Obsession (2026), a review
One wish is all it takes, falling in love with me... (I know the lyrics are wrong, that's the joke!)
It feels like every year we get a horror film that “rises above” the genre and becomes critically acclaimed. Last years’ Weapons (which I never finished) and Sinners (which I loved) rode that horror discourse all the way to the Academy Awards. Ti West’s X (2022) launched a trilogy of overrated but successful horror films soaked in genre pastiche that took Mia Goth and made her a real star. The Substance (2024) was given the type of critical fellatio that is traditionally reserved for emotionally intense dramas starring grubby men.
All of this is in the context for the death of the popular snob. If you want real distribution, you need a hook, and horror is a genre that people show out for. So on the festival circuit, it’s become very popular. I say this sadly, but film goers are just not going to see awards bait the way they once were.
If cinema wants to survive the economy and television and streaming and everything else, it needs to be something distinct to the theatre experience. Spectacle has always been the answer to that - hence why the advent of television brought musicals to the forefront. But nothing is more acceptable a spectacle than violence. Nostalgia reigns, but so do crowd pleasers. Awards bodies certainly won’t give out golden statues to Anyone But You (2023) - and they shouldn’t - but they might do so for something a little darker.
Everything we’re seeing now sprung from Jordan Peele with Get Out (2017), and was later solidified by the groundswell of support for Hereditary (2018). This one two punch became almost hallowed ground in the annals of recent film history. The film that stormed awards season as a horror film and the role that narrowly missed out on the Academy Awards - a “tragedy” which you will hear about at length if you mention it in certain circles. Get Out became proof that horror could be suitable for awards and Hereditary began the conversation about horror as a genre robbed of prestige. Everything since then seems to have been defined by a desire to do what Get Out did and more.
Obsession (2026) is the latest film to get put into this context, and that feels weird.
I want to start off by saying I think this film is great. Obsession is a tight film about a broken wish that does basically everything right. The script is lean without being flat, the pace is engaging, the performances are fantastic. Director Curry Barker has a strong handle on atmosphere and a clear vision of the horror of any the scenario. The film grabs your attention almost immediately and holds it for nearly two hours without stopping or sagging. But as a film, it does read like one of the products of a blurred line between film and television over the past thirty years.
The film often feels like it is introducing ideas that are going to be expanded upon later. It’s not nearly as violent as we’ve been trained to expect horror films to be, but the thing I’m noticing is more script level. Dynamics between certain character, like Ian and Nikki, Bear and Sarah, Sarah and Nikki - these all read the the culmination of something larger than the film itself. Most horror films, even in context of future sequels, do not feel like they’re so open ended. But maybe this isn’t fair to the film. Ian, Nikki, and Sarah only feel like characters we’re meant to spend a season with because they’re fairly well rounded and the film isn’t about them. Script wise, they comfortably exist within the confines of the premise and interact with the conflict as it needs them to. And then some.
Part of this is an obvious reflection of budget and scope. The movie does a lot with shockingly little, having been made for less than $1million. It looks good! But that smallness, paired with the open ended premise, does tiptoe the line between cinema and whatever people think “good” tv is nowadays.
There’s also little issues of craftsmanship throughout. The world of the film is small, and like how small drama films can feel like plays, small films of spectacle (usually genre films like horror and fantasy) apparently read like television. The editing sometimes feels like it’s half a beat off - particularly in reaction shots. Obsession uses music a touch obviously at points, and the general soundscape is less impactful than others in the genre. These are small critiques, but notable to me on a second viewing.
All of this is to say…the film does actually have a minor pacing issue and the gore of it all often feels TV safe. Which is not a problem, but more of a note.
I say all of this because Obsession is currently midway through the cycle of praise and backlash that every film with an ounce of success goes through. The praise is massively overstated, so those who wish to feel smart are looking for any excuse to be contrarian. Instead of meeting the film where it is, there has been a lot of bad faith, lazy criticisms floating around that attempt to paint the movie as a morally bad product. Everyone is tainted by 2010s culture writing that tended to hate on premise rather than execution. Which is crazy, because the film is absolutely designed to meet that audience where they are at.
Where the film shines is in it’s complete disgust in the lead. Obsession is a film that takes the “male loneliness epidemic” and reflects it back at the men who insist online that they want government mandated girlfriends. It is about dehumanisation and entitlement inherent in the antisocial losers of the world. Bear is written as a bumbling fool who is progressively shown to be a selfish, evil person. The wish he makes, to force Nikki to love him, is a cursed with in itself. He rapes her in a scene where you see the pain in her face as her body mechanically gives him the signs he needs to squash any guilt.
There is a version of this film where he is the victim. Some have already tried to reframe this as a mutually abusive situation, because Bear didn’t know his wish would work. Bad things happen to him. But the film is very clear that all of this happens because his desire to have her against her known will is wrong.
Bear wants her more than he wants her to want him. He needs the fantasy that she is in love with him for his own guilt, but the reality of the situation does not really bother him. When she begs him to free her, he is upset at her for not being compliant. His call to the helpline is not to fix the problem, but to make Nikki easier to deal with. He kills himself and leaves her with the mess. There is no solution and he just made it worse.
Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette deserve all the praise in the world for their performances. Johnston plays the nervous, overgrown adolescent vibes of Bear perfectly. His twitchy mannerisms and nervous eyes betray the lack of backbone in this man, and his smug smirks as he gets what he wants are irksome in the right way. But Navarrette steals the show with her uncanny and often spastic physicality. The way her body responds to the loss of autonomy, the spasms of her face as the entity inside of her tries to find the right expression, it all does more than any gore could.
With all this being said…this is not a prestige-y horror contender. It’s one step above teen slasher films in terms of overall quality, given the slightly hacky soundtrack and general smallness. The film is very good. It isn’t perfect, nor is it great in any particular way. There’s nothing groundbreaking in Obsession to warrant the praise. A film having great performances and a good script does not automatically mean it’s Oscar worthy. If it does, it means this is a bad year for movies. We used to have films that people saw without being pushed for greatness. But if horror fans are being overzealous and excited, who am I to judge?
I don’t think this is a genre film that needs to be pushed to awards contention, but we’re only in May and there’s very little competition as of yet. The overpraise will likely amount a few more butts in seats and hopefully more work and money for all involved. My qualms with the film and it’s mildly television-esque quality are mostly nitpicks that shouldn’t deter you from seeing this in theatres if you can. Obsession is a very good film. Probably not awards worthy, but then again, I’ve seen much worse get pushed to the top of the heap.