Inde Navarrette Needs to Be in Curry Barker’s ‘Texas Chainsaw’ movie…and This Is Who She Should Play
Curry Barker’s Obsession has become, well, the obsession of everyone everywhere. It’s already the most successful horror film at the box office this year. Critics love it. Audiences, too. And Barker is officially one of the hottest directors right now, with Anything but Ghosts on the way and a deal to direct the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre for A24 signed. The filmmaker deserves all the success, having delivered what I’m confident in calling one of the best horror films in years. Watching it, I hadn’t felt that way since seeing It Follows. I understood I was witnessing an instant classic. But Obsession has an ingredient that I’d call secret if she weren’t already receiving well-earned praise…star Inde Navarrette (aka, “Nikki).
Obsession is not the first credit to Navarrette’s name. She’s appeared in multiple TV series, including over forty episodes of “Superman & Lois”. She also had a role in 2025’s Trap House, starring Dave Bautista. Obsession does, however, mark her first lead performance in a feature film. And what a performance it is.
A Performance to Die for
Navarrette plays Nikki—aka, “Freaky Nikki”—the crush of the main character, Bear (Michael Johnston). After his selfish wish for Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world, she finds herself a victim of a supernatural spell that has her falling head over heels for the pathetic guy. But Bear’s dream girl soon becomes a nightmare as Nikki takes her “love” to shocking levels. Because she isn’t Nikki. Not really. A demonic version of the young woman inhabits her body now, one who will do anything to keep others from coming between her and her Bear.
Dread’s Ashliene McMenamy wrote a fantastic piece on why Navarrette deserves award consideration. You should read it, because she’s right. I’m not here to reiterate why that is. No, I’m here to tell you why Curry Barker needs to pick up the phone and put Navarrette in his Texas Chainsaw film immediately. Because, after Obsession, I can’t imagine a better fit to lead audiences into a new take on Leatherface and his deranged family.
You’re probably already thinking, yes, cast Navarrette as one of Leatherface’s family members! And look, I’d love that. The strength of various Texas Chainsaw films often comes not from the chainsaw-wielding maniac but from who sits as the head of the operation. Think Jim Siedow as the cook from the first two films. Matthew McConaughey from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Or R. Lee Ermey from the 2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. All unhinged performances from actors unafraid to let themselves not just chew the scenery but saw right the fuck through it. Pardon the pun, but Navarrette would kill in that type of role.
That said, I think I have a better idea…make Navarrette the main protagonist. Before you start waving your chainsaw in the air and shouting incoherently, turn that thing off and hear me out.
More than Just “Freaky Nikki”
First, I want you to picture the ending of Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chain Saw. Sally (Marilyn Burns) sitting in the back of a pickup truck. Drenched in blood. Laughing uncontrollably. Eyes bulging. Completely out of her mind and in shock from the horror she’s just experienced. Now, insert Navarrette into that scene and tell me that she would not absolutely slay that moment. If you were to put that Obsession image of Navarette with blood pouring from her head next to Burns in Texas Chain Saw, you’d have The Office meme of Pam declaring, “They’re the same picture”.
Now, I’m not saying Barker should just remake Texas Chain Saw with Navarrette in the Sally role. Quite the contrary. I’m just a guy standing in front of a filmmaker and his fans, chest puffed out and asserting that Navarrette has the potential to deliver the most memorable lead performance in Texas Chain Saw history. That’s no offense to Burns, mind you, who is fantastic in the OG. But I think Barker and Navarrette can take Texas Chainsaw to a whole new level of madness.
Barker recently stated that he wants to “capture the feeling of, if you and a couple of friends were driving down the road, and you went down the wrong road, this could happen to you. If I can accomplish that feeling within Texas Chainsaw, I’ll be proud.” Not only do I think the filmmaker can do that, but Navarrette could be the key. Part of what makes her performance in Obsession so memorable comes from how relatable she feels. The actress has this ability to come off as that cool, fun, no-nonsense person that every friend group benefits from. You understand, at least on a surface level, why Bear either loves or thinks he loves her. She has the type of personality you want to be around. The type that you might even follow into a quiet Texas town on a blistering afternoon.
Made for the ‘Texas Chainsaw’ Spotlight
At the same time, there’s an intense vulnerability to Navarrette’s performance. Through subtle facial expressions, the way she laughs (or doesn’t), we get the sense that Nikki has reached a desperate point with Bear. One where she wants to remain friends but knows she must get his crush out in the open before it destroys whatever they have. Consider how she says “ewe” to Bear, buying her a present—shutting down his romanticism—before finally confronting him to ask if he likes her. Just about every woman has been in that position, and Navarette plays it perfectly. The point being that she’s more than capable of playing a heroine who finds herself confronted by mind-altering horrors. The shoe fits her just as well as that of the “scary” character.
That’s the thing about Navarrette. Standing at all of 5-foot-nothing, she’s not the most intimidating person at first glance. But, as they say, never judge a book by its cover. Despite her smaller stature, Navarrette has an incredible physicality in her performance that lends her an intense onscreen presence. The party game scene in Obsession immediately comes to mind, when she creeps up behind the chair of Bear’s friend, Sarah (Megan Lawless), and slowly pulls her away from him. Between that, her unsettling smiles, and the odd body contortions she displays throughout, Navarrette can simultaneously encourage sympathy while unnerving the audience to the point that they want to jump out of their skin. Put her in the lead role of Texas Chainsaw and watch her become a protagonist that we want to root for, but who also scares us a little, as well. That’s what the franchise needs. What I think was intended with Alexandra Daddario in Texas Chainsaw. And I truly believe the rising actress can deliver it.
A New Iconic Duo?
Casting Navarrette as Barker’s Texas Chainsaw protagonist also opens an exciting opportunity for her to reunite with her Obsession co-star. Having already appeared in Gun Media’s Texas Chainsaw game, Johnston has stated, “I want to be the villain” in Barker’s take. Navarrette and Johnston’s chemistry practically sizzles on the screen in Obsession. Not in a romantic way, of course, but in a which one of us is going to rip the other apart first sort of way. Thinking about the two of them testing how far they can take each other’s madness…that’s enough to get me wanting to buy a ticket and fire up the BBQ right now.
Think the intense sequences between Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey in Next Generation on a whole new (and shocking) level.
As a fun note, the move would somewhat replicate another iconic pairing in horror cinema…that of Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs. The two endeared themselves to fans with their starring roles in Re-Animator. While Combs played more of a grey character in Herbert West, Crampton was more the victim of unfortunate circumstances. Yet when it came time for Stuart Gordon’s next foray into the world of Lovecraft, From Beyond, Barbara was cast as the lead, going up against Combs as he deteriorates into something monstrous. Personally, I think it’s one of her best performances that allowed Crampton to prove her star potential. Navarrette deserves the same chance. Going toe to toe once again with Johnston would be the icing on the cake and perhaps signal a new horror duo for the ages.
Anything can happen. Especially in the mad, mad world of Texas Chainsaw. But if I were Barker, I’d already be in discussions with Navarrette to star, whether she’s the protagonist or not. The filmmaker delivered an unforgettable film, in large part thanks to Navarrette. It would be a mistake not to take the opportunity to let her freak flag fly in one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time.
Obsession is now in theaters via Focus Features. Run, don’t walk, to see it, and get ready for it to become your new obsession.
Categorized:Editorials