Inde Navarrette.
Emily Sandifer
Inde Navarrette, the breakout star of Curry Barker’s horror movie sensation Obsession, wants you to know that she is indeed a fan of horror movies, contrary to what she said while navigating the busy press gauntlet to promote the film before its remarkable opening in theaters on May 15.
“I totally put my foot in my mouth when I said I’m not a fan of horror. It was more of I’m a very sensitive person,” Navarrette confessed with a laugh in a Zoom conversation on Thursday. “So, when I filmed Obsession, I had a $350 light bill. All of my lights were on the entire shooting — I never turned them off — and when I saw Obsession for the first time, I repeated that process for probably about two days.”
To clarify, Navarette said, “I am a big fan of horror, but I have to be very selective with what I watch because it deeply affects me” — like a certain unnerving film from filmmaker Ari Aster in 2018.
“When we went to see Hereditary, I ran to my car afterward because it was nighttime,” Navarrette recalled with a smile. “When a car’s muffler backfired and it sounded like a gunshot, I have never [run so fast]. I was a track star. I booked it!”
With Obsession, it’s Navarrette’s turn to induce anxiety and have audiences running to their cars, as she expertly displays a gamut of emotions that range from subtle moments of quiet desperation to full-fledged expressions of fear, paranoia, hurt and jealousy that result in an angry outbursts of extreme physicality. In short, Navarrette has arguably turned in the best screen performance in all genres since Naomi Scott’s criminally underrated turn in the 2024 horror thriller Smile 2.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Written and directed by Curry Barker, Obsession also stars Michael Johnston as Bear, an affable music store worker who frequently hangs out with his friends and fellow employees, Nikki, Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Bear, however, has long had a huge crush on Nikki, but can’t muster the courage to reveal his true feelings for her.
However, when Nikki tells Bear that she’s going to leave town in a couple of weeks to start a new life, he realizes that it’s now or never to express himself, and he buys her a going-away gift, a novelty item called a “One Wish Willow.”
Getting the feeling that Nikki is going to leave him in “the friend zone,” Bear opens the item and breaks the stick inside of it, wishing that Nikki would love him more than anyone in the world.
Mere minutes later, Nikki’s behavior suddenly shifts and she shows him the sort of affection he was hoping for. Before too long, however, the romantic spell Nikki is under turns into possessive, obsessive and eventually, deadly behavior, which quickly spirals out of control.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 11: (L-R) Michael Johnston, Curry Barker, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter attend the Los Angeles Special Screening of Focus Features’ “Obsession” at the Hollywood Legion Theater on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Obsession first took hold of audiences at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where the response to it was so overwhelming that Focus Features and Blumhouse acquired Barker’s $1 million film — you read that right, the film had a production budget of $1 million — for about $15 million.
It became instantly clear that Focus Features’ investment was going to pay off in Obsession’s opening frame at the domestic box office. Not only did the film make $17.2 million from 2,615 North American theaters from May 15-17 for a third-place finish, but it was also the top-earning film at the domestic box office from May 18-20.
Through Thursday, Obsession has earned nearly $30.3 million in domestic ticket sales and $7.6 million internationally for a week one worldwide box office tally of $37.9 million.
Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston in “Obsession.”
Focus Features
‘Obsession’ Is Getting People Talking After The Credits Roll
The brilliance of Obsession is that the film is textured with complex characters and scenarios, featuring an already daunting atmosphere that is enhanced further by its dialogue, direction and acting that leaves most movies in the horror film genre in the dust.
Perhaps the reason Obsession is so successful out of the gate is that the film is rooted in a relatable scenario (who hasn’t had a crush?) and audiences are seeing that scenario playing out in ways they never could have imagined.
As such, Obsession has started a discourse online of who is the victim and who is the villain in the film. While Bear is at first taken aback by Nikki’s sudden romantic interest in him and staves off her advances, he eventually gives in to his impulses and enters a full-fledged relationship with her. So, even while Nikki becomes unhinged and her actions are increasingly horrific — which obviously can be construed as villainous — there’s no question that ultimately, she is being victimized.
“Whenever I first read the script, I thought that it was written beautifully to understand why Bear made the wish that he made and to also understand that his intention impacted Nikki in a way that he didn’t intend at first,” Inde Navarrette recalled. “He made a wish and had no idea if it was going to work and it came true.”
Michael Johnston and Inde Navarette in “Obsession.”
Focus Features
Making the situation more horrifying is how Navarette worked with Barker to show how the real Nikki in her subconscious is trying to break through the torturous spell, if only for a few seconds at a time.
“Her experience is extremely valid because of the fact that she has no say, right? He made a wish and had no idea that it was going to work, and it came true, but she had no choice anymore. She’s not a person,” Navarrette said. “She has no bodily autonomy. [Imagine how] terrifying it would be to watch your life being lived through your own eyes and you have no control over it. I think the loss of control is extremely horrific.”
So, while Bear’s intentions aren’t evil, Navarrate said, the fact that he can see what the wish has done to Nikki — yet he proceeds with the relationship — makes him a villain.
“I think it’s interesting to play with this idea of who’s a villain and who’s not a villain when you become your actions might not be evil,” Navarrette said. “There’s a moment in the movie where Bear is very clearly aware of the fact that she has no control. She can’t really consent to anything that’s happening and he still chooses to be with her.”
Inde Navarette in “Obsession.”
Focus Features