Review: Obsession
No horror film, or possibly any type of film, has been more popular and driven more online discourse this year than Obsession. Let's see if it is warranted or not. ("America is obsessed!" pun successfully dodged.)
Every year, horror cinema has one or two consensus "it" films that demand the lion's share of attention from critics and audiences alike. Not "it" as in Pennywise "It", although It: Chapter One certainly fit the bill back in 2017. Sometimes, that translates into a broader penetration into pop culture, but often it is more specific to the horror community. Last year, Sinners transcended the horror ghetto to achieve massive commercial and awards success. In 2026, it could be argued that Obsession has cleared the impressive bar that Sinners set just twelve months ago. We'll have to see about the awards, but commercially, at least, Obsession is the clear winner. Sinners had a $90 million budget, an A-list leading actor in Michael B. Jordan, and the celebrated director behind Black Panther and Creed. It grossed $370 million globally, a massive success for an original story not based on a previously established intellectual property, and especially so for a horror movie. Obsession, on the other hand, cost less than a million dollars to make, involves nobody you've ever heard of before, and was helmed by a first-time director that was previously a Youtube creator. It has grossed $520 million in less than five months. That is the type of success that is paradigm-shifting in the movie industry. It is simply unheard of.
Those of you who read these reviews on the regular know that I don't often spend much time on box office. I feel like its worth a paragraph in this case, however, because I am fascinated by why this movie took such hold of the movie-going public. Cutting to the chase, I think Obsession is a really good horror movie, and features an all-time lead performance by Inde Navarrette. It legitimately unsettled and scared me a few times, a rarity these days. It's honestly a little shocking how limited the resources and film-making experience were, considering how tight and professional the output is. Yet, I still have a hard time squaring the astronomical earnings and feed-devouring attention that it has garnered. Part of it is probably an age thing. I am a long-married man in my forties, so while I can relate to the world of dating and pining for a crush, it is from quite the distance. I imagine for someone in their twenties whose friend-group dynamics resemble the love rhombus of situationships and hook-ups and unrequited feelings depicted in the movie, it would have a much more immediate impact. Much (or all) of the conversation regarding Obsession is centered around who is the actual villain of the movie, and really whose obsession the title is referring to. The "back of the box" summary for the plot is that a guy has a crush on a friend of his, and wishes that she loved him more than anyone in the world. Through supernatural means, the wish comes true to ruinous effect for him, her, and their close-knit friend group. For what its worth, the film very clearly indicates who the villain of the movie is, and it is not necessarily the antagonist. That's perhaps a bit spoilery as a turn of phrase, but like I said, I don't think the movie hides its intentions.
As I mentioned above, the stand-out of the film is Indie Navarette, who plays the target of the wish. Her acting choices, combined with Curry Barker's direction, make the movie. All of the acting is good, honestly, but Navarette is able to wring so much discomfort out of the role, especially when her character's true self peeks through. She alternates between creepy, awkward, terrifying and sympathetic, sometimes all within the span of a single scene, and the movie absolutely does not work if she is not great in the role. Another strong aspect of the film is the creativity of the scares. From a plot perspective, the movie pretty much delivers the hook of the premise and then proceeds in a straight line of escalation from there, so without any big twists and turns the steps along the way need to be novel enough to keep your attention. Barker, who wrote and directed, crafts some really interesting scenes that don't rely on a lot of money to execute. My favorite, perhaps the most genuinely disturbed I've been in years, simply involves a character sitting in a car and making a phone call. When you are that smart and thoughtful about your writing, you don't need a bunch of fancy CGI or crazy monster effects.
I highly recommend Obsession. If you are a horror fan, you are pretty much culturally mandated to watch it anyway. I'm still not sure what precise alchemy led it to dwarf the impact of other horror "it" films like Barbarian or Hereditary, but I'm just happy that quality horror is getting this much attention. Check back in daily to see what else Scott and I have been watching this Halloween season.
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