Review: We Watched The Viral Indie Horror Film Obsession And Here Are Our Thoughts
Amidst the rising horror genre renaissance, Curry Barker’s first feature film, Obsession, is an instant feminist horror classic.
If you’re not already in the loop, the internet has found its new favourite horror movie to obsess over. The brainchild of 26-year-old Curry Barker – a director who broke onto the scene with his creepy found-footage horror movie, Milk & Serial on YouTube in 2024 – Obsession is a psychological horror thriller film that takes the classic Monkey’s Paw tale to a whole ‘nother level. And despite being released less than a month ago, it’s already been shattering major records.
Produced on a shoestring budget of $750,000, Obsession has since grossed over $100 million at the box office, making it the cheapest horror movie to top the box office in almost two decades. On top of that, viral videos created using the film’s audio have also been making its rounds online, and it’s pretty evident that Barker’s wide-release directorial debut is at the forefront of 2026’s horror renaissance.
Director Curry Barker and actors Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston on the set of their film Obsession.
With all the buzz surrounding it, we can’t help but wonder: why is everyone so obsessed with Obsession? We caught an early screening of the film at Filmhouse ahead of its official release in Singapore next week to provide you the lowdown on what to expect.
What’s the plot of Obsession?
Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki in Obsession.
The film begins on fairly simple premises: a seemingly “nice guy” experiences a crush on a longtime friend, but has trouble confessing to her despite his desperation to. It follows Bear (played by actor Michael Johnston), an average music store employee who works with three other friends, one of whom is Nikki (played by actress Inde Navarrette) – the girl he longs to be with.
Unable to muster the courage to confess his feelings for her despite being given many opportunities to, Bear takes the easy way out. He cowardly makes a wish on the unassuming “One Wish Willow” – a magical willow stick that he found in a sketchy witchcraft shop – to get Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world.
As one would expect in such movies, things start to take a turn for the worse when Nikki starts liking Bear a little too much.
She clings to him incessantly, becomes violently overprotective and extremely co-dependent, even going so far as to duct tape his door to forbid him from leaving the house, or rather from leaving her (this is surprisingly one of the least extreme acts she resorts to). Yet, Bear relishes in the joy of having the one thing he’s desired for a long time, turning a blind eye to Nikki’s growing unsettling and abnormal behaviour – until it starts becoming too extreme to ignore.
You may walk in with the assumption that Obsession is nothing more than just the classic “crazy obsessed girlfriend” relationship gone-wrong type of horror movie. But the film is so much deeper than that.
Our thoughts on Obsession
Curry Barker delivers a masterclass on thought-provoking horror through Obsession. He trades in traditional gore and predictable supernatural beings, and tackles the film’s central theme through the very horrors of human behaviour itself.
It’s filled with uncanny facial expressions, distorted body movements and painfully effective jumpscares that hit you when you least expect it. Much like any good horror movie, Obsession’s instantaneous alternation between unsettling eerie silence and ear-splitting chaotic release keeps you writhing in your seat, but coming back for more.
Michael Johnston as Bear in Obsession.
Beyond the surface, Obsession is a film about the erasure of female agency and the extreme consequences of male desire and entitlement. As we witness Nikki’s deterioration into a puppet-like individual solely fixated on Bear – and ultimately a hollow shell of a being as a result of the wish – we realise how the selfish manipulations of a “nice guy” can spiral into his full control over a woman’s autonomy.
And while it may seem at first that the film’s title alludes to Nikki’s obsession with Bear, it’s really Bear’s narcissistic obsession with Nikki that drives the film’s plot to its terrifying extents.
Breakout actress Inde Navarrette delivers a bone-chilling (dare we say, Oscar-worthy) performance as freaky Nikki, while Michael Johnston complements that with his convincing portrayal of the fragile nice guy we initially empathise with. But even without her transformation into an otherworldly supernatural being, Navarrette’s contorted expressions, blood-curdling screams and manic outbursts are really what deliver and linger even after you step out of the cinema.
While refreshing, it’s also the subtle familiarity of Navarrette’s performance that makes it something us horror enthusiasts naturally gravitated to and loved almost instantly. It’s reminiscent of performances we’ve seen in iconic horror classics from this generation, much like Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Ti West’s Pearl – the iconic 2022 horror slasher film that stars horror queen Mia Goth as Pearl, a character Navarrette directly cited as inspiration for Nikki.
Albeit with less extreme premises, what truly makes Obsession so f-ed up is how glaringly reflective it is of the painful realities women endure as a result of male entitlement. And while we live amongst the existence of average men like Bear – who believe themselves deserving of a woman’s physical, emotional and sexual autonomy – we can’t help but resonate with this film more than we wish to.
When does Obsession release in Singapore?
You can catch Obsession in Singapore at Filmhouse from June 11, 2026 onwards.