Unlucky, insecure and lonely, Bear buys himself one single wish to find true love, but will adoration turn into Obsession.
A new director to the industry Curry Barker, wrote a script in 2023 about co-dependency of a loving and longing friendship, turning into something far darker. His main inspiration was the tale of the ‘Monkey’s Paw‘ from an original story published in 1902 warning the user ‘what you long for can potentially come at an almighty price’. Tea Shop Productions noticed his previous film The Chair, online and offered to adapt it until he gave them this superb script for something actually far more truly terrifying. With a comparatively small budget of just $1million, Obsession was born and has already so far grossed over £23 million worldwide and counting; and with critical acclaim quite rightly for the lead actress Inde Navarette, who positively shines in this polished darkness.
Written, directed and edited by Curry, Obsession is a tale of love, loss and longing and the hope of what can be without knowing or understanding the true consequences of our sometimes selfish actions. As an independent film picked up by Blumhouse Productions to give it its professional finishing gritty gloss, we are witness to something that is far greater than it has any right to be at this financial level. With a tight cast and predominantly an acting double header, we have Cooper Tomlinson as Ian, and Megan Lawless playing Sarah as the supporting actors. It is however the two main leads that make this for me my deeply disturbing, professionally executed horror film of the year.
Baron ‘Bear’ Bailey is played by Michael Johnston, who at a crippling distance is in love with ‘Freaky‘ Nikki Freeman played by Inde Navarette (pronounced Indy Navaretty). Tongue tied and insecure, Bear cannot find the courage to ask her on a date until he stumbles upon a cheap novelty toy known as the ‘One Wish Willow’ in a crystal shop. This gives him the chance to hope and dream of finally connecting with Nikki and show her his truly undying love. As soon as he breaks the willow, his dream of Nikki loving him more than anyone else in the world comes true. Fantastic? No. And this is where Inde Navarrette dominates the screen. From the moment the wish is granted, we are witness to a tour de force of an upcoming actress who is about to become a household name in the cinematic film industry.
With a dislike of watching horror films herself, Inde has taken a well written, compact script and delivered an acting masterclass of letting go in the best possible of extreme ways. Holding her performances back through the table reads, she kept the additional three cast members in the dark until the actual take and this is where we see, without any CGI, the chills that make what is a good film truly great. What can become overblown in lesser outings with body counts and blood; Obsession takes its time and us with them on a ride giving the audience the atmospheric chills we all so desperately crave. However, this isn’t just another gore fest. The powerful acting from Inde takes us in and out of her state in a heartbeat as to whether she is mentally present or not in each sometimes suffocating situation. Most certainly, she is there physically, but is there an ominous presence taking control in her mind from the other side? And then not!
We also of course have the protagonist, or should we say antagonist in the form of Bear, who selfishly wishes for Nikki to love him and only him. Michael personifies the expanding and uncontrollable fear and desire where something so beautiful can quickly turn into something dreadful. Like Inde, he held nothing back with his reactions during filming, helping the intensity and flow which has delivered a stand out film so far of 2026.
Obsession deals with the issues of non-consent, extreme loneliness, and how certain even innocent desires can actually have consequences, and how any lack of communication with those around us can leave us vulnerable to the eventual possible sinister outcome. Filmed in an intense 4:3 style, Curry wanted an uncomfortably close feeling of intimacy to focus on the extreme emotions of the two main brilliant actors. Filmed in Los Angeles in 2024 over just 26 days, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025 with early critical acclaim and adoration. With Hereditary (2018) and Pearl (2022) as mood creating films for the cast, this is up there for me with the likes of the similarly amazing Smile 2 and The Substance that also dealt with an increasing lack of conscious control by two other very strong female lead characters. Curry’s Obsession rewrites horror to give us something with far more depth and a ride that bobs above and below the dark waters of infatuation. Struggling for breath, unsure as to what is real or not. Filmed with two similar endings, we are delivered a film that is thought provoking, extremely well acted by our main cast and has left us wanting more from Michael and of course Inde.
Inde was chosen first by Curry for her ability to work on three entirely separate levels approaching crazy through to scary and back down again with increasing intensity throughout. I also believe Inde Navarette should be in the running for best leading actress in next year’s award season. As you may have guessed, this is her film with three excellent supporting actors who have in the best way created for me and a million others; their new Obsession. This is ironically a film to go in completely blind, keeping away from spoiler reviews and trailers.
Obsession should be your new obsession. Go in cold and come out chilled to the bone.
Author: Piers, Maidstone Store
