Published Jul 3, 2026, 12:51 AM EDT
In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 3000 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix’s Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom. You can also hear Jake every week as the resident film and TV journalist on Track Radio.
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We are halfway through 2026, and many of the biggest titles — including Christopher Nolan’s most ambitious film yet, The Odyssey, and ***Dune: Part Three ***— are yet to arrive. However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t found the defining film of 2026 yet, with one release perfectly capturing the insatiable hunger from audiences for new stories, the current peak of a beloved theatrical genre, and the breakout moment for a sure-fire Hollywood superstar.
Of course, we’re talking about Focus Features’ Obsession, directed by YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Curry Barker, and starring the Oscars-bound Inde Navarrette. Not only has the film been heralded as one of the best of its kind this decade, but it has also broken numerous records in its unstoppable box office run, including becoming the highest-grossing movie with a sub-$1 million budget of all time. But all good things deserve a partner, and some of the very best films are enjoyed alongside a second feature. So, with that in mind, here are seven perfect double features to watch with Obsession.
There is literally no better double-feature option for Obsession than the other horror film that has gone viral at the very same time. Directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, who himself broke a record by becoming the youngest person ever to open at #1 at the North American box office, Backrooms follows the discovery of a labyrinthine other-world inside a furniture store, and the many evil secrets it hides.
Led by Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor, this creepy horror is based on a viral internet story, as the online world continues to seep into our theaters with wonderful success. Both a terrifically chilling example of jaw-dropping set