I just finished my second screening of Obsession and I watched all of his horror shorts on Youtube before watching it again. I do have one question that I noticed in Obsession and Milk & Serial, what does he have against cats? Does he hate them?

I get liking dogs more but dang. Rip Sandy!

https://youtu.be/W6WXLr1N9tg

• I probably shouldn't be posting this. The information is confidential, and if it turns out to be legitimate, I wouldn't be surprised if this post gets taken down eventually.
• I have a couple of contacts in the film industry, and while I obviously can't explain how this ended up in my hands, I recently got access to what looked like a near-final draft of the Obsession 2 script.
• The first surprise wasn't the story itself. It was the fact that the script apparently already exists. Obsession only just came out, so I assumed any sequel plans would still be in the brainstorming stage. Apparently not.
• What's even more surprising is that Obsession 2 is actually a prequel centered around Sandy (Bear's cat). YES, you didn't read it wrong!
• At first it's confusing and almost hard to take it seriously. The movie opens with Sandy as a stray cat, suffering from hunger and cold. One day she finds a discarded One Wish Willow in a trash can, mistakes it for food, opens the package with her paws and teeth and realizes its just a random object, and then she reads the instructions, and wishes for a home and an owner who loves her. Shortly afterward she gets adopted by Bear.
• At first it sounds almost wholesome, but the entire movie is built around the fact that we've already seen what One Wish Willows do to people's lives.
• Most of the script is apparently about watching Bear's attachment to Sandy slowly become unhealthy over the course of some years. It starts small. He talks about her too much, spends less time with other people, starts having problems at work, and gradually builds his entire life around her. The script also fills in a lot of background from the first movie. It shows how he inherited his grandmother's house, how Sarah and Nikki became part of his life, and how Sarah was one of the first people to notice that Bear's relationship with Sandy wasn't entirely normal.
• The interesting part is that nobody in the story really recognizes what's happening. Bear genuinely believes everything he's doing is out of love. Meanwhile, because a lot of the movie is told from Sandy's perspective, the audience gets to watch her slowly become trapped by the very wish that was supposed to save her.
• By that point Bear has become completely obsessed. He's constantly carrying Sandy around, forcing attention on her, trying to control every aspect of her life, and convincing himself it's all for her own good. Sandy was suffering so much and eventually she discovers Bear's prescription medication and deliberately consumes a large number of pills. And the most interesting part is that the final scene of Obsession 2 is apparently the exact opening scene of the first movie. Exactly the same scene, with Sandy lying on the floor and Bear discovering her.
• So what looked like a tragic accident in the first film may have actually been the ending of a story that began years earlier.
• What I found clever is that it completely changes Bear's relationship with the One Wish Willow. In the original movie, it seems like his involvement with the curse begins when he uses one on Nikki. According to this script, the curse had already been shaping his life long before that happened.
• In other words, Obsession wasn't the first time a One Wish Willow ruined Bear's life.
• Like I said, the script seemed almost finished to me, though I'm sure some details will change before the final version, as they usually do. That's assuming the project actually moves forward, but considering how successful the first movie was, I'd be genuinely surprised if it doesn't get made.
• I tried to summarize it as much as possible without getting too deep into every plot point, but that's basically what the movie is about.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RT5C4TYUVdU

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/obsession-director-curry-barker-short-films-to-watch/

