Film Title: Obsession
Director: Curry Barker
Writer: Curry Barker
Starring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette
Production Companies: Blumhouse, Tea Shop, Capstone
Release Date: May 15, 2026
Robert’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5⭐
Going into Obsession, I wasn’t familiar with director Curry Barker. That’s pretty typical—more often than not I’m oblivious to talent behind the camera. But with the lead up to this film, I’d occasionally hear Barker’s name linked to the title. Hopefully after reading this you’ll understand why horror fans might view Barker as a talent to watch.
Obsession follows main character Baron (barren adjective 1. without capacity to interest or attract) as he desperately tries to confess his love to his friend and coworker Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Baron (“Bear” to his friends) can’t bring himself to tell Nikki how he feels, even when she asks him outright. And so instead (stick with me here) he uses a novelty gift—“One Wish Willow”—to ask that Nikki “love him more than anyone else in the whole world.” His wish immediately becomes a reality. In true “Monkey’s Paw” fashion, however, Bear’s wish turns Nikki into a figurative monster, in both expected and surprising ways.
Jump scares aren’t inherently bad, especially if a film balances them with other moments that are quietly unsettling, and “Obsession” definitely has those. Often, you’ll see Nikki hovering in the background or periphery, and her character frequently hides in the shadows. There’s occasionally a heavy dream-like vibe in the film: Characters move in impossibly creepy ways, logic doesn’t quite make sense (a dead cat appears a weird amount of times), and the way characters dream and sleep is bizarre. So if strict realism is your thing, beware.
Navarrette is the star of Obsession. Just as the jump scares are balanced with unsettling moments, Nikki can produce a bizarre or chilling mannerism as easily as she can explode with rage or fear.
If you think your obsession (sorry) over a film’s in-movie logic is an indicator of overall quality, you’ll be happy here. In one scene, Baron (I decided I’m not calling him Bear) calls the “One Wish Willow” hotline, and the interaction raised some fun questions for me. And I wondered at one point if Nikki was just under the wish’s influence or if she was completely possessed by a different entity. I’ll be puzzling over this movie for a while.
Curry Barker and actor Michael Johnston have created a great stealth villain in the form of Baron. On the surface he may simply seem like a nice, lovesick guy. But at the end of the day, he forces Nikki into a relationship with him (and that’s putting it nicely). We could cover some red flags early in the film, but when a shocking act leads to absolute confirmation that Baron’s wish is very much real and very much to blame for his troubles, he tries to get Nikki to fix the problem. He’s a coward.
It turns out Curry Barker directed 2024’s mildly viral Milk & Serial, which probably led to public excitement for this film. Obsession is a great debut feature from Barker, and I’ll be awaiting his follow up.
Robert Zerbe’s writing has previously appeared in Trembling With Fear and on the Creepy podcast. He has yet to hack his obsessive-compulsive disorder into something useful. Robert lives in Florida with his wife, two children, and love of movies. You can follow him on Bluesky at @runonsandwich.
Leave a Reply