The more I think about it, the more I realize Obsession is my favorite project on the 2026 movie schedule so far. It’s pretty much perfect. But every movie is the result of a long list of production choices that have to go right along the way. Writer/director Curry Barker just revealed how test screenings led to its final form, and what a great story!
On Friday night, Curry Barker and our Freaky Nikki, Inde Navarrette, returned to the place where Obsession first premiered about a year ago to reflect on the film with fans. Here’s what he revealed at this year's Toronto International Film Festival screening:
They were frustrated with Bear, and they didn’t understand why he doesn’t just try to do more to fix it. And they were like, ‘Why isn’t he going back to the crystal shop? Why isn’t he doing more research to try and fix it?’ And so we got an overwhelming amount of people wanting us to do that. I was like, ‘No, that’s not what I want to do. I don’t want him to try and fix it.’
Audiences at Obsession test screenings were frustrated with Bear, which is how it’s supposed to be. But Barker did decide to do reshoots after getting this feedback. As he added, per Deadline:
So it became clear to me that the way to fix the movie was not to make Bear try to fix it sooner but to actually make it more clear to the audience that Bear wants to make it work. That’s the thing that he becomes active on is trying to make this work.
Wow, I love this behind-the-scenes insight from Curry Barker. Rather than cater to their requests to have Bear be perhaps a more sympathetic character, he took a hard right. As the screening’s moderator added, Bear is a “passive antagonist” who’s in the wrong greatly because of his inaction.
Curry Barker has spoken before about Bear’s arc as a character. In the Obsession DVD commentary, the writer/director said that he thinks Bear is “in denial” for most of the movie. He also said that in the beginning it’s easier for Bear to believe that Nikki “really does like him” than to accept the horrors he’s inflicted on his friend.
While Obsession could have been about a more active character who is trying and failing to help Nikki get better, it wouldn’t be the same. Much of what makes it so good and scary is Bear allowing his wish with Nikki to work in his favor for a while.
Thankfully, Curry Barker made the right decisions with Obsession. It’s not only one of my favorites of the year, but one of the big success stories among 2026's movies. The film has racked up $515 million worldwide against a production budget of $750k. And now it's even getting some award buzz.
You can watch Obsession right now for yourself with a Peacock subscription or on VOD and physical platforms. You can also look for Nikki at Universal Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights.
