber’s Cam.
If you ask me, the secret to successful “influencer horror” lies in recruiting filmmakers who have a real background (or at least a genuine interest) in the medium that they’re trying to represent. This is just one of many reasons why Curry Barker’s 2024 microbudget horror flick Milk & Serial became such a champion of the growing genre, with this lo-fi thriller quickly going viral and launching a humble YouTube comedian towards genre stardom.
With Barker making the rounds online due to the release of his hotly anticipated thriller Obsession, not to mention the fact that the filmmaker is also set to helm the upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot, I think this is the perfect moment to look back on the digital thriller that kickstarted his Hollywood career.
Naturally, the comedian-to-horror-filmmaker pipeline is nothing new, with artists like Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger having proven that sketch comedy serves as a wonderful basis for storytellers who eventually want to set up gags that end in scares instead of punchlines. Yet, Curry Barker is one of the few comedians to make his first film a meta commentary on the exploitative nature of internet entertainment itself and how it favors a particular kind of sociopathy.
Produced on a minuscule budget of roughly $800 dollars (most of which was spent on a camera and the hiring of a single extra actor), Milk & Serial was actually Barker’s second horror project, released on the comedy channel That’s a Bad Idea. The filmmaker had previously worked with his comedy partner Cooper Tomlinson, who produced and starred in Milk & Serial, on a creepy short film called “The Chair“, with the success of that video inspiring the duo to envision a larger horror production.
The project that became Milk & Serial ended up being shot over a period of four months as the team made the most of their existing comedy setup. Since the story focused more on character interactions and shocking reveals rather than expensive gore and complex chase sequences, the filmmakers were able to slowly piece together a feature in their free time while simultaneously working on the comedy channel.
Unfortunately, once the film was completed, mainstream distributors seemed uninterested in such a bizarre story. After realizing that their feature would never get the attention it deserved if it were released through conventional means, the filmmaking team decided to simply upload the entire film to YouTube and hope for the best.
If you haven’t yet seen the movie – which you absolutely should, as it’s completely free and only about an hour long – Milk & Serial follows budding YouTubers and best friends Marshall “Milk” (Barker) and Steve “Seven” (Tomlinson) as they engage in over-the-top pranks meant to grow their online fanbase. Unfortunately for Seven, Milk harbors a sociopathic secret and will stop at nothing to make the ultimate prank video, no matter the cost to the people around him.
To go into further detail would only spoil an already-brief experience, so suffice it to say that the flick is a wonderful exercise in manipulating audience expectations. From mind-bending thriller akin to David Fincher’s The Game one minute to a serial killer vlog the next, it’s impossible to predict where Milk & Serial is going, and that’s precisely what makes it so much fun.
The found footage aesthetic is also much more than just a gimmick here, with the movie’s visual language having been long established by real (and sometimes problematic) vloggers wanting to convey a misplaced sense of sincerity. This parasocial presentation grounds Milk & Serial in the real world despite some over-the-top horror tropes and the occasional dumb character decision – most of which you’ll probably be too engaged with the story to notice on a first watch.
Of course, it’s Barker’s performance as Milk that really holds the experience together, with his twisted views on fame,coupled with that mid-point plot-twist, making this an all-too relatable nightmare if you’re familiar with the extreme side of internet culture. Hell, in the years since the flick’s release, we’ve seen streamers and YouTubers face trouble with the law for crimes ranging from texting-and-driving to provoking fatal shootings with ill-conceived pranks, so a disturbed individual like Milk isn’t that far from reality. The only difference is that Barker’s character appears to be fully aware of the all-encompassing algorithm that encourages increasingly egotistical behavior in exchange for views.
While certain elements like the plastic mask that appears to have been borrowed from Alice, Sweet Alice, or even the bloody souvenirs under the bed steer dangerously close to B-movie territory, the emotional core of the film is believable enough that we’re still talking about this clever little movie two years after it was surprise-dropped on YouTube.
Barker has clearly grown as a filmmaker since 2024, with even his comedy content getting an aesthetic upgrade, and the Obsession reviews claiming that he’s the next big thing in horror. However, I’d argue that the young filmmaker’s success is firmly rooted in his origins as a content creator with a metaphorical finger on the pulse of online culture. That’s why the success of Milk & Serial wasn’t just a fluke, as this bold new vision is exactly what the film industry needs right now if movies are supposed to compete with short-form content and dwindling attention spans.
So, if Barker’s future endeavors are half as entertaining as Milk & Serial, I think horror fans are in for a very interesting career.