Blumhouse‘s new horror movie has been granted its biggest wish yet on Rotten Tomatoes.

Since its inception in 2000, Blumhouse has become one of the most popular independent studios, especially for its emphasis on the horror genre. Some projects have spawned major franchises, including The Black Phone, Insidious, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and The Purge. Despite plenty of success, the studio faced a setback last year with back-to-back box-office disappointments, but it has since rebounded with its last few releases.

Now, Blumhouse is ready to extend that streak with its new horror Obsession, which is already becoming a major critical hit. Following the premiere at TIFF in 2025, most critics praised the new supernatural horror, which earned an incredibly high 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the most important voice is the audience, whose verdicts are trickling on the site.

After over 500+ verified ratings, Obsession now has a very solid 94% audience score, making it one of the highest-rated movies with moviegoers for the studio. It ranks behind Apple TV’s The Lost Bus (95%) but ties with Alive and Kicking and Oscar-winning movie Whiplash (94%), starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.

Based on the Obsession reviews, much of the high praise is directed towards the movie’s originality and strong performance from the lead duo, Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, with the latter noted as the standout for its creepy, yet subtly vulnerable character. Obsession also strikes the right balance of suspense and levity, while its plot about wish fulfillment sets a disturbing yet sharp direction.

The strong audience interest is already impacting the box office, earning $2.6 million on its preview day, and projections now show that the horror could make as high as $13–15 million on its opening weekend. With a budget of around $750,000–$1 million, the film will easily become one of Blumhouse’s biggest hits.

It will easily extend the studio’s rebound following last year’s financial disappointments with M3GAN 2.0, Drop, and Wolf Man. However, since Black Phone 2, Blumhouse has bounced back commercially, which was extended with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.

Now, Obsession could join that growing list, especially considering studio founder Jason Blum emphasized hopes to produce original content, a plan that’s seemingly paying off big time. The studio’s next release will be Strung on June 26, 2026, followed by Insidious: Out of the Further in August.

Blumhouse’s new horror movie also continues a general trend connected to the YouTube community. Director Curry Barker started as part of the sketch comedy duo, “that’s a bad idea,” who made horror films and comedy skits on YouTube. After a strong showing with his directorial feature debut, Milk and Serial, he went on to helm and write a higher-budget horror movie, Obsession.

He now joins a growing list of YouTubers who are expanding their work on major movies, following Markiplier’s Iron Lung, Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks, and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, who directed Talk to Me. Barker has his next project lined up, a horror called Anything but Ghosts, starring Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Obsession follows a music store worker, Bear (Johnston), who attempts to express his love for his childhood friend Nikki (Navarette). After using a “One Wish Willow,” she suddenly falls in love with him, but the wish’s consequences become an obsessive nightmare. The remaining cast includes Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter.

Obsession is now playing in theaters.

Release Date

May 15, 2026

Runtime

108 minutes

Director

Curry Barker

Writers

Curry Barker

Producers

Christian Mercuri, James Harris, Roman Viaris, Haley Nicole Johnson