Why Everyone Is Suddenly Obsessed With Horror Hit Obsession

There are horror movies that make you jump, horror movies that make you physically uncomfortable and then there’s horror movies like Obsession. Which very expertly managed to make an entire cinema collectively squirm in their seats.

I went to see this film last night, and let’s just say, once the movie was over, I have never moved through a cinema car park with such purpose in my life.

Directed by 26-year-old YouTuber turned filmmaker Curry Barker, Obsession has quickly become one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. Made on a reported budget of less than a million dollars, the film has already grossed over $80 million worldwide and somehow managed the impossible for a horror movie: its second weekend at the box office was actually bigger than its first. That basically never happens.

The film reportedly jumped almost 40 per cent in its second weekend, becoming one of the most unusual horror success stories in recent years. Now studios are apparently throwing huge offers at Barker before he has even officially pitched his next project.

And its not hard to see why.

Without giving too much away, the story follows Bear and Nikki, two co-workers whose relationship takes a horrifying turn after a mysterious wish is granted. The setup sounds simple enough, and it is easy to follow, but the themes it explores are surprisingly disturbing and seriously unsettling.

From the trailers I had seen I was expecting a psychological relationship thriller with elements of horror. Instead, what unfolded was a pure horror film, that mixed possession horror, psychological terror and nightmare-fuel imagery to create a genuinely terrifying story that only becomes more uncomfortable the longer it persists.

Certain moment had the entire audience dead silent in that very specific way right before they sense something frightening is about to take place. The film can also be funny at times, some scenes feeling so weird they appear comical but can change quickly to horrific in a matter of seconds.

There are scenes in Obsession that feel very difficult to watch, not because they are gruesome, although there is plenty that are, but because they feel uncomfortable in context. The film slowly shifts into something far more disturbing than expected with amazing performances from all the main cast members.

Michael Johnston is very good as Bear, especially because the film allows you to slowly change your opinion of him as the story goes on. Even his name feels intentional, recalling the viral question asking women whether they would rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear. Obsession plays cleverly with that idea, making you question who the real danger is and how quickly sympathy can shift when someone decides to prioritise themselves.

However, the real standout is Inde Navarrette as Nikki.

Genuinely brilliant in the role, she elevates the film from good to great on her performance alone. Every scene she is in feels convincing unsettling and increasingly terrifying. She manages to make Nikki both terrifying but also allows us to feel deeply sorry for her character.

That is where Obsession becomes more interesting than its simple premise might suggest. It is not just a film about a wish going wrong. It is a film about male control, entitlement and a deconstruction of the “nice guy” character trope that is never really all that kind.

The movie, however, is not just about the wish itself but the weakness behind it, subverting expectations and making you question who the real villain in this story is, exploring the dangers of confusing obsession with romance. Obsession works so well, because it understands that the scariest part of the story is not just what is happening on screen, but why it is happening in the first place.

And this perhaps is why the film has resonated with so many people. Underneath all the gore and nightmare-fuel visuals, there is something uncomfortably recognisable about it. Obsession plays on the uncomfortably recognisable idea of someone claiming to be your friend, while secretly having no intention of being platonic.

For a lot of women, that can come with the horrible realisation that the friendship may never have been as genuine as it seemed but instead built around the hope that it would eventually become romantic. But just because something is romantic doesn’t make it a love story and this film explores that heavily.

Yes, the gore is shocking and yes, the horror moments work. But underneath all of that, Obsession is tapping into something much more recognisable: the fear of being trapped by someone else’s idea of love.

 

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It also helps that the film arrives at a time when original horror is having a real moment. After the success of films like Hereditary, Midsommer, Smile and last year’s Weapons, audiences clearly still have a huge appetite for horror that is fresh, unsettling and not completely built around an existing franchise.

Obsession feels like the next film in that conversation. Its box office success is also impossible to ignore. A film made for under $1 million becoming one of the year’s biggest horror stories would be impressive enough, but the fact that its second weekend grew instead of dropped is what makes it feel like a proper phenomenon.

That kind of success does not happen unless people are leaving the cinema and immediately telling everyone else to go.

Obsession is one of the most intense and disturbing horror films I’ve seen in years. It is disturbing, surprisingly emotional and far more brutal than I expected. In a genre that is often plagued by the same cringy tropes and predictable twists, Obsession feels refreshingly outside the box.

By the time I left the cinema, I understood exactly why everyone is suddenly obsessed with Obsession. It is the kind of horror film that does not just scare you in the moment but follows you home afterwards.

Words by Andrew Connolly