It’s been a wild five weeks for Curry Barker, whose “Obsession,” spurred by incredible word of mouth — it’s actually in the IMDb Top 250 with an 8.1 rating — will hit the $300M worldwide mark this week.
There’s even been speculation about a potential Oscar campaign for the film, and looking at the first six months of 2026, it does make some sense, with only “Project Hail Mary” emerging as a serious Best Picture contender. Why not give it a shot? After all, the narrative would be irresistible: a film made for under $750,000 becoming a full-blown cultural phenomenon.
Barker is now confirming to THR that Focus has told him they will be campaigning hard for “Obsession.”
It won’t win Best Picture, but a nomination alone would be seen as a huge victory. Horror has historically faced challenges with the Academy, but films like “Get Out,” “The Substance,” and “The Silence of the Lambs” show that genre barriers can be overcome when a film breaks through culturally.
The most realistic Oscar path for “Obsession” would likely be in categories such as Original Screenplay, acting (Indy Navarrette), editing, sound, or even — if the stars align — Best Picture. Whether it would be competitive depends on factors beyond the film’s quality: resources, campaign budget, and how crowded the awards season becomes. Oscar campaigns are expensive and highly strategic.
Just the fact that we’re talking about the possibility of Oscar nominations is wild. After seeing the film at TIFF last year, and even with the positive buzz that came out of that screening, I never would have imagined that this midnight movie would be in this position almost a year later.
In that same THR interview, Barker mentions his already-shot sophomore effort, “Anything But Ghosts,” starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul, as well as his A24 “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” reboot. Oh, and he already has an outline for “Obsession 2,” which might arrive a few years from now, because of course.