Obsession is the kind of horror film that survives almost entirely on execution. Strip away the performances and Curry Barker’s latest could have easily landed among the pile of competent-but-forgettable genre entries crowding the 2026 horror slate. Instead, the film manages to linger, largely because Micheal Johnston and Inde Navarrette refuse to let it collapse under the weight of its shakier instincts. 3.5/5 stars.
Johnston and Navarrette do an enormous amount of heavy lifting here. The script asks the audience to accept some genuinely goofy turns, including leaps in logic and moments of belief suspension that would have completely sunk the film with less committed leads. Johnston gives the story a grounded emotional center even when the narrative starts spiraling into increasingly exaggerated territory, while Navarrette injects enough vulnerability and intensity to keep the film emotionally tethered. Their chemistry keeps Obsession watchable even during its most uneven stretches.
Barker’s direction is where the film frequently shines. He clearly understands the power of restraint, knowing when to let darkness and implication do the work instead of oversaturating every scene with noise and exposition. Some of the film’s best moments come from what remains hidden just outside the frame. At the same time, Barker also knows when to abandon subtlety altogether and push the intensity into overdrive. When the film wants to hit hard, it absolutely does, delivering several sequences that feel genuinely unnerving without relying solely on cheap shocks.
That said, Obsession has a frustrating tendency to repeat itself. Certain emotional beats and thematic ideas feel recycled throughout the runtime, creating a sense of redundancy that slows the momentum considerably. Some of the character relationships also feel distinctly written for a younger generation in ways that older audiences may struggle to connect with emotionally. The interpersonal drama occasionally comes across less like authentic characterization and more like an attempt to mirror modern anxieties without fully exploring them.
The film also stumbles whenever it dives deeper into its own mythology. Barker seems fascinated by expanding the rules and lore surrounding the horror elements, but the movie repeatedly doubles down on mystery without providing meaningful explanations or payoff. There’s only so many times a film can imply hidden depth before the lack of clarity begins to feel less intriguing and more underdeveloped.
Still, there’s enough craft, atmosphere, and strong acting here to make Obsession worth seeing for horror fans. It is undeniably a solid entry in the genre lineup for 2026 — just nowhere near the masterpiece it’s currently being marketed as.
