You may not have heard the name Curry Barker just yet, but that’s all about to change. The up-and-coming filmmaker’s feature directorial debut, Obsession, made a massive impression when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year. The picture was a resounding success with critics, garnering a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and securing Best Feature at Sitges Film Festival. If you’ve been following the picture’s festival run and wondering when you can see what all the excitement is about, we’ve got an update. Focus Features will release the film on May 15, 2026.
Though this is Barker’s first full-length feature, he’s had plenty of experience writing and directing viral short films. He’s also got several acting credits to his name.
As we patiently wait for the release of Barker’s first full-length picture, the distributor is keeping details largely under wraps. They have yet to release a trailer, and the plot synopsis is relatively cryptic. The single-sentence plot crunch reads: After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Our Josh Korngut is among the lucky few who have seen the film, and his critique positions the flick as an absolute banger. He rated the picture 5/5 stars, comparing it to early A24 but without the pretense. The headline of his critique reads, “Curry Barker’s ‘Obsession’ Is the Next-Gen Horror Masterpiece I Wasn’t Prepared for.”
Korngut praised the film’s unhinged nature, the screenplay, and the strong showings from lead actors Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston. “Michael Johnston’s performance as Bear is expertly tragic,” Korngut posits. “His bewildered anxiety adds weight to the film’s cringey, relentless nightmare of errors. But the not-so-secret weapon of Obsession is Inde Navarrette as Nikki. Her ghoulishness has all the makings of a newly minted horror icon.”
That’s a really promising write-up that has me eager to check out the film when it bows next year. Stay tuned for more updates on Obsession in the coming months.
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