Some horror premises are complicated. “Obsession” has the good sense not to be. Curry Barker’s feature takes a hopeless romantic, a cursed object, and a single bad decision, then lets the whole thing rot from there. Focus Features will release the film nationwide on May 15, and the new trailer leans into the movie’s simple but nasty hook: get what you want, then pay for it.
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The setup is clean. After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a lovesick young man finds himself getting exactly what he asked for, only to realize the desire has curdled into something darker and more sinister. Barker wrote and directed the film, which stars Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter.
That premise alone would probably be enough to sell the movie, but “Obsession” has already arrived with some real genre heat behind it. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section, where it became one of the breakout horror titles of the fall, and Focus Features later acquired it for theatrical release. Jason Blum is among the executive producers, with producers James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, and Roman Viaris helping bring it to the screen.
Barker’s rise has been fast enough to make the project worth watching on that level alone. Before “Obsession,” he was best known in online horror circles for “Milk & Serial,” and the leap from that kind of scrappy genre work to a Focus-backed theatrical release is part of what gives the film some extra curiosity value. The trailer will have to do the real work of selling tone. Still, the ingredients are already there: romantic desperation, supernatural backlash, and a premise designed to turn longing into punishment.
“Obsession” opens in theaters on May 15, 2026. Watch the trailer below.
