Review: ‘Obsession’ film, 2026
I went from following Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson on Instagram and keeping up with their “That’s a Bad Idea” sketch series for the last two years to seeing Barker basically become an overnight success and a multimillion-dollar filmmaker. Like, what?!
I guess that’s because Curry was more talented than I knew.
I always thought his (and Tomlinson’s) sketches were filmed really well. They looked professional, almost too professional-looking to be funny. Too polished. I still laughed though, of course. The writing was smart, and the skits were well acted, but Obsession is something else entirely.
Obsession is a 2025 American supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker. It follows Baron “Bear” Bailey (played by Michael Johnston), a music store employee who buys a supernatural toy that ends up granting his wish for his childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to fall in love with him, which leads to some pretty horrifying consequences. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter also show up in supporting roles.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2025, in the Midnight Madness section. It later got a U.S. theatrical release on May 15, 2026, through Focus Features. It’s been well received by critics and audiences, pulling in $80 million worldwide so far! Not to mention a 95% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mind. Blown.
Let’s talk about how it unfolds.
The movie opens with Baron (Bear) practicing a confession-of-love monologue for his friend Nikki, on a waitress at a diner. Ok.
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The next few scenes, although establishing, moved a little too slowly for me, and some of the dialogue between Baron and his best friend Ian got a bit repetitive. Dare I say overacted? Ian seemed to have one emotion throughout the entire film: intense!
It’s not until Bear makes his wish that everyone settles into their characters and we start to understand their motivations and mental stakes in the situation a bit more. There are scenes where Bear is absolutely terrified of his new girlfriend but has wanted this for so long that he tries to make this absurdity “work.” It’s there that we start to question if Bear is the REAL issue here. (Spoiler Alert: He is)
The horror element is indeed there. It got a jump scare from me, I’ll admit. 🙋🏼♀️
Now, production. I love how it was shot. I loved the minimal yet impactful special effects, the cinematography, and something I can’t quite explain, but I loved how small the movie felt. It was primarily a cast of four, and for the most part, a lot of the film takes place in Bear’s house or his car. Very self-contained, and I think that possibly contributed to how tight this movie felt. It never “loses” you.
I really applaud films like this. We need more of them! Low budget, no A-listers, good story, huge success. Films fueled by the passion to tell a story, not forced to help a studio make its budget back in quarter two or whatever. (We don’t need $300 million budget films, Hollywood! We don’t! Case proven by Mr. Barker and team.)
You’re definitely going to want to watch it again and see what you may have missed, if anything. I know I do, anyway.
And if you have extra time, read up on Barker and his quick climb to Hollywood. Check out their YouTube, too. That’s a Bad Idea 💡
My personal favorite short: Enigma.
Go see Obsession in theaters! Support young filmmakers! Congrats, Curry and Team!
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
(Link to Original Post!)
