Obsession (2025 film)

Obsession is a 2025 American supernatural horror film directed, written, and edited by Curry Barker. The story centers on Bear (Michael Johnston), an employee at a music store, who purchases a supernatural toy that makes his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) fall in love with him, triggering an obsessive and violent attachment. Supporting roles are played by Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter.

Barker, known for YouTube sketch comedy, gained attention with his 2023 short film *The Chair*. When producer James Harris approached him about adapting that short into a feature, Barker instead pitched *Obsession*, a different idea partly inspired by *The Simpsons* episode "Treehouse of Horror II". The film was shot in Los Angeles in October 2024 on a $750,000 budget. It is Barker’s second feature-length film, following *Milk & Serial* (2024), and his first to receive a theatrical release.

*Obsession* premiered on September 5, 2025, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). There, Focus Features acquired distribution rights for $14–15 million—a notable deal for a genre film at TIFF—and Jason Blum joined as an executive producer under Blumhouse Productions. The film was released in U.S. theaters on May 15, 2026. It earned $512.6 million worldwide, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2026 and the fifth-highest-grossing horror film of all time (unadjusted for inflation), while also receiving positive reviews.

The plot follows Baron "Bear" Bailey, who secretly loves his coworker Nikki Freeman. After finding his cat dead from oxycodone, Bear buys a "One Wish Willow" toy from a crystal shop. When Nikki asks if he likes her, he fails to confess, then breaks the toy and wishes she loved him more than anyone. Nikki immediately returns, claiming her estranged father is dying. They begin dating, but Bear soon learns she lied about her father and previously called him a "little brother." Her behavior grows increasingly erratic: she duct-tapes the door, makes a sandwich from the cat’s remains, and stands motionless all day waiting for him. At a party, she smashes a bottle against her own head. Later, she kills Sarah—who had hinted at attraction to Bear—by slamming her head into a brick. Bear tries to reverse the wish by buying more toys, but his friend Ian’s sarcastic wish for a billion dollars comes true.