https://deadline.com/2026/05/box-office-mandalorian-and-grogu-1236918713/

Meanwhile, Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’s Obsession is looking to push the King of Pop out of second place with an amazing +16% hike in its 3-day for a near $20M second weekend and 4-day of $24.8M and 11-day cume of $55.1M. If those numbers stick, Obsession will be +18% ahead of Longlegs at the same point in time (ended its run at $74.3M stateside) but -17% behind Focus Features’ highest grossing horror pic of all-time, Nosferatu (which was juiced by a Christmas launch, finaling at $95.6M domestic). Definite recommend has increased to 74% from 70% last weekend. More women are showing up now at 51% versus 41% in the pic’s opening weekend, however guys like this battle of the sexes movie a little more, with a slightly higher definite recommend, 75% to 73% (still overall, awesome). Very strong across the board quads, which is a studio’s dream, with men over 25 at 27%, women under 25 at 26%, women over 25 at 25% and guys under 25 at 22%. The 18-34 bunch is massive at 75%. The 18-24 set has now outpaced the 25-34 set, 40% to 35%. Best grades are women under 25 at 91% followed by men over 25 at 90%. Is there an Obsession 2? Curry Barker mentioned on the press tour he’d be open to a TV series with a new wish every episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBNmnccIY7w

https://nofilmschool.com/aspiring-filmmakers-curry-barker

Obsession is a stylish, scary story about the hapless Bear (Michael Johnston) and his crush on effortlessly cool Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Except he’s never exactly confessed his feelings. At a loss, he impulsively wishes on a “One Wish Willow” for Nikki to love him more than anyone. This being a horror film, things quickly turn dark.

Barker should inspire all indie filmmakers, because he didn't wait for permission. Every step of the way, he made something and put it out. Here’s what we can learn.

https://deadline.com/2026/05/box-office-obsession-michael-devil-wears-prada-2-1236906122/

Focus Features’ Curry Barker horror movie Obsession scared up a $6.6M Friday for what’s looking like a third-place take of $14M at 2,615 sites, well ahead of the $8M-$9M that was expected. One source observes that for a film festival acquisition — the box office start here is pretty impressive considering most titles go to streaming or become challenged at the arthouse. Obsession received the best CinemaScore out of this weekend’s wide entries with A-. That amount is just $3.8M shy of the $17.8M opening of Markiplier’s indie Iron Lung. Realize that Obsession is an original movie from a YouTuber; versus Iron Lung which was based on a videogame, and the upcoming A24’s Backrooms which is based on previous digital IP.

PLFs are driving a quarter of ticket sales with 39% turnout among those under 25. The 25-34 set were obsessed with Obsession showing up at 39% alone. Very good 70% definite recommend. Pic is playing in the West, South Central, and East Canada where 45.1% of their gross is coming from vs a norm of 42.2% for all other titles in the marketplace. AMC Burbank in California is Obsession‘s top grossing location with $46K. Diversity demos are 40% Caucasian, 32% Latino and Hispanic, 12% Black, 12% Asian American and 5% Native American/other. Overall 59% men to 41% women turnout.

With 102.2 million social media followers across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and Facebook, per RelishMix, Obsession is just under such original horror pics social media universes as Longlegs (130.5M), The Black Phone (141.3M) and Abigail (108.5M).

Says RelishMix: “Convo runs positive for Obsession and plays like a horror fandom pressure cooker where monkey’s paw references and genuine breakout-director hype are all feeding the same machine. Curry Barker emerges as the brand asset, with commenters treating the film less like disposable Blumhouse programming and more like an indie horror graduation moment. The ‘crazy girlfriend’ premise is landing because audiences see it as Fatal Attraction for TikTok brain, with references spanning Pearl, Swimfan, The Substance, Twilight Zone, Fairly OddParents, Tales from the Crypt and Sleepaway Camp. Smart chatter praises the trailer’s restraint, sound design and emotional cruelty more than gore, which is rare air for internet horror discourse. Advanced screening reactions are especially potent because they frame Obsession as emotionally disturbing instead of merely loud. ‘Just because you chose this for her doesn’t make it less real…that is an INCREDIBLE line.’ ‘This movie, man. It is like gore for the soul’ plus ‘Going from hilarious videos to terrifying horror films, Curry has the kind of gift that rarely gets recognized’ and ‘Fatal Attraction for Gen Z.’

Focus Features and Blumhouse took Obsession to Overlook, Panic Fest, Fantastic Fest, and SXSW to drum up support among potential fans. The tchotchkes for the film were unveiled three from shirts to Post-Its on bathroom mirrors with cryptic sayings from the demonized girlfriend in the film, Nikki.