Obsession (2025 film)

Development

Curry Barker, one half of the sketch comedy duo that's a bad idea with Cooper Tomlinson, initially conceived Obsession as a film about a couple obsessed with one another.^[4][5] In July 2023, while gathered with friends to watch an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in which he appeared, he caught a rerun of "Treehouse of Horror II", a 1991 episode of The Simpsons where Homer interacts with a monkey's paw, which inspired him to incorporate the wish element.^[4][6][7][8]

Earlier that year, Barker uploaded his short horror film The Chair to his YouTube channel, which impressed producer James Harris of Tea Shop Productions.^[9] Harris reached out to Barker's manager to offer Barker the chance to adapt The Chair into a feature film, an idea Barker had already written a script for.^[10][11][12] Barker took the opportunity to pitch Obsession, also sending over a draft, a one-pager, and a look book.^[12] The concept led to his signing with William Morris Endeavor and receiving an offer to direct Obsession with a $1 million budget.^[9] Around this time, he declined a $2 million offer to rewrite the script to make Bear a hero.^[13]

Barker took eight months to complete the screenplay while working at a coffee shop and corresponding with Tea Shop Productions.^[11][14] In the meantime, he released his first feature film, Milk & Serial, on YouTube in August 2024.^[14] Inspired by Aaron Sorkin's screenwriting MasterClass, Barker decided against expanding Nikki's backstory and the lore of the One Wish Willow by making the latter control the former's behavior.^[12][15] Barker developed the design of the One Wish Willow with his mother, a graphic art designer.^[10] Producer Haley Nicole Johnson helped Barker with the hiring of crew members.^[16] Obsession was bankrolled by Capstone Studios, after Harris shared Barker's script with its founder, Christian Mercuri, who was familiar with Barker's work.^[17]

Casting

Barker initially considered casting himself as Bear. In late 2023 or early 2024, the crew shot a screen test for the scene where Bear drops Nikki off at her place and first makes the wish, in which Tomlinson, who had already been cast as Ian, stepped in to play Bear.^[8] Casting was underway by August 2024.^[14] Barker wrote Nikki as both a threat and a victim and sought an actress capable of playing both a normal young woman and a frightening supernatural presence.^[18][19] Amid a long casting process, Mercuri championed Inde Navarrette, who had appeared in three Capstone projects.^[17] Navarrette was cast as Nikki after Barker felt she "nailed" a balance between crazy and scary and brought a natural, "bro-y kind of sassy" personality to the role that helped make Nikki believable before the horror elements emerged and made "Bear feel so much like he's in the friend zone".^[10][19] After a chemistry read with Navarrette, Michael Johnston was cast as Bear.^[10]

Obsession marked Navarrette's second film after Wander Darkly (2020) and television roles on 13 Reasons Why (2020) and Superman & Lois (2021–2024).^[20] Much of Nikki's physical behavior was developed through collaboration between Barker and Navarrette, and her screams, facial expressions, and vocal changes were performed without CGI or artificial intelligence.^[21] Scenes of Nikki lurking in the dark incorporated practical makeup effects, partly influenced by an uncanny valley makeup trend popularized by TikTok in 2023.^[22] Before filming began, Barker had the cast watch Hereditary (2018) and had Navarrette watch Midsommar (2019) and Pearl (2022).^[5] Navarrette credited Betty Gabriel in Get Out (2017), Toni Collette in Hereditary, and Mia Goth in Pearl as inspirations for her performance as Nikki.^[23][24][25]

Filming

To plan shots, minimize camera coverage, and achieve practical in-camera effects, Barker and cinematographer Taylor Clemons previsualized the film by 3D scanning locations and recreating them as digital models.^[26] Principal photography began in late October 2024.^[14] It was filmed in 26 days, including reshoots after an initial 20-day shoot, in the Los Angeles area, covering five to six script pages daily.^[21][27][16] Barker worked with Clemons to shoot the film "center-composed" with "extra head space" to create shots that felt "uncomfortable".^[6] Scenes set in Bear's home, a house in Burbank remodeled by production designer Vivian Gray, were shot first in a week and a half.^[6][28] Other locations included the Cassell's Music store in San Fernando, which shut down a year after they wrapped, the Green Man crystal shop and Roguelike Tavern in Burbank, and Little Toni's pizzeria in North Hollywood.^[16][29] Some scenes involving conversations in cars were shot on a soundstage using LED screen technology.^[30]

Obsession underwent reshoots for a new opening scene and, according to Barker, to "do a better job of showing why [Bear] doesn't want to fix it right away", adding the scene where Bear confronts Nikki for cutting his hair to emphasize "that he wants to make it work".^[4] The production had to forgo reshoots of the party scene after the house where they filmed it burned down in the 2025 Los Angeles fires.^[31] For the ending, they filmed one take of Bear trying to make himself throw up after ingesting the pills at Johnston's suggestion that it would fit Bear's cowardly nature.^[21][32] Barker initially wrote and filmed an ending inspired by Romeo and Juliet where Nikki kills herself after breaking free from Bear's wish. On the advice of his father, who contributed the "Hansel and Gretel" monologue, Tomlinson, and others, Barker shot one take of a version where Nikki survives, which he chose for the theatrical cut.^{[21][8][33][34]} According to Barker, the film's budget was at most $750,000.^[35]

