Initially I took in thinking Obsession was gonna be another snooze fest with cheap screams. Boy was I wrong. That thing messed me up. It’s not just loud bangs it’s the dead quiet that gets you. You’re laying there on your comfort sofa and Nikki hits you with that smile. Not the “hey neighbor” kind. The kind that makes you check your locks twice tonight.
This is the horror movie we’ve been begging for. Relentless, brutal, and so original it hurts. It’s genuinely unsettling the kind of creepy that makes you nervous-laugh because your brain can’t process how uncomfortable you are.
Inde Navarrette as Nikki = 11/10. No notes. She took a role that could’ve been one-note and turned it into a full-blown revelation. The way she plays Nikki under the spell of that cursed wish is disturbingly good. You feel bad for her, you’re terrified of her, and you can’t look away. Instant scream-queen status. Michael Johnston as Bear is incredible too as he nails that hopeless romantic who gets exactly what he wished for, then has to watch it rot into a nightmare.
Written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker, Obsession follows Bear, a music store employee who buys the supernatural “One Wish Willow” to make his crush Nikki fall for him. It works. And that’s when all hell breaks loose. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter round out the cast.
The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on Sept 5, 2025. It hit U.S. theaters May 15, 2026 and Malaysia on June 25, 2026.
Plot in one line: After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic learns that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Horror doesn’t get acting awards, but Inde deserves them. This could’ve been tragic or cheesy, but she made Nikki’s cursed spiral an acting master class.
The range here is insane as you’ll be scared shitless one second, then laughing the next because it’s that intense. I NEVER fall for jump scares, but one here made me literally fly back in my seat and shake the whole sofa. Major props to the crew for pulling off a film this quality on a low budget.
Speaking of cursed Nikki standing by the door for hours? Just frozen, smiling, peeing herself because she literally can’t move? That’s not horror, that’s HR violation from hell. It’s Smile if Smile drank three energy drinks and stopped blinking. And Bear. Man, his name fits. Dude’s built like a teddy bear but acts like a total grizzly jerk. “What’s so bad about loving me?” he asks. I dunno, Bear, maybe the stalking, the entitlement, the whole living with demon Nikki thing? He had every red flag waving and still moved in.
Then it hits you: real Nikki’s trapped inside, watching her body do all this messed-up stuff. She even begs Bear to end it during that creepy bedroom scene. That’s the gut punch. Girl never signed up for this, now she’s looking at jail for a triple homicide her cursed body ran up.
So yeah, I thought it’d suck. Instead, I got a master class in “don’t ignore the quiet parts” and a new fear of smiling.
One of the best movies I’ve seen in 3 years. I don’t say that lightly. If you love horror, this is a must-see. With an IMDb rating of 8.0/10 stars from 218K users. R-rated, capital R, and it earns it. Again it is rated 16/R. You’ve been warned.
ENDS
By
Sam Trailerman
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