Panic Fest: Obsession ushers in a new powerhouse voice in horror
Courtesy NEON
Panic Fest 2026 just wrapped up at Screenland Armour in KC. The yearly homegrown genre festival is a delightful cavalcade of feature films hitting theaters soon, and some with releases further down the road. Read all of our coverage of these debuts.
Horror’s power as a genre lies in its ability to take relatable experiences and fears and wrap them up in supernatural allegory that increases our awareness and anxiety. The ghosts, zombies and witches element may not be physically true, but it always feels emotionally true. That exact alchemy is what makes Curry Barker’s directorial debut Obsession such an instant classic, as plenty of other early reviews and reactions have suggested.
Barker mixes the universal experience of unrequited love with a supernatural monkey’s paw curse that results in one of the most terrifying horror films of the past decade.
Bear (Michael Johnston) is a twentysomething hopeless romantic. He’s painfully shy, lives alone, and works at a music instrument store. He has some close friends, Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). But no one holds a candle to Bear’s childhood pal and co-worker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Bear’s crush on Nikki borders on creepy, but there’s a naive sweetness to him that keeps it from going over the line. If only he could muster up the courage to say how he feels, he’d save a lot of people’s time (and lives).
Unfortunately, Bear stumbles across a “One Wish Willow”—a novelty item that promises to grant the bearer a single wish—at a new age store, and picks it up as a lark. When faced with his latest failure to tell Nikki how he feels, Bear breaks the willow and wishes she would love him more than anyone else in the world. Nikki’s attitude toward Bear changes moments later. She finds herself physically drawn to Bear, whether or not she actually wants that, while Bear, at least at first, seems oblivious to what feels like two people fighting for control over Nikki’s body.
Nikki’s transformation is mirrored by Bear’s own, which becomes Obsession’s key strength. He grows more confident from Nikki’s newfound infatuation, while also distancing himself from his friends and social life. Barker plays push-n-pull with Bear, as though he remains sweet and kind throughout, but he isn’t exactly quick to alter his new, even given signs that something is off. He only ever regrets his choices when faced with just how powerful the forces he’s up against truly are.
The film also devotes time to Nikki and her various stages of love and distress. Navarrette is a force of nature, oscillating from sweet and supportive to manipulative to straight-up demonic at the drop of a hat. Her ability to make Nikki both caring and terrifying is a sight to behold. If Demi Moore and Amy Madigan can garner awards attention for a horror movie, Navarrette deserves all the gold when it comes time. She’s just that good.
Thematically, Barker tackles the thorny topics inherent in the movie’s premise—consent, power, abuse, manipulation—head-on.
Obsession considers the situation of Nikki’s subjugation and Bear’s unwitting dominance through both perspectives, with supporting characters debating both sides. That the film does this, while addressing the core ickiness of it all, is impressive—especially when there’s full-on body horror and gross-out moments to deal with on top of it all.
Obsession isn’t a thrill-ride—it’s a vice grip that tightens over the course of its runtime, squeezing out laughs and screams until you’re sitting in breathless silence.
It’s filled with decisive filmmaking, backed by fearless actors in boundary-pushing, star-making performances. Barker’s movie is the complete package, juggling scares, gore, subject matter and morbid humor with aplomb. See it as soon as you can, or else you’ll be obsessing over missing out on a hell of a theatrical experience.
