OBSESSION movie poster | ©2026 Focus Features

Rating: R
Stars: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter, Haley Fitzgerald, Darin Toonder
Writer: Curry Barker
Director: Curry Barker
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: May 15, 2026

There are whole supernatural subgenres of fantasy (lighter) and horror (darker) about wishes. The stories predate movies and TV, going back to Greek/Roman/Asian mythology. Whether the intention is to make us laugh, cry, and/or scream, what these tales generally have in common is the message that one should be careful and restrained in making wishes, as these wishes can, and generally do, have unintended consequences.

This is the case in OBSESSION, where a wish goes very, very wrong. Directed and written by Curry Barker, the movie starts off with a commercial for something called the One Wish Willow. This is a willow branch that, when broken in half, grants one wish. (The purchaser cannot get more wishes by buying more branches). It is not advised for use by people who are depressed or obsessed, and by the end of the brief ad, we can already tell that the One Wish Willow has some remorseful buyers.

Then we meet a quartet of post-high school friends who all work at the same musical instrument store. Sarah (Megan Lawless), whose dad (Andy Richter), runs the place, has an unspoken crush on Baron “Bear” Bailey (Michael Johnston), who pines in silence for Nikki (Inde Navarette). Group ringleader Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) keeps alternately pressing Bear to speak his mind to Nikki, or to play it cool, or to give up.

Bear, who we will see is not the best communicator, wanders into a New Age shop in the hopes of buying a crystal to replace one that Nikki just lost. Instead, he winds up purchasing a One Wish Willow. He intends to present it to Nikki, but uses it himself, wishing that Nikki would love him more than anything in the world.

It should be stated at this point that Barker succeeds at what OBSESSION lays out as its own principal wish, which is to scare the absolute living daylights out of us. There is a sense of impending doom that grows with each scene, punctuated with shocking sounds, sights and actions that knock us back right along with Bear.

Navarette is outstanding as an individual who we fear for and just fear in approximately equal measure. She can be terrified, terrifying or normal in the blink of an eye. Johnston registers wistful desire, astonishment, alarm and despair with conviction, and Tomlinson provides naturalism in conveying Ian’s high-handedness.

Curry’s inventiveness is on view throughout, so that we get a number of strong moments of, “What-am-I-looking-at-here-oh-holy-****!”

However, folklore purists, or at least those fond of the specifics of wish-based horror, will have bones to pick. Customarily, the subgenre relies on poorly-phrased wishes that allow the magic to pick up on loopholes, like evil genie lawyers in a court case. So, a lot rides on the wording of the wish.

But in OBSESSION, while there’s an opening for an enormous debate on the nature of love and how it manifests itself, most people would agree that what Nikki demonstrates is not love, but rather the title condition. Perhaps the title refers to Bear’s state rather than Nikki’s, but either way, it’s not what he tells the willow he wants from her.

There turns out to be an even bigger narrative matter that likewise seems to contradict the wording of the wish. Even the characters who know something about the way the willow operates don’t appear aware of this caveat. So, OBSESSION, along with the willow, isn’t playing fair by its own rules. This means we feel somewhat cheated, albeit not as much as Bear has been.

OBSESSION is frightening and earns its memorable bits honestly. It just is sneaky in ways that it didn’t need to be.

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