#Obsession is the hashtag around Curry Barker’s 2026 breakout supernatural horror film — a $750,000 indie about a music-store employee whose wish for a friend to fall in love with him is granted by a 1960s antique toy called the “One Wish Willow,” with catastrophic consequences. Since opening in US theaters on May 15, 2026 and arriving on Peacock on July 17, the film has become one of the highest-multiple horror hits in modern box-office history and a fixture of the summer’s film conversation.
The Film
Obsession was written, directed and edited by Curry Barker, a 26-year-old filmmaker whose earlier work includes the YouTube sketch channel “that’s a bad idea” with his creative partner Cooper Tomlinson. It was produced in partnership with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and shot largely in and around Los Angeles. The cast includes Michael Johnston as the protagonist Bear, Inde Navarrette as Nikki, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter. The film runs 1 hour and 48 minutes and carries an R rating in the United States.
Plot
Bear, a lonely young man working at a music store, buys the “One Wish Willow” — a kitschy antique toy from the 1960s that promises to grant its owner a single wish when a branch is snapped in half. He wishes for his childhood friend Nikki to fall in love with him. The wish is granted, and the film unspools from there as the mechanics of the wish itself, and what the toy takes in exchange, become increasingly unbearable to the people around him.
Commercial Success
Coverage in Forbes, Screen Rant and Collider tracked Obsession’s box-office trajectory closely. On a reported production budget of $750,000 to $1 million, the film opened to roughly $17 million domestically and — instead of the usual second-weekend drop — climbed in its next two frames, an all-but-unheard-of pattern for a horror release. It ultimately grossed well over $250 million in North America and approximately $400 million worldwide, a return of many dozens of times its cost. Trade coverage repeatedly cited word-of-mouth as the engine.
Critical Reception
Obsession landed strong reviews for a low-budget genre film. IndieWire called it “one of 2026’s best horror films” in an early critical appraisal and singled out Curry Barker’s control of tone and Inde Navarrette’s performance, which multiple outlets flagged as potentially awards-season worthy. Deadline’s video interview with Barker credited his sketch-comedy background with the film’s timing and its willingness to sit inside uncomfortable moments longer than most modern studio horror does.
Industry Impact
The film has been treated as evidence that ultra-low-budget original horror can still open wide, hold theaters and cross into cultural conversation without a franchise attachment. Trade press has grouped Obsession with the year’s other breakout genre releases — Backrooms, Iron Lung — as a signal moment for a post-pandemic rebound in adult-audience theatrical moviegoing. Curry Barker’s next moves have become a widely covered industry storyline, with Deadline and Collider both reporting on his subsequent development slate.
Streaming Release
The film’s streaming launch was staggered:
- May 15, 2026: US theatrical release.
- July 17, 2026: Peacock streaming exclusive begins in the United States.
- Fall 2026: Netflix window announced.
- Summer 2026: Blu-ray and DVD release.
The Peacock date, in particular, re-ignited the #Obsession hashtag through July and into August, layering a streaming-first audience on top of the theatrical one and giving the film a second run of first-time reactions.
Variations & Related Tags
The film’s hashtag circulates in a few forms — #Obsession, #ObsessionMovie and #CurryBarkerObsession — and is often paired with the horror-industry tags around Blumhouse and 2026’s indie-horror wave.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsession_(2025_film)
- https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/obsession-review-curry-baker-1235149428/
- https://deadline.com/2026/05/curry-barker-obsession-horror-jason-blum-video-interview-1236907478/
- https://www.motionpictures.org/2026/05/curry-barkers-obsession-the-indie-horror-that-turned-l-a-into-a-nightmare-playground/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/05/25/obsession-becomes-this-summers-breakout-box-office-hit/
- https://collider.com/obsession-peacock-streaming-release-date-july-2026/
- https://variety.com/2026/film/news/obsession-peacock-release-date-streaming-how-to-watch-1236798622/
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37287335/