My Obsession Confession Spoilers

Obsession is a 2025 Blumhouse Productions picture directed and written by 26-year-old Curry Barker. It stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette. The film premiered at TIFF's Midnight Madness and was immediately picked up by Focus Features for distribution. It was released widely in May, 2026. On a budget of under $1-million, it has grossed $85-million at the box office.

Few films have set the theatres ablaze in 2026 like Obsession. Navarrette's performance, especially, has garnered high praise. Some are already calling for an Oscar nomination. While I think that's an overexaggeration, I do admit that she is one of the many highlights of this film.

Obsession follows the current horror trend of young people who have gone viral on YouTube getting a shot at Hollywood and delivering in spades. This includes the Philippou brothers who grew to prominence with their RackaRacka YouTube channel and have now directed two big hits, Talk to Me and Bring Her Back. As well, there is Kane Parsons who is directing A24's Backrooms, which comes out next week, a movie that is inspired by his YouTube short film that has garnered over 70 million views. Barker is no different, as he first found success with his YouTube comedy shorts and Milk & Serial, a 60-minute horror film that was released directly to YouTube. It makes sense that Hollywood would give these guys a shot: Make a movie, connect with an audience of millions and then bring that audience to the theatre for $17 per ticket plus popcorn.

While watching Obsession in a nearly sold-out movie theatre, I got the feeling that the audience was enjoying the film more than me. I could sense the tension and anxiety in the room, but I often found myself feeling at odds with the general energy. That isn't to say I had a bad time, but perhaps I didn't enjoy this one as much as the general population.

To me, this film felt rather one note and lacking in original ideas. It was fun to watch Nikki (Navarrette) obsess over Bear (Johnston) while simultaneously and cleverly revealling that she is not who she seems, but I couldn't help thinking of the other recent horror films that have done something similar. Get Out is the most glaring example.

Additionally, the movie takes a while to really get going. The opening, with Bear confessing his love to a random waitress, is funny and captivating, but then we have to slog through some pretty rudimentary scenes before the chaos starts to unfold. Although I liked the scene in the little shop of curiosities, it was also the most obvious reference to The SImpsons episode that Barker has admitted inspired his film. It is fun to watch, but it isn't entirely original.

Once Nikki is possessed, the film really starts to take shape. Well, almost. We spend quite a while waiting for Bear to realize that his One Wish Willow actually worked. After his hilarious and terrifying phone call with customer service, we enter the best phase of the movie — Bear knows what he's done and he must try to decide how to deal with the consequences.

Nikki's antics are what provide a bulk of the laughs and frights. She makes us laugh uncomfortably when she duct tapes the front door closed from the inside. She makes us nauseous when she makes Bear lunch. She makes our blood run cold when she watches Bear sleep from the darkest corner in the bedroom. I'm still puzzling over that flowers-to-cover-the-face scene. While all this is extremely entertaining and fun, I wish there was more dynamism to this story.

There's this one scene that is super horror tropey and exhausting to watch. Bear receives a text in the middle of the night, while Nikki sleeps right beside him. His friend is asking to come meet her immediately. At this point, we've seen Nikki do some really crazy things and we know from the second that the phone vibrates that Bear should not go see this friend. Of course, this being a horror film, he goes.

This scene can only end one way, and it's filled with painful tropes that telegraph the conclusion to anyone who has seen at least 12 horror films. While the ending of this scene is one of the most memorable parts of the movie, I didn't like that Barker chose to manipulate the audience with weak storytelling just so he could get to the scene that he really wanted to film.

With that said, I don't want to come across as a Barker hater. Quite the opposite. I think Obsession is a valiant debut, and the numbers simply don't lie: He's connected with his audience and has them frothing at the mouth for more content. This is a good thing for movies in general and for the horror genre. He already has two more horror films in the works: Anything but Ghosts and the next rendition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It seems as though Hollywood has found a new horror golden goose. Let's just hope that he keeps delivering and his fans stay obsessed with him.