Obsession is a horror film written and directed by Curry Barker, starring Michael Johnson as Bear, who is an awkward music store employee who has had a huge crush on his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for the longest time and finds out she will be quitting the store soon and moving on.
Looking for a going away gift, Bear goes into a crystal shop and while originally looking for a crystal necklace for her, sees something called a One Wish Willow. It looks unassuming and is a small box containing a piece of wood, and when you break it in two, will make any wish come true that you request whilst breaking it.
Bear drops Nikki off at home after they go out with co-workers to the bar one last time, and he is struggling with telling her that he has a thing for her. He tries at the bar but gets interrupted by their mutual friend, and then when she is out of the car she tells him that if he likes her, now would be the time to tell her. He doesn't tell her. As Nikki is walking to her door, he realizes he forgot to give her the gift and decides not to give it to her as it wasn't really what he had wanted to give her in the first place. He opens it up and the box plays a short tune, he pulls out the stick, and says he wishes Nikki would love him more than anyone in the world and snaps it in two. After he does this, Nikki immediately stops in her tracks, turns back, and invites Bear into her house and things escalate from there.
As you can probably gather from the synopsis and title, Nikki's obsession with Bear begins as soon as he snaps the One Wish Willow and progressively ramps up for the duration of the film.
Obsession really scratched an itch for us. It wasn't filled with terror the entire film, but there certainly was a lot of dread. And there were definitely moments where the terror was relevant, and used sparingly but meaningfully. There is a lore behind the One Wish Willow that has its own mystery and brings a lot of questions to the table like "Where did it come from?" "How long have these existed?" "How do they end up in the hands of the people who use them? Fate or random selection?". There is a time when Bear wants off the ride, and tries to call the number on the box, and the person on the other end of the call is not very helpful to say the least. The backstory is very mysterious and we need more.
There are a couple of scenes where we felt like the writing was a bit wonky given the situation, but very minor in comparison to just how fantastic the film as a whole is. Inde Navarrette has to carry the film on her shoulders in her part as Nikki, and not because Michael Johnson doesn't do a great job as well, but the range of emotions she has to go through in her role is just unreal and flawlessly executed.
Overall, Obsession is our favorite horror film of 2026, and there are a lot of good ones out there. We really hope that we get to see more in the One Wish Willow Universe and are extremely happy for the success of this young team and the recognition they have received for it. It is well-deserved. Every bit of it. We would highly recommend watching this film and will be keeping an eye out for anything coming up from Curry Barker in the future.
