Obsession (2026): A Wish-Fulfillment Horror Flick Lands at Brookings Cinema 8 This Week

If your Fourth of July weekend plans have a gap between the fireworks and the family cookout, here's a modest suggestion: duck into the air conditioning at Brookings Cinema 8, where “Obsession” opens July 1. It's not a movie that's going to dominate national conversation, but for those of us who like a low-budget horror flick with a genuinely weird hook, it's worth the price of a matinee ticket, especially if you time your trip for one of Cinema 8's $5 Tuesdays.

The bigger story here isn't really the film itself. It's writer-director Curry Barker, a name you might recognize if you've spent any time on the internet in the last several years. Barker built a following making sketch comedy and horror-adjacent short-form content before graduating to features, and “Obsession” is part of a small but noticeable wave of online-first creators moving into theatrical horror. That transition is always a little precarious. The instincts that make someone great at a two-minute punchline don't automatically translate into sustaining dread or character work across ninety minutes. Barker also edited the film himself, which is either a sign of a tightly controlled vision or a project that didn't have the budget for another set of hands. Probably some of both. It's the kind of scrappy, hands-on production that horror fans should have some natural sympathy for, even before the lights go down.

As for what's actually happening on screen: “Obsession” follows Bear, a guy working at a music store, who buys a strange toy that promises to grant him one specific wish. He wishes that his friend Nikki would fall in love with him. The toy delivers, sort of, and Nikki's feelings curdle into something closer to obsession than romance. Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless carry the central relationship, while Andy Richter shows up in a supporting role, which is the kind of casting choice that tells you this movie isn't taking itself too seriously even when it's trying to unsettle you.

I'll be upfront that there's no critical consensus to lean on here. No Rotten Tomatoes score, no Metacritic number, nothing to point to and say “here's how the pros are landing on this.” That's honestly not surprising for a horror title with this kind of low-key, internet-adjacent pedigree. It means I'm giving you my own read, for better or worse.

And my read is that the premise is the best thing “Obsession” has going for it. A cursed toy that literalizes the “be careful what you wish for” horror trope through the lens of modern romantic desperation is a genuinely clever setup. There's something sharp buried in the idea of a wish for love metastasizing into something possessive and monstrous. It's the kind of concept that could carry either a nasty little horror-comedy or a more serious meditation on consent and control, and part of what makes me curious about this one is that it seems to be reaching for both at once.

Whether it fully lands that reach is a fair question, and I went in tempering my expectations given Barker's newness to feature filmmaking. What I can say is that the premise alone earns it a look, especially for horror fans who'd rather see a movie swing at something odd and specific than play it safe with another haunted house or slasher retread. The cast, particularly Lawless in what sounds like the showier role, seems to have real material to chew on if the script gives her room. Richter's presence suggests the film isn't afraid to let some air into its tone, which for a story this potentially grim might be a smart choice rather than a tonal misstep.

Go in with modest expectations and an appetite for something a little offbeat, and I think “Obsession” rewards you. It's not going to be the horror movie of the summer, but it might be the one that surprises you on a quiet Tuesday night, cheap ticket in hand, wondering what exactly that toy is going to do next.

Facts verified as of August 26, 2026.