Originally, Barker planned to seek out distributors for “Milk & Serial,” but he pivoted to release it for free on YouTube. This decision proved wise, as the film quickly went viral after its August 2024 debut. As of now, it boasts over 2.2 million views, a testament to its widespread appeal.

The film follows a YouTube prankster named Seven, portrayed by Cooper Tomlinson, who plans an elaborate prank on his friend Milk, played by Barker, during his birthday celebration. Involving firearms, the prank inevitably goes awry, leading to a cascade of terrifying events beyond Seven’s wildest expectations.

Though the found footage genre can be unpredictable, it often thrives when filmmakers cleverly utilize limited budgets. “Milk & Serial,” produced for just $800, achieves this by focusing not on special effects, but on genuine scares and darkly comedic performances, delivering a thrilling experience.

Internet prank videos often disguise harmful behavior as humor, with creators pushing boundaries for clicks, sometimes resulting in real harm. “Milk & Serial” underscores this, particularly when firearms are introduced into a prank setting. The film shifts focus from Tomlinson’s Seven, driven by views, to Barker’s Milk, who enjoys exploiting his platform for malicious pranks. Like Mark Duplass’s character in “Creep,” Milk plays a strategic game, adding a sinister layer to prior events.

Prank videos on the internet have mutated into various forms of abuse disguised as jests. There’s a need to keep upping the ante to secure clicks, which can lead to people getting seriously hurt. It’s made clear from the start of “Milk & Serial” that incorporating firearms in a “prank” scenario is a surefire way to get in trouble. But the film takes a turn when it switches the central focus from Cooper Tomlinson’s Seven to Curry Barker’s Milk. The former does what he does for the views, while the latter revels in having a platform to film his cruelty. Milk is a lot like Mark Duplass in the awesome found footage horror movie “Creep,” in which there’s a game of chess going on behind the scenes that gives a more sinister context to everything that came before.

It’s actually pretty genius to hand the movie over to a sociopath, as it provides a smart reasoning for why these characters keep filming their potential crimes. Possessing the kind of grimace that would make him a candidate for a “Smile” sequel, Barker is able to conjure a great deal of menace with how easily he’s able to manipulate everyone in his life for the sake of a demented gag. It’s almost uncomfortable how funny he is. “Milk & Serial” features one of the best jokes you’ll see about unlocking your phone with Face ID. There are a lot of memorable moments crammed into the film, but its standout sequence involves Barker reacting poorly to a scenario taking place in a Home Depot parking lot.

Prior to directing “Milk & Serial,” Curry Barker helmed several short films. Early efforts like “Real World,” “Contemplation,” and “Meanwhile Outside the Bank” aren’t readily available to watch online, but you can see four of his latest directorial efforts on YouTube, all of which show signs of a filmmaker ready and willing to try something different.

“Heavy Eyes” is primed to be one of those horror shorts that gets you with a quick jump scare, but it manages to elicit chills through its mood alone. Barker kicks things up a notch with “The Chair” (which had its own viral success in 2023), the story of a man who picks up an antique chair he found on the side of the road and brings it home only for it to thrust him into a psychological spiral that makes him question the integrity of his reality. “Enigma” is more of a sentimental apocalypse drama about a guy trying to figure out whether he should make his final days meaningful, while “Warnings” brings Barker back to horror with a reality-bending short involving cryptic notes and an identity crisis.

With Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s “Iron Lung” and the upcoming “Backrooms” movie, YouTube seems to have become a springboard for aspiring filmmakers to cut their teeth before moving onto bigger projects. It’s certainly paid off for Barker: On top of “Obsession,” there’s the currently filming, Jason Blum-produced “Anything But Ghosts.” Barker and Cooper Tomlinson co-wrote the script and they will co-star in the film, with the former directing. It seems like the sky is the limit for Barker, who continues to reap the benefits of posting “Milk & Serial” to YouTube.