If you could make any one wish in the world, with a possibility the wish could come true, what would you wish for?
Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, aims to answer that. Centering around a “hopeless romantic” who makes a wish with a mysterious “One Wish Willow,” hoping to make his longtime friend and crush fall in love with him. What originally appeared to be a harmless wish later becomes more sinister, as the friend becomes totally obsessed with him.
Playing into the common horror motif “Monkey’s Paw,” where a wish is granted in the form of a curse, main character, Bear, wishes for his childhood friend, Nikki, to “love him more than anyone else in the entire world.” However, Nikki soon becomes so infatuated with Bear that she would do anything for him and requires every second of his attention.
Obsession was released in theaters on May 15, 2026, and has already grossed over $80 million worldwide, which is incredibly impressive considering its low budget of only $1 million.
The movie earned around $17.2 million from 2,615 theaters in its opening weekend, and then had a suprising 39% increase during its second week, earning around $23.9 million from 2,655 theaters. Horror movies rarely do better after their first week in theaters, so this is a good sign of how highly reviewed this movie has been.
It currently has a rating of 8.5/10 on IMDb, a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 95% on Fandango, and 4.2 stars on Letterboxd.
Obsession as a whole has done an unexpectedly great job since its release, and will hopefully open up new doors for both its director and actors. Curry Barker is a 26-year-old American filmmaker and comedian who started making films at a young age. Many of his short films have won awards in contests and have gained lots of traction on TikTok and YouTube, but Obsession is his first major hit.
Inde Navarette, who plays Nikki, is an upcoming actress who is best known for her role in the TV show Superman & Lois, while her counterpart, Michael Johnston, has made appearances in the series Teen Wolf. Both are incredible actors with bright futures ahead of them, especially after Obsession’s success.
The movie itself was very interesting, and while I wouldn’t consider it super scary, it was definitely creepy and disturbing. Some violence, such as minor animal violence and blood, may be uncomfortable for some audience members, but luckily, they’re pretty quick and not too crazy.
Sophomore Irem Hadzi saw the movie this past weekend and shared, “I really liked the movie, the acting was really enticing, and Nikki’s actress did an amazing job.”
Overall, in the short amount of time that Obsession has been in theaters, it has become highly enjoyed and is currently one of the top movies to be released in 2026.
