The horror film 'Obsession' has become the talk of the town since its release earlier this month, dominating the box office with remarkable success. In just two weekends, the independent movie, directed by 26-year-old YouTuber Curry Barker, has earned over $79.7 million globally, according to IMDb Pro's BoxOfficeMojo. Produced on a modest budget of $750,000 and shot in only 20 days, the film has already grossed more than 100 times its production cost, making it one of the most profitable films in recent years.
Rare Achievement in Horror Genre
Jason Blum, a heavyweight in the horror film industry and an executive producer on the film, noted the rarity of this success. 'Obsession is the ONLY wide-release horror film on record to grow in its second weekend at this scale - $22.4M, up 30% over opening,' Blum wrote on X. 'This doesn't happen in horror.' The film's performance is especially uncommon for the genre, which typically sees a decline after the opening weekend.
Plot and Reception
The story follows hopeless romantic Bear, played by Michael Johnston of 'Teen Wolf', and his childhood friend Nikki, portrayed by Inde Navarrette from 'Superman & Lois'. However, this is far from a conventional love story. Bear purchases a One Wish Willow, a supernatural toy that claims to grant one wish when broken. Using it to make Nikki fall in love with him, Bear soon learns that winning his crush's heart comes at a sinister price.
Curry Barker expressed his surprise at the film's success. 'When we made Obsession, we had no idea what was going to happen,' he said in a video interview last week. 'As the leader of the ship, I had to tell the people: "This is going to be huge. You guys have to give this a year, because it's going to be something special." But that's just because that's my job, to champion the movie. Really, I had no idea. ... It was insane when we even just got into TIFF.'
Box Office Performance
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025, where it began building its terrifying reputation. By the time it hit cinemas in May, audiences quickly became obsessed. It earned $17.2 million from 2,615 theatres during its opening weekend and saw a rare second-weekend boost due to overwhelmingly positive praise, making it the only wide-release horror film of the century to earn more in its second weekend.
Paul Dergarabedian told Variety, 'We used to say that horror movies would open on Friday and die on Saturday. Being in a movie theatre has so much appeal, but a lot of prior horror movies were terrible. People would see them, realize they were awful and never go back.' He added that the film's sustained success is a clear indication that audiences are embracing it.
Audience and Critical Acclaim
Moviegoers have shared nothing but positive thoughts on social media. Comments include: 'Obsession lived up to the hype. One of the best horror flicks I've ever seen', 'Just saw Obsession, best movie I never wanna see again; borderline traumatic but absolutely PHENOMENAL movie', and 'Obsession deserves the hype. Best horror I've seen all year if not past couple years. Actual 10/10 for me.'
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has amassed a 95% fresh 'Tomatometer' score from critics and a 94% hot 'Popcornmeter' score from audiences, making it the highest-rated movie of the year on the platform. It has also received an 'A-' grade on CinemaScore exit polls, a feat achieved by only five other horror movies since 2019.
Marketing and Demographics
Younger audiences have been key to the film's success, with 75% of its audience being between 18 and 25 years old, according to PostTrak. Focus Features, the distributor, opted against a platform release and launched the film in over 2,000 theatres nationwide. Before opening weekend, they crafted a commercial to buy One Wish Willows, and the product sold out within hours. They also built buzz through cryptic billboards across Los Angeles and New York, featuring Nikki's obsessive texts, voice notes, and deliveries, alongside a phone number inviting interaction.
Despite competition from other releases, 'Obsession' remained No. 1 in North America on Monday ($2.9 million), Tuesday ($3.6 million), Wednesday ($3.2 million), and Thursday ($3.3 million).
Future Prospects for Curry Barker
Director Curry is part of a group of YouTube creators who have achieved mainstream box office success. Earlier this year, YouTuber Markiplier directed the horror film 'Iron Lung', which earned $50 million from a $3 million budget. With Hollywood already placing trust in Curry for future projects, he has another film, titled 'Anything But Ghosts', in the works. Additionally, A24 recently tapped him to helm a reimagining of 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'.
'The opportunities that I have right now are pretty insane,' Curry told Variety. 'But I'm just trying to keep my head down and focus on what's important to me, you know?'
