Warning: spoilers for Obsession are ahead! When 2026 is said and done, it’s clear that one of the year’s biggest success stories will be writer-director Curry Barker’s Obsession. The horror film — which famously cost just $750,000 to produce — has gone on to earn more than $500 million at the worldwide box office. Barker’s career as well as those of his stars, especially leads Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, have skyrocketed. Johnston and Navarrette have signed on to star in The Mummy 4 and Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot, respectively. And Barker has several projects in the works, including Anything But Ghosts and a new version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But Barker has also teased that he has considered expanding the world of Obsession. Given the film’s success, some sort of sequel is bound to happen eventually, though what form that will take remains a mystery. After all, Obsession certainly doesn’t naturally lend itself to a direct sequel.
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By the end of Obsession, Bear (Johnston) is dead, and Nikki (Navarrette) is left to take the fall for all the crimes she committed while under the One Wish Willow’s spell. Barker has revealed that Anything But Ghosts will briefly reference these events via a news report, most likely confirming that Nikki is either on trial or in prison for, at the very least, the murders of Sarah (Megan Lawless) and Ian (Cooper Tomlinson). As for a proper sequel, Barker has suggested perhaps taking an anthology approach to Obsession, perhaps following other people’s wishes gone wrong as they come across the One Wish Willow. The Smile franchise is one such example in which a supernatural threat manages to persist from one film to the next without either a physical horror icon or a consistent protagonist. And while Obsession could very well take that route, the more ambitious — and, in all honesty, more profitable — version would be to bring Johnston and Navarrette back for more wish fulfillment gone awry.
Obsession 2 Needs to Reunite Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston
So much of the success of Obsession has been rooted in the performances of its two leads. Of course, Barker’s writing and directing give them a ton to work with, but Johnston and Navarrette absolutely elevate the material with committed, even nuanced performances that have kept Obsession top of mind for horror fans all year long. And their chemistry both on screen and off means a sequel without them would be missing the most critical element that transformed the first film into a phenomenon. Since the film’s release, Navarrette’s turn as Nikki has even garnered significant awards buzz, and Focus Features has announced it will campaign for her in the Best Actress category. The level of pop cultural impact the character has made instantly puts her in the pantheon of modern horror icons. So the notion that she won’t be featured in the follow-up seems to betray the foundation upon which the franchise was built. With no returning cast members, Obsession 2 could end up falling into the same category as Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Sure, that film has its defenders, but at the time, it nearly killed the franchise. Besides, the seemingly definitive ending of Obsession gives Barker the chance to upend fan expectations for the sequel.
How Nikki and Bear Could Still Return Despite the First Film’s Ending
Nikki and Bear’s story seems over and done. Nikki faces the consequences for her sinister alter-ego, and Bear is very much dead. But since when have horror movies ever let something as trivial as death keep beloved characters from returning? In a world where a One Wish Willow can instantly manifest a billion dollars in cash, it’s silly to think it’s impossible to bring someone back to life. In the aftermath of the first film, it’s easy to imagine a scenario in which someone else who loves Bear finds out about the One Wish Willow. After all, one was likely found at the crime scene — the one Nikki uses to make Bear reciprocate her feelings just before he dies — and that opens up any number of possibilities for where Obsession 2 can go. Will Bear be wished back to life, thereby triggering both his and Nikki’s wishes to become active? If so, that would put them aligned as dual threats who would kill to be together. The official promotional website for the One Wish Willow claims wishes cannot be reversed and that resurrection is off limits. But this technically isn’t canon to the film, meaning Barker could absolutely ignore this rule, as it’s not explicitly stated in Obsession. Despite the apparent finality of its ending, the world is ripe for further exploration, and Bear and Nikki’s story deserves to continue in the sequel.
Obsession is now streaming on Peacock.
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