Horror just took another scalp at the multiplex. Obsession, the micro-budget supernatural shocker from first-time director Curry Barker, has officially passed the latest Star Wars installment at the U.S. box office, crossing more than $165 million domestically — and it is still climbing.
The number alone is striking. The film was shot in Los Angeles for a reported $750,000. Focus Features snapped it up out of the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness block in a deal north of $15 million, the richest genre acquisition in the festival's history, with Jason Blum's Blumhouse boarding the project.
What makes the run unusual is the shape of it. Obsession hasn't followed the typical blockbuster pattern of a huge opening and a fast collapse. It has kept growing, posting strong weekday numbers nearly a month into release — the kind of legs that point to word of mouth, not marketing spend.
The hook is simple and nasty. Bear, played by Michael Johnston, buys a cursed object and wishes for his friend Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette, to fall for him. The wish lands. The consequences do not stay contained. Critics have responded: the film holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and currently ranks as the best-reviewed wide release of 2026 in any genre.
It also lands inside a clear pattern. From Companion and Fresh to Blink Twice, The Substance, I Saw the TV Glow and A24's Backrooms, low-budget horror keeps outrunning bloated franchise filmmaking on a fraction of the money.
Speaking to Metro about why these films are connecting with younger audiences, relationship coach Lorin Krenn put it bluntly: “Gen Z is the most psychologically literate generation we have ever seen. And somehow, among the loneliest.”
The takeaway for the industry is hard to miss. A $750,000 horror movie just beat Star Wars, and the audience is still showing up.
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