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Movie Name: Obsession
Directed by: Curry Barker
Starring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Rating:
Languages: English
Production House: Blumhouse Productions, Capstone Pictures, Tea Shop Productions, Under the Shell
Budget: $- million
A music store employee and hopeless romantic named Bear uses a supernatural novelty toy, called the “One Wish Willow”, to wish for his longtime crush and childhood friend Nikki to fall in love with him. However, the wish is granted with unexpectedly dark consequences for both of them.
Obsession: Movie Overview
Obsession is a 2025 American supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker. The film follows Bear (played by Michael Johnston), a music store employee who buys a supernatural toy and wishes for his childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to fall in love with him. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter also appear in supporting roles. Jason Blum serves as an executive producer through his Blumhouse Productions banner.
When a hopeless romantic makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him, a sinister enchantment ensues.
Obsession premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2025 as part of its Midnight Madness block. It is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on May 15, 2026, by Focus Features. The film received positive reviews from critics.
Movie Trailer:
Movie Review:
A terrifying Indie horror that turns love into a nightmare
Synopsis:
A lonely young man makes a supernatural wish to win over the woman he has loved for years. But when his dream unexpectedly comes true, the romance quickly spirals into something disturbing and dangerous, unleashing terrifying consequences neither of them can control.
Review:
Be careful what you wish for, they say. Director and co-writer Curry Baker, along with Nicholas Giuricich, take this oft-used phrase and turn it into an elaborate supernatural nightmare. Ethan (Michael Johnston) is a socially awkward young man who has been deeply in love with Madison (Inde Navarrette) since childhood – a fact well known to their common friends Jake (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sara (Megan Lawless), though Madison herself has no clue. That changes the day Ethan stumbles upon a mysterious supernatural object called the “One Wish Willow” at a local store. This strange item, priced at a measly $6.99, claims to grant one wish to whoever buys it, and a desperate Ethan gives in. What begins as a hopeful fantasy quickly turns into a series of terrifying incidents that spiral completely out of control in ways none of them could have imagined.
Set in a suburban California neighbourhood, Obsession is a dark, unsettling supernatural horror that is both unpredictable and, at times, deeply discomforting. The film finds its strength not so much in its premise, which is fairly straightforward, but in its execution and performances, particularly that of Madison, played with striking conviction by Inde Navarrette. She brings a layered intensity to her character, balancing emotional vulnerability with an increasingly unsettling edge. Baker keeps the screenplay confined to a handful of indoor spaces, which enhances the claustrophobic tone and gives the film a constant sense of unease, almost as if there is no escape from what is unfolding. The only moments of lightness come when the group of friends are together, behaving like regular young people trying to distract themselves from everyday life. Michael Johnston is well cast as Ethan, a socially withdrawn young man whose inability to express his feelings ultimately triggers a chain of catastrophic consequences. The supporting cast also holds its ground and adds credibility to the world. The film’s limited scope in terms of characters and locations actually works in its favour, making it feel like a grounded, relatable take on modern psychological horror.
Where Obsession doesn’t fully deliver is in its sense of novelty. The jumpscares are relatively minimal, which is not necessarily a drawback, but the repetitive structure and the looping nature of Ethan and Madison’s interactions begin to dull the impact over time. At times, the screenplay feels like it is circling the same emotional and narrative beats without enough progression. Visually, the conservative and restrained setting occasionally gives the film a slightly retro, almost 90s horror texture, even though the story is firmly rooted in the present day. Aaron D. Woodley’s background score, however, significantly elevates the tension, enhancing the unpredictability and emotional weight of several key sequences.
Obsession, as the title suggests, is ultimately about love pushed beyond its natural boundaries, reimagined through a supernatural horror lens. The film’s strongest quality lies in its ability to gradually build unease and then deliver shocks that feel rooted in emotional consequence rather than spectacle. It raises a chilling question about how a single desire, if twisted just slightly out of shape, can unravel multiple lives. And that thought, more than anything else, stays with you long after the film ends.
