Took me a little while to finally see this one, but at long last I have experienced the OTHER unexpected smash hit horror movie of 2026, Curry Barker's debut studio film Obsession. Produced on an unfathomably paltry $750,000, this psychologically distressing thriller has to date grossed a staggering $370 million (one of the biggest ROIs in cinema history), spending five weeks in the number-two spot and becoming the first movie since E.T. to improve its box office take over the first three weekends of wide release. Talk about a sleeper hit. With the out-of-nowhere runaway success of both this film and Kane Parsons' Backrooms, it's an exciting time to be a cinephile and watch two 20-something directors with given creative carte blanche put the big-budget studio pictures to shame. We arguably haven't seen this kind of organic success from young maverick directors since the 70s, or at least the 90s. There's a lesson to be learned here, right Hollywood??
But is Obsession any good? Put simply, good lord, yes. From Barker's incredibly disciplined direction (He and his collaborators did loads of previz work to minimize the production schedule), to the wire-taut, twistedly funny script, to the unbelievably chilling lead performance by Inde Navarrette (Seriously, this woman deserves some major award nominations in a few months), Obsession is one of the most unsettling films since Ari Aster burst on the scene eight years ago.
The story kicks off by introducing us to a small group of friends, in particular Baron "Bear" Bailey (played quite effectively by Michael Johnston), a deeply insecure music store employee who's developed an agonizing romantic attachment to his friend and coworker Nikki Freeman (Navarrette). His wingman Ian (Curry Barker's sketch comedy partner Cooper Tomlinson) and their friend Sarah (Megan Lawless) are torn between trying to help him win Nikki's affection and not wanting the group dynamic disrupted. One night after a bar trivia outing Bear drives Nikki home with the intention of finally confessing his feelings, but is too craven to follow through, instead wishing on an old novelty toy called One Wish Willow that "Nikki Freeman will love me more than anyone in the world." Suddenly the sardonic, aloof "girlbro" Nikki becomes a codependent stage-five clinger and well, things get really, really, really disturbing.
I really don't want to divulge much more than that; the setup is all you should need for your interest to be violently piqued. If you've ever seen the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II," specifically the "Monkey's Paw" segment, you get the idea. And if you've ever been in a troubled relationship (or even a healthy one), the events depicted here will hit home, very hard. Few things in life are as distressing as when a loved one isn't themselves.
The premise is of course a little hokey, like something out of a Twilight Zone episode, but the consequences of Bear's wish coming true are handled so brilliantly and so convincingly that the film rises far above its pulpy setup. The multi-layered subtext also gives the viewer so much to chew on. Obsession could be read as an exploration of the so-called "male loneliness epidemic," toxic masculinity (particularly "nice guys" who aren't so nice), the inability of the social media generation to effectively communicate with other human beings, the recent shift toward fragile men taking away women's agency and bodily autonomy, or the idea that if these ineffectual men actually landed their dream girl they wouldn't know what to do with her anyway. The profound themes here are ripe for interpretation and invite deep-dive analysis; like most great horror stories, Obsession is about much more than its surface-level narrative. And like Alien, it feels like this film is specifically going after the men in the audience, always a fun genre subversion, and boy does it work here.
But of course none of it would work as well as it does without Navarrette's stunningly disquieting, fearless performance. Her work here belongs in the same conversation as that of Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Kathy Bates in Misery, and Amy Madigan in Weapons. If she isn't nominated for an Oscar it will be an injustice. It's especially striking once you learn many of her best scenes were shot in only one or two takes due to schedule restrictions (The whole film only took 20 days plus six more for reshoots).
There is a particular scene (aided by a body double and some post-production trickery) which actually made my skin crawl at multiple moments. I can't remember the last time a horror film gave me such an intense fight-or-flight response; it was akin to a waking nightmare in ways that should make Ari Aster proud. I won't say what happens in the scene, but apparently the script as written called for Nikki to simply say a line. Instead of a basic reading though, Navarrette made a choice (again, over only one or two takes) that absolutely chilled me to the bone. This scene is the most frightening in the movie and has stuck with me since I saw it; the studio should submit this as Navarrette's Oscar reel. She does some amazing things with her voice where it just cuts right through you, even with just an offscreen vocal reaction to something.
I can't say enough about how refreshingly exciting it is to see young filmmakers like Barker and Parsons reach so far beyond their years to create such relatably elemental, grown-up horror. The jump-scares on which lesser horror films rely so heavily are cheap, tension-dissolving dopamine hits, and great horror directors understand that atmospheric dread and unnerving imagery are the true nightmare fuel. Along with Backrooms I look forward to adding Obsession to my regular Halloween season rotation. This one is definitely going to reward repeat viewings.
I give Obsession **** out of ****.
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