Post-production

By March 2025, Obsession was in post-production with Barker as editor.^[10][36] Barker recorded his dialogue as the One Wish Willow customer service representative on his phone while editing the film from his bedroom, changing lines to fit the edit.^[34] After the film's festival premiere in September, the scene depicting a character getting their head smashed was cut down by "six or seven smashes" to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPA.^[37] Jason Blum joined the film as an executive producer under his Blumhouse Productions banner after the premiere;^[38] his involvement was revealed in December 2025 when the first teaser was released.^[39] Rock Burwell composed the score in his debut as a feature film composer.^[40] The 18-track album was released on May 15, 2026, the same date as the film's release.^[41]

Theatrical

Obsession premiered during the Midnight Madness block at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 5, 2025.^[6] Two days later, Focus Features entered talks to acquire distribution rights to the film for the world (excluding France, New Zealand, and Russia) for $14–$15 million, the highest price commanded by a genre film in TIFF history, with Universal Pictures International handling distribution outside the United States;^[42][35][43] the deal officially closed in October 2025, with a screening at the inaugural FocusFest on October 18 at the Universal Studios Lot.^[44] The film was theatrically released in the U.S. on May 15, 2026.^[45]

In June 2026, art director Sally Choi made a social media post calling for industry reform, noting that she made $300 a day on the non-union production while also serving as production assistant, set dresser, graphic designer, and background actor, and that some crew members were volunteers paid in gas and mileage.^[46][47]

Home media

Obsession was released in premium video on demand format on June 30, 2026; it included behind-the-scenes content and a director's commentary.^[48][49] A physical media release on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD is slated for July 14,^[49] and a release in streaming format via Peacock is slated for July 17.^[50][51]

Box office

As of July 12, 2026^[update], Obsession has grossed $253 million in the United States and Canada, and $173 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $427 million.^[2][3]

In the United States and Canada, Obsession was initially projected to gross $8–10 million from 2,615 theaters in its opening weekend.^[52] After making $7 million on its first day,^[53] estimates were raised to $14 million.^[52] It went on to debut to $17.2 million, finishing third at the box office behind holdovers Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2.^[54] The film then made $32 million over the subsequent four-day Memorial Day frame, including $24 million over the second weekend (a 39% increase from its opening).^[55][56] Unprecedented for a wide release, especially in the horror genre, it marked the biggest second-weekend increase for a film playing in more than 2,500 theaters outside of the Christmas season. Word-of-mouth and turnout from the 18–34 demographic, making up 75% of audience members, led to its success.^[57][58]

In its third weekend, the film made $27.4 million, becoming the first wide release outside of the Christmas season since E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) to increase its earnings for three consecutive weekends; with a total $105.7 million at the time, it also became Focus Features' highest-grossing film domestically, surpassing Downton Abbey (2019; $97 million).^[59][60] On the following Monday, Focus Features postponed its expected digital release of June 2.^[61] In its fourth weekend, the film became Focus Features' highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, surpassing Downton Abbey ($194.6 million).^[17] In its fifth weekend, it outgrossed The Blair Witch Project (1999; $248.6 million) to become the top-grossing festival acquisition title of all time.^[62] By its sixth, it crossed $300 million worldwide.^[63]

On June 28, it outgrossed Sinners (2025; $370.3 million) as the highest-grossing live-action English-language original film of the 2020s.^[64] On July 6, it surpassed Enter the Dragon (1973; $400 million) to become the highest-grossing film with a budget under $1 million, unadjusted for inflation.^[65]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 294 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Taking an icky conceit and twisting it to deviously crowd-pleasing ends, Obsession is dauntingly disturbing while also skillfully amusing and thrilling."^[68]

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[69] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while 70% of those polled by PostTrak said they would "definitely recommend" it.^[52]

Christian Zilko of IndieWire said it was "proof that the Cregger-ification of 2020s horror is in full effect, as its combination of sadistic violence, ironic needle drops, and comedy mined from people responding to tragedy in pathetically self-serving ways will merit plenty of comparisons to Barbarian and Weapons".^[70] IGN's Matt Donato noted "familiar romance and monkey's paw tropes" but said "Barker's execution takes things to the next level".^[71] Lou Thomas of Empire called it "so fresh and exhilarating, one can forgive its familiar origins".^[72] In Compact, Matthew Schmitz said it defined the genre of "heteropessimist horror".^[73] Author Rob K. Henderson described it as a "morality tale" that encouraged young men to confess their romantic feelings instead of concealing them.^[74]

Navarrette received critical acclaim for her performance.^[66][75] Louis Peitzman of Vulture called it a stand-out performance for Navarrette, especially as her first major role in the horror genre.^[76] Katie Rife of RogerEbert.com said her emotional scenes revealed the humanity behind Nikki's violent behavior and made the character more tragic.^[77] Guy Lodge of Variety praised Navarrette for "acing one of the more physically and emotionally taxing horror leads to come down the pike in a while".^[78] Bill Bria of SlashFilm compared Nikki's impact to performances in classic horror films such as The Exorcist (1973) and Carrie (1976).^[19]

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian praised the "disturbing sound design" for intensifying the horror elements,^[79] while Marshall Shaffer of Slant Magazine complimented the film's audiovisual presentation.^[75] Comparisons were raised to Kane Parsons's Backrooms, a fellow commercially successful, low-budget 2026 release directed by a YouTuber; Aaron Couch of The Hollywood Reporter said he anticipated a "generational shift" away from high-budget movie franchises in favor of smaller films.^[80]

Accolades