By CARLOS GONZALEZ
The horror landscape of 2026 has officially found its centerpiece. OBSESSION, directed by YouTube sensation Curry Barker. Taking the familiar premise of W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” memorably lampooned in the “Lisa’s Nightmare” segment of The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror II in 1991, from which Barker admits drawing inspiration, OBSESSION fuses it with the suffocating terror of a modern domestic thriller. With this film, Barker doesn’t give us another blood-splattered elevated horror film; He demonstrates what happens when our innermost desires are imposed on someone else’s will. The overall effect is devastating. Obsession is, at its core, a classic Greek Tragedy.
To truly understand how Barker’s 2026 mega-smash subverts and electrifies the genre, we have to look at the cinematic DNA it shares with other masterpieces of obsession, control and psychological fracture. Here are a few psychological thriller, horror films and shorts that match the malevolent brilliance that is OBSESSION.
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
Hitchcock’s masterpiece remains the undisputed gold standard for toxic obsession. When broken ex-cop Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) becomes consumed with the memory of a dead woman, he doesn’t just look for love; he attempts to reconstruct and control a living substitute in the form of Judy Barton (Kim Novak), destroying her autonomy in the process. Vertigo is the great-grandfather of Curry Barker’s OBSESSION. Bear, snapping the One Wish Willow, is the modern equivalent of Scottie forcing Judy into that iconic gray suit. The question remains the same: What happens when desire becomes indistinguishable from absolute ownership?
Obsession, Brian De Palma (1976)
In 1976, director Brian De Palma gave us a lush, twisted riff on Vertigo, which happens to bear the same title as Barker’s megahit. The film tracks a grieving man (Cliff Robertson) trying to rebuild his life with a look-alike of his dead wife (Geneviève Bujold). De Palma plays it more like a tragic melodrama with a protagonist seeking an idealized version of his mate. However, like Hitcock, De Palma relies on psychological longing to amp up the suspense.
Fatal Attraction, Adrian Lyne (1987)
Like OBSESSION, this slick, polarizing ’80s psychological thriller was extensively dissected and deconstructed upon release. Fatal Attraction explores what happens when a casual affair becomes a weaponized nightmare. Glenn Close, without the need for a wish-fulfillment tchotchke, portrays the emotionally imbalanced Alex Forrest, who doesn’t just chase Michael Douglas’ Dan Gallagher – she creates absolute chaos in his life as revenge for being discarded. Inde Navarrette’s Nikki in OBSESSION takes Close’s terrifying intensity and turns it into pinched nerves.
Misery, Rob Reiner (1990)
The late Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s bestseller delivered the ultimate blueprint for captive worship and toxic fandom. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates in an Oscar-winning performance) isn’t just obsessed with Paul Sheldon (James Caan); she wants him and his talent completely for herself, reshaping his entire existence around her personal delusion.
Talk to Me, Danny and Michael Philippou (2022)
This breakout hit by Australian YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou is a direct spiritual ancestor to the ruthless curse mechanics in OBSESSION. Both films weaponize a seemingly harmless object. In this scenario, a ceramic, supposedly dead hand grants the user’s deepest desires according to its own cold logic. Negotiating with a severed hand or shattering the One Wish Willow reveals that both mystical conduits are completely oblivious to buyer’s remorse.
One Hour Photo, Mark Romanek (2002)
Music video maven Mark Romanek made an auspicious feature debut with One Hour Photo, giving us one of the finest dramatic performances delivered by the late, great Robin Williams. It stands as a clinical nightmare that doesn’t require any supernatural caveats to create a parasitic fantasy born of pure loneliness and isolation. Sy Parrish’s deep need for companionship drives him to build an entirely false identity around the Yorkin family’s existence. As in OBSESSION, this desperate need for connection proves to be painfully one-sided.
Whistle, Corin Hardy (2025)
A recent addition to the cursed object horror pantheon, this high-concept supernatural thriller builds on the dangers of unearthing an ancient curse, making it a perfect sibling to OBSESSION. An ancient Aztec death whistle dooms the high-schoolers who blow it, revealing the many violent ways they are destined to die. Like OBSESSION, Hardy’s film reminds us that some objects are never to be trifled with under any circumstances.
The Stylist, Jill Gevargizian (2020)
Jill Gevargizian’s psychological tragedy acts as a brilliant companion piece to both OBSESSION and One Hour Photo. Najarra Townsend’s committed performance as Claire doesn’t just envy her clients; she systematically murders and scalps them. Wearing their hair in a desperate, broken attempt to live vicariously through their seemingly perfect lives, Claire must wear the skin of her victims to fill the void she’s trapped within.
It Follows, David Robert Mitchell (2014)
David Robert Mitchell’s trailblazing indie horror film heavily influenced our current lineup of elevated horror, including OBSESSION. Maika Monroe and her high school friends find themselves at the chilling mercy of a sexually transmitted, shape-shifting entity that walks relentlessly toward its victims until they expire. Both of these films excel at generating suffocating paranoia initiated by an inescapable, invisible set of cosmic rules.
Audition, Takashi Miike (1999)
Takashi Miike’s slow-burn J-horror classic is the ultimate cautionary tale about the dangers of projecting selfish fantasies onto others. A lonely widower fakes a casting call to find the “perfect wife” and makes the fatal mistake of selecting a pretty but troubled young woman named Asami (Eihi Shiina), who quickly becomes his literal torture dominatrix. Both films expose insecure men who try to manipulate a woman into a state of forced devotion, only to end up paying dearly for it.
“Other Side of the Box,” Caleb J. Phillips (2018)
This tense short is about a couple whose friend hands them a mysterious present governed by a highly stringent rule: Never look away, or face deadly consequences. Like OBSESSION, it forces its protagonists into an immediate cosmic trap with no absolution or chance of bargaining for survival.
“The Strange Thing About the Johnsons,” Ari Aster (2011)
Before the mainstream success of Hereditary and Midsommar, Ari Aster tested audience comfort levels with this shocking, half-hour litmus test. “The Strange Thing About the Jamesons” focuses on a family trapped in an abhorrent cycle of abuse and hidden secrets. Like OBSESSION, it deeply explores denial, control, and gaslighting in the guise of suburban middle-class normality and close-knit relationships.
