# Obsession (2025 film)
**Obsession** is a 2025 American supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by [Curry Barker](https://www.edgepedia.org/curry-barker), in which a music-shop worker's wish that his longtime crush love him back triggers a sinister enchantment. It premiered at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) on September 5, 2025 as a Midnight Madness selection, was acquired by [Focus Features](https://www.edgepedia.org/focus-features) after a bidding war, and opened in United States theaters on May 15, 2026, becoming one of the most profitable horror films ever made relative to its budget.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Curry Barker, in his second feature, made at age 25[1](https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/obsession) • [23](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/curry-barker-obsession-interview) |
| Premiere | Toronto International Film Festival, September 5, 2025, Midnight Madness program[1](https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/obsession) |
| Acquisition | Focus Features bought distribution rights for $15 million after a bidding war concluded within about 24 hours[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a) |
| Budget and gross | Made for $750,000; earned more than $500 million worldwide[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a) • [3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-inde-navarrette-seen-nikki-memes-i-love-her-relatable-take) |
| Cast | Michael Johnston (Bear), Inde Navarrette (Nikki), Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter[4](https://www.blumhouse.com/film/obsession) |
| Critical reception | 93% on Rotten Tomatoes (329 reviews); Metascore 77; IMDb 7.8/10[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/obsession-2025/) |
| Runtime and rating | 1 hour 48 minutes; rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, and pervasive language[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Bear (Michael Johnston), a meek record-store employee, has a long-term crush on his co-worker and friend Nikki ([Inde Navarrette](https://www.edgepedia.org/inde-navarrette)) but cannot bring himself to confess his feelings. At a gift shop he buys a novelty item called the One Wish Willow, which grants a single, irreversible wish, and wishes that Nikki would love him more than anything in the world[1](https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/obsession) • [7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/obsession-curry-barker-movie-review-2026).
The wish works, and the film becomes a horror story about getting exactly what was asked for. The new Nikki is volatile and disturbing: her eyes are glazed, her speech halting, her behavior manic, and she occasionally jolts and screams as if waking from a nightmare[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/obsession-curry-barker-movie-review-2026). The Sitges Film Festival synopsis describes her obsession as so extreme that she ends up turning into Bear's shadow, and frames the story as a metaphor for the objectification of romantic relationships[8](https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2025/obsession). Reviewers identified the structure as a modern take on the Monkey's Paw fable, in which a granted wish carries a terrible price[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/06/obsession-movie-review-tiff).
## Production and origins
Curry Barker came to the film from YouTube. With his creative partner [Cooper Tomlinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/cooper-tomlinson) he ran the comedy channel That's a Bad Idea, and his 2023 short film *The Chair* attracted the interest of producer James Harris of Tea Shop Productions, who asked about a feature version. Barker instead pitched his [Obsession](https://www.edgepedia.org/obsession) idea: a friend-zoned man wishes that his crush loved him back, and she becomes obsessed with him[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a) • [10](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/obsession-on-peacock-meet-26-year-old-director-curry-barker). While writing the script he worked as a [Starbucks](https://www.edgepedia.org/starbucks) barista[10](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/obsession-on-peacock-meet-26-year-old-director-curry-barker).
Barker has said the idea crystallized while watching a Simpsons episode in which a monkey's-paw wish goes wrong, and that he wanted the wish object to be something ordinary you could buy at a store, rather than a mysterious artifact that appears at a door[11](https://www.increativecompany.com/features/building-the-horror-and-humanity-of-obsession-with-filmmaker-curry-barker) • [12](https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/obsession-s-filmmaker-takes-horror-to-the-next-scary-level). His earlier micro-budget found-footage film *[Milk & Serial](https://www.edgepedia.org/milk-and-serial)* (2024) went viral on YouTube and landed him an agent[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a).
## Release and box office
After its TIFF premiere, Focus Features acquired the film for $15 million following a bidding war that concluded within roughly 24 hours[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a). It opened wide in the United States on May 15, 2026 with a debut of $17 million, just short of a tattoo bet Barker had made with his manager and agent, then cleared $20 million in each of the following weekends, a holding pattern the Associated Press described as almost unheard of[2](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a). Its domestic gross reached $263.3 million[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025), and by later counts the worldwide total exceeded $500 million against a $750,000 production budget[3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-inde-navarrette-seen-nikki-memes-i-love-her-relatable-take). The film also won the People's Choice Award at the Sitges Film Festival[13](https://www.fantasticfilmfestival.com.au/resources/fffa-program-2026.pdf).
Home release followed an unusually long theatrical window: digital rental and purchase arrived June 30, 2026, and the exclusive Peacock streaming debut began July 17, 2026[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025) • [14](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/obsession-on-peacock-everything-to-know). A United States Netflix release was subsequently confirmed[15](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/obsession-netflix-release-date/).
