Curry Barker's Obsession hits theaters May 15
A $1 Million Horror Film Just Became the Most Talked-About Movie of May
Curry Barker’s Obsession hits theaters May 15 with a Blumhouse pedigree, a TIFF bidding war, and a performance from Inde Navarrette that critics can’t stop talking about.
The story of how Obsession got made is almost as disturbing as the film itself. Curry Barker — known mostly as half of the online comedy duo “That’s a Bad Idea” — wrote the screenplay in eight months, shot it for under a million dollars, and premiered it at Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness block on September 5, 2025. Two days later, Focus Features had entered exclusive talks to acquire it for $14–15 million — the highest price ever commanded by a genre film in TIFF history.
Obsession hit theaters May 15, 2026, and the horror community has been talking about it ever since.
The Setup: A Bad Idea With a $6.99 Price Tag
Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy music store employee with a monster crush on his longtime friend and coworker Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Too shy to confess his feelings, he makes a wish upon a dime-store “One Wish Willow” that she’d love him more than anyone else in the world. His wish comes true — and the consequences are nightmarish.
That’s the premise. It’s a classic monkey’s paw tale, and Barker was inspired to write it after watching an episode of The Simpsons where Homer interacts with one. The concept has been done before. It has never been done like this.
What Navarrette Does With the Role
Everything in Obsession eventually orbits Inde Navarrette’s performance, and for good reason. Once under Bear’s curse, Navarrette’s entire body language changes. Gone is the confidence from moments earlier. In its place is an anxious presence, pleading to always be with Bear, to make him happy, to watch him sleep. Through Barker’s editing, she speeds up or reverses her movement to look even more otherworldly — channeling Isabelle Adjani’s turn in Possession in her commitment to the emotionally and physically intense role.
Critics are already calling it one of the very best performances of 2026. She’s not wrong. A horror performance that makes you feel grief for the character even as she becomes the source of dread is not something that happens by accident or budget. Navarrette earns it.
The Subtext Is the Text
Barker isn’t content to let Obsession be a skin-crawling genre exercise. For any woman who has been accused of being the “crazy girlfriend” in a toxic relationship, Obsession is a giant mirror held up in the faces of the boyfriends who drove them there. Bear is the film’s focal point but Nikki is its subject — a person whose agency, choice, and personality are obliterated to fulfill someone else’s fantasy. The fact that Bear thinks of himself as a nice guy makes it worse, not better.
In actuality, her newfound obsession steals the light from her eyes and leaves her a shadow of her former self. Barker understands that the real horror here isn’t the supernatural. It’s the wish itself.
The Craft Behind the Low Budget
Working within extremely tight narrative and budgetary confines, Barker knows how to keep things simple yet effective — using his low-budget internet comedy roots to his advantage. Cinematographer Taylor Clemons backlights Nikki in key scenes so her face is lost in shadow, refashioning what was once an unassuming house into domestic hell. The score, composed by Rock Burwell in his feature debut, doesn’t announce itself — it accumulates.
It played like gangbusters at both TIFF and SXSW and is a great movie to see with an audience. If you can get into a theater for this one, do it.
The Numbers
As of May 17, 2026, Obsession has grossed $23.1 million worldwide on a $1 million production budget. Jason Blum’s fingerprints are on it — and that math is exactly the kind of return that Blumhouse was built on.
Mini FAQ
Is Obsession based on a book or true story? No. Curry Barker wrote the original screenplay after being inspired by a Simpsons episode involving a monkey’s paw. He also directs and edited the film.
Is Obsession appropriate for kids? Absolutely not. It is rated R and contains graphic violence, strong language, and deeply disturbing sequences. It earned an NC-17 before cuts were made.
Where can I see Obsession? Obsession is in theaters now from Focus Features, released May 15, 2026. Check local listings.
A familiar concept with uncommon precision
Obsession is the kind of horror film that’s going to be referenced for years — not because it reinvents the genre, but because it executes a familiar concept with uncommon precision and puts a performance at its center that cannot be ignored. See it before someone spoils the third act for you.