Curry Barker's Obsession opened in cinemas on May 15, 2026, building on the cult momentum of his debut feature Milk & Serial and delivering what early audiences describe as one of the more psychologically unnerving horror films of the year. The film centers on a man who uses a magical wish to manufacture love - and pays a devastating price for it. For viewers who want to watch from outside a theater, whether due to geography, preference, or cost, knowing where and when Obsession will stream is essential.
What the Film Is Actually About
Obsession follows Bear, a quiet, passive music store employee who is silently devoted to his co-worker Nikki. Rather than risk rejection, Bear turns to a novelty item - a "One Wish Willow" - and wishes for Nikki to fall in love with him. The wish is granted, but the result is not romance. Stripped of her free will, Nikki becomes something dangerous and consuming, an entity that exists entirely to satisfy Bear's desire rather than a person capable of genuine feeling.
Barker has been candid about where he believes the film's real horror lives. In interviews, he drew attention not to the supernatural mechanics of the possession but to Bear's inability to walk away from something he knows is wrong. "Love should be earned," Barker told TIME. "Anything that's not that probably isn't going to work out." The film uses the familiar "be careful what you wish for" framework to examine something more uncomfortable: how possessive fantasy can masquerade as devotion, and what it costs the person on the receiving end.
When and Where to Stream Obsession
Given that Obsession is distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures - both of which sit under the NBCUniversal corporate umbrella - the film is expected to land on Peacock once its theatrical window closes. Based on standard theatrical exclusivity periods, which typically run a minimum of two months, the most likely streaming arrival is sometime in August 2026.
Peacock offers three subscription tiers for viewers who want to be ready:
- Select ($7.99/month or $79.99/year): Ad-supported entry tier covering new seasons of NBC and Bravo shows, with partial access to Peacock Originals.
- Premium ($10.99/month or $109.99/year): Full library access including originals, films, next-day NBC and Bravo episodes, and live sports programming.
- Premium Plus ($16.99/month or $169.99/year): Ad-free viewing with offline downloads and a live local NBC channel feed, though some live events may carry minor ads due to rights restrictions.
For those unwilling to wait, Obsession is currently available for pre-order on premium video-on-demand platforms in the UK, priced at £17.99. No comparable PVOD pre-order has been announced for other regions at this time.
How a VPN Lets You Watch From Anywhere
Streaming rights are sold on a country-by-country basis, which means a film available on Peacock in the United States may be blocked entirely for viewers in other parts of the world - and vice versa with regional PVOD platforms. A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, addresses this by routing your internet connection through a server located in a different country, masking your actual location and making the streaming platform believe you are accessing it from a permitted region.
Beyond unlocking geo-restricted content, VPNs serve a broader set of privacy and security functions. They encrypt your internet traffic, protecting it from interception on public Wi-Fi networks. They also prevent your internet service provider from monitoring or throttling your connection based on what you are streaming, which can meaningfully improve video quality during peak usage periods.
Two services stand out for streaming use cases specifically:
- ExpressVPN: Operates a network of more than 3,000 servers across dozens of countries, with a consistent reputation for fast, stable connections suited to HD and 4K playback.
- VeePN: A more budget-conscious option with over 2,600 global servers, optimized for uninterrupted streaming sessions without the premium price point.
Other well-regarded options include NordVPN, known for its security architecture and reliable speeds; Surfshark, which permits unlimited simultaneous device connections; CyberGhost, which maintains a large and fast server network; and Private Internet Access, which offers a broad feature set with a strong emphasis on user privacy. The right choice depends on whether you prioritize raw performance, price, the number of devices you want to cover, or specific privacy guarantees.
One practical note: streaming platforms actively work to detect and block VPN traffic, so no service offers a permanent, friction-free guarantee. Choosing a provider that updates its server infrastructure regularly reduces the likelihood of running into access errors.
Why the Film's Theme Resonates Beyond the Screen
Barker's decision to ground Obsession in emotional realism rather than elaborate supernatural logic is what separates it from most entries in the "cursed wish" subgenre. The film is less interested in explaining the rules of the One Wish Willow than in examining what Bear chooses to do once those rules have taken effect. That choice - to stay, to rationalize, to accept a relationship built on the erasure of another person - is where Barker locates the genuine horror.
The broader cultural anxiety the film taps into is not difficult to identify. Stories about obsession, control, and the boundaries of consent have occupied mainstream discourse for years, and horror has historically been one of the more honest genres for processing those anxieties. Obsession appears to be working squarely within that tradition, using genre mechanics to make an argument about how desire becomes dangerous when it refuses to acknowledge the humanity of the person desired.