## Reception
Critical response was strongly positive. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 93% from 329 reviews, with a critics consensus calling the film dauntingly disturbing while skillfully amusing and thrilling, and the verified audience score stood at 94%[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025). Metacritic assigned a score of 77 based on 37 critic reviews, in the generally favorable range[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/obsession-2025/), and IMDb users rated it 7.8 out of 10[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37287335).
Much of the praise centered on Inde Navarrette's performance as the transformed Nikki, which critics repeatedly singled out as the element that makes the film memorable[17](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/inde-navarette-refused-to-rehearse-makeout-scene-obsession). Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film's fresh spin on wish fulfillment makes it fun and disturbing, and [Bloody Disgusting](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloody-disgusting)'s Meagan Navarro gave it four of five skulls[18](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-reviews-are-here-critics-all-obsessed-the-same-thing). Recurring criticisms concerned the story's perspective: the Roger Ebert review argued that telling the story through Bear, who sees Nikki as a prize, sidelines the sexual and psychological violence inflicted on her, and Deep Focus Review objected that the film presents Bear sympathetically despite his act of profound violation[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/obsession-curry-barker-movie-review-2026) • [19](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/hannahabraham/2026/05/26/ghoulish-gory-gorgeous-what-critics-are-saying-about-obsession/).
## Legacy and follow-ups
The film's success transformed Barker's career. He has been tapped to write and direct a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film for A24, and has discussed extending the One Wish Willow into a franchise, including an anthology series in which each episode follows a different wish going off the rails[20](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/after-an-even-better-second-weekend-in-theaters-new-horror-movie-obsession-has-made-its-production-budget-back-almost-75-times-over/) • [21](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/curry-barker-obsession-interview/). Navarrette has also expressed interest in an anthology series, and the film's Nikki performance generated widely shared memes[22](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-obsession-one-line-hit-me-like-brick-inde-navarette-peacock) • [3](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-inde-navarrette-seen-nikki-memes-i-love-her-relatable-take).
## References
1. [Obsession | Watch on Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/obsession)
2. ['Obsession' is a sensation. Everyone, including Curry Barker, is trying to figure out what it means, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/b90a552212501352e2a9167e09a4b73a)
3. [Obsession's Inde Navarrette Has Seen All Those Nikki Memes, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-inde-navarrette-seen-nikki-memes-i-love-her-relatable-take)
4. [Obsession, Blumhouse](https://www.blumhouse.com/film/obsession)
5. [Obsession (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obsession_2025)
6. [Obsession Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/obsession-2025/)
7. [Obsession review: The heart wants what it wants in Blumhouse chiller, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/obsession-curry-barker-movie-review-2026)
8. [Obsession, Sitges Film Festival](https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2025/obsession)
9. [Obsession review – nasty horror sees a wish for true love go horribly wrong, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/06/obsession-movie-review-tiff)
10. [Obsession on Peacock: Meet 26-Year-Old Director Curry Barker, Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/obsession-on-peacock-meet-26-year-old-director-curry-barker)
11. [Building the Horror and Humanity of Obsession with Filmmaker Curry Barker, In Creative Company](https://www.increativecompany.com/features/building-the-horror-and-humanity-of-obsession-with-filmmaker-curry-barker)
12. [Obsession's Filmmaker Takes Horror to the Next Scary Level, Focus Features](https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/obsession-s-filmmaker-takes-horror-to-the-next-scary-level)
13. [Fantastic Film Festival Australia program 2026](https://www.fantasticfilmfestival.com.au/resources/fffa-program-2026.pdf)
14. [Obsession on Peacock: Everything You Need to Know, Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/obsession-on-peacock-everything-to-know)
15. ['Obsession' Confirms Netflix US Streaming Release Date, What's on Netflix](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/obsession-netflix-release-date/)
16. [Obsession (2025), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37287335)
17. ['I Think I Saw Him Die.' Inde Navarette Refused To Rehearse One Surprising Scene In Obsession, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/inde-navarette-refused-to-rehearse-makeout-scene-obsession)
18. ['A Curdled Stew Of Nastiness.' Obsession Reviews Are Here, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/obsession-reviews-are-here-critics-all-obsessed-the-same-thing)
19. [Ghoulish, Gory, Gorgeous: What Critics Are Saying About 'Obsession', Forbes](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/hannahabraham/2026/05/26/ghoulish-gory-gorgeous-what-critics-are-saying-about-obsession/)
20. [After an even better second weekend in theaters, Obsession has made its production budget back almost 75 times over, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/after-an-even-better-second-weekend-in-theaters-new-horror-movie-obsession-has-made-its-production-budget-back-almost-75-times-over/)
21. [Curry Barker on Franchising Obsession and the Darkness in Comedy, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/curry-barker-obsession-interview/)
22. [I Rewatched Obsession And One Line Hit Me Like A Brick, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/i-rewatched-obsession-one-line-hit-me-like-brick-inde-navarette-peacock)
23. [How A YouTube Director Made One Of The Scariest Movies Of The Year](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/curry-barker-obsession-interview)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Supernatural horror films › 2020s supernatural horror films › Titles M to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license