Review: Obsession (2026)

Obsession (2026)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly imagery, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity

Score: 5 out of 5

Obsession is a rare horror movie for a guy like me who thinks he's seen it all: one that left me truly, deeply unsettled well after I left the theater. Its plot isn't anything original, being largely a "be careful what you wish for" story that writer/director Curry Barker said was inspired by the old Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode about the monkey's paw, but it's in the execution where it counts, and this one is one of the greats. It's a deeply chilling film about being the target of a stalker's affections, paired with a deeply flawed protagonist who ruins not only his own life but those of everyone around him through his selfish actions coming back to bite him, and it's anchored by an outstanding performance from Inde Navarrette taking a character who could've easily been a joke and turning her into one of the scariest... well, not necessarily villains, given her circumstances, but certainly monsters I've seen in a horror movie in quite some time. Even with the plot and the nature of the menace being overtly supernatural, this movie felt all too real, and will probably wind up as one of my favorites of this year, a film that at once delivers a cutting satire of how people approach relationships and also a terrifying tale that does a lot with very little.

The basic premise is simple: a young man named Baron Bailey, or Bear for short, has a crush on his cute co-worker Nikki Freeman but lacks the confidence to ask her out, so on a whim, he buys a novelty gift called a One-Wish Willow that lets him make one wish, which he uses to get Nikki to fall in love with him. Contrary to his expectations, it actually works, and then the problems begin as Nikki turns into an unhinged, emotionally abusive, co-dependent stalker of a girlfriend who soon makes Bear's life a living hell. Right away, both Bear and Nikki are compelling characters even before the pivotal wish is made. Bear serves as a perfect avatar for the viewers, an ordinary young man who has average luck with women and wants one who he thinks is out of his league, and Michael Johnston does a good job making him, on the surface, an endearing schlub who doesn't seem to realize until it's too late that what he's doing is wrong. As for Nikki, while she never showed any explicit interest in Bear beyond just her friendly personality, it's hinted that he might've maybe, possibly stood a chance with her had he decided to handle his crush on her in any other way than the one he ultimately went with.

Because this movie makes no bones about what Bear did to Nikki. With one wish, he overwrote her personality and turned her into the Overly Attached Girlfriend from Hell, and it's shown multiple times the film that there is still at least part of the "old" Nikki still there, horrified by what has happened to her. Even before it's explicitly revealed later on, it's clear that Nikki is possessed by something, acting in an inhuman manner like an alien wearing a skinsuit trying to pose as a cute, flirty young woman and never quite pulling it off, and Inde Navarrette did an outstanding job walking the line without turning her into a caricature. In the first act, she makes Nikki feel like the female lead of an indie rom-com, and even after the wish is made, the transformation is subtle at first, largely amounting to her showing an explicit romantic interest in Bear that wasn't readily apparent before. Over time, however, she grows increasingly manipulative and controlling of the man she's compelled to love and jealous of any other women he comes in contact with, lying about things like family tragedies and melting down at the slightest provocation or threat to their relationship, only to snap back to the loving girlfriend Bear wished for -- and occasionally, the thing controlling Nikki loses its grip for a brief moment and her real, increasingly traumatized soul takes control for a brief moment before "Freaky Nikki" pushes it back down. Navarrette takes all these facets of a very multifaceted character and blends them together perfectly in the kind of performance that careers are made of, making Nikki a compelling and terrifying presence on screen even when there's seemingly nothing creepy going on at the moment.

Curry Barker's writing and direction handle the rest, relying on old-fashioned tricks with more aggressive horror used sparingly. There's only one scene where something explicitly supernatural happens that isn't merely inferred by Navarrette's acting, and only one scene of gore, even if it's a brutal one. No, this is a movie that runs on mood and thematic tension. There were moments when, even in scenes where it feels like nothing out of the ordinary is happening, you just know that something bad is coming, and Barker keeps me on edge for minutes at a time waiting for the inevitable. It's easy for an observant viewer to figure out just how the One-Wish Willow works and what exactly happened to Nikki, but barring a few important, plot-relevant details, the lore, so to speak, is deliberately left as an intriguing mystery. Most of the character development for Bear, meanwhile, slowly sinks him deeper as his selfishness and short-sightedness are brought to the fore, not only showing the disastrous consequences that his wish had for him, Nikki, and everybody around them but also highlighting how none of this had to happen. Nikki wasn't the only woman in his life, there were plenty more fish in the sea, some of them might've been more interested in him, and he ultimately ends the film as a far less likable person than he was at the start, with everything that happened after he decided to snap that One-Wish Willow being entirely his fault thanks to his obsession with one woman he found attractive (and hey, will you look at that, the title refers to both of the lead characters). Make no mistake: while Nikki is the film's monster, Bear turns out to be its villain. While it's never spelled out, there is a deep, grim well of commentary here about how people feel entitled to love, with Bear's fear of rejection doing more damage than any actual rejection possibly could have. At the end of the day, had Bear just asked Nikki out instead of resorting to supernatural means to ensure she'd answer "yes," his story might've had a much happier ending.

The Bottom Line

I went and rewatched this film this past weekend, and it was still just as good and scary as it was the first time I saw it. That's all I need to say about that. Obsession is a modern horror classic, and I'm excited to see what both Barker and Navarrette do next.