Occasionally, a horror movie sneaks up on you. You think you know where it's going from its simple premise, but then it morphs into something horrific. Obsession by Curry Barker is that type of film. Though it first feels like a typical supernatural story about a wish gone wrong, it slowly becomes clear you are watching something far more perverse: a disturbing psychological look at loneliness, privilege, and blurring the lines between wanting and loving.
Reviewed by Allan R. Ellenberger
Obsession was written and directed by Curry Barker. Bear (Michael Johnston) has always been an awkward young man who secretly loved his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) since they were children. Bear finally finds the mystical "One Wish Willow" and wishes Nikki would love him. Unfortunately, what he thought would be a miracle wish unleashes a monster. When someone wishes for another to love them above all else through unnatural means, it doesn't create love and happiness. Instead, it takes away the object of your obsession's free will and twists healthy love into complete obsession. Bear learns that sometimes having what you want is worse than not having it at all.
It’s a lesson as old as the earliest warnings against wishing for things you don’t need (“Be careful what you wish for…”), but Barker updates it for a new era. This isn’t just a monster flick or ghost story. It functions as a morality tale for the social-media generation, examining the toxic mythology around the self-described "nice guy" who believes affection can be earned, deserved, or possessed. Barker doesn’t hit you over the head with this. Instead, he lets the horror unfold slowly from Bear’s increasingly frenzied efforts to manage something never meant to be managed.
Michael Johnston is terrific as Bear. He never makes him a cartoon villain or a pathetic victim. Bear's insecurities are achingly familiar. Watching him spiral out of control is deeply uncomfortable. You know why he craves attention, but you're horrified by how he goes about getting it. Johnston strikes the right balance between vulnerability and selfishness.
The true revelation, however, is Inde Navarrette. Her performance has deservedly become one of the year's most celebrated horror performances. She essentially plays two entirely different characters: the warm, independent Nikki audiences immediately like, and the terrifying, magically corrupted version whose overwhelming devotion becomes suffocating and violent. Navarrette never loses sight of the tragedy beneath the horror. Even while her body becomes the vehicle for increasingly disturbing behavior, flashes of the real Nikki continue to emerge, suggesting someone trapped inside her own mind, desperately fighting to regain control. It is an emotionally exhausting performance that somehow remains deeply human, even at its most grotesque. Critics have repeatedly singled her out as the film's emotional anchor and one of the year's breakout performances.
Barker has nerves of steel behind the lens. He trusts you to feel afraid without constant jump scares or gratuitous computer effects. There's always a looming silence in an empty hallway just a moment too long. Doors suspiciously linger in the background. Characters are shot with a menacing amount of space around them, making you glance around the screen, expectantly waiting for something to spring out. Jump cuts and slightly skewed editing alienate you slightly, leaving you to feel as if reality is shifting around you. The film hardly lets you settle.
Obsession is strongest when it uses practical effects. Barker knows horror is scarier when viewers believe they are seeing something real. The disgusting makeup effects and practical blood work have physical heft, grounding the violence in a way computer-generated explosions never can. While gruesome, Barker also injects scenes with uncomfortably hilarious dialogue that naturally stems from the situation's madness. The film's comedy does not detract from the horror. It amplifies it by making you uncomfortable laughing right before assaulting you again.
The film also knows horror often hits hardest when dealing with real-life emotional fears. Underneath the monster movie elements is a tale of alienation, codependency, technology-age isolation, and toxic fantasies of another person making you "whole." Barker externalizes these familiar feelings into genuine boogieman stuff, making the whole surprisingly resonant. from critics. It has a 94 percent "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have complimented Barker's creativity, its horrific social satire, and Navarrette's brave portrayal. The site's summary of critical opinion calls it "dauntingly disturbing, but equally clever and exhilarating", while several reviews have called Barker one of the most promising directors in horror.
Fans have responded with similar fervor. Verified moviegoers gave the film a matching 94 percent audience score, praising its originality, practical effects, emotional intensity, and unforgettable central performance. Many said the film balanced slasher-style violence with scary psychological horror elements and inspired debate well after the film's conclusion. Some described it as one of their most impactful horror films of the year.
Box-office-wise, the film is one of 2026's biggest sleeper hits. Riding primarily on word-of-mouth, Obsession went from a low-budget horror film to a box-office success, establishing Curry Barker as one of horror cinema's most up-and-coming directors. Plans for further development of the film's mythology have shifted toward creating an anthology centered on the mysterious figure "One Wish Willow" rather than a sequel.
Obsession works because it never loses sight of the fact that monsters, ghosts, and eldritch curses are not the things that scare us. Human desire is. Barker turns one person's selfish desire into a horror that will haunt you long after the closing credits, because he knows that if you can't choose who you love, you don't love them at all. It's an obsession. Obsession turns to ownership. Ownership demands destruction.
Macabrely humorous, disturbingly affecting, visually creative, and powered by an amazing performance by Inde Navarrette, Obsession slots right in with the best horror releases of 2026. It's a creepy commentary on wishes that are best left unsaid -- and how the scariest beasts of all are the ones we make ourselves.
Tomorrow on The Hollywoodland Revue: Part One of a gripping true story of murder, mystery, and forgotten Hollywood. Small-time actor Tommy Hood dreamed of making it in the movies, but his life ended in a shocking and brutal killing that stunned Los Angeles. Who wanted him dead, and why? Join me tomorrow as I begin uncovering the facts behind one of Hollywood's largely forgotten crimes.
If you enjoyed my review of Obsession (2025), I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment, rate the review, and share it with fellow horror fans—your support helps The Hollywoodland Revue reach more readers and keeps classic and contemporary cinema alive.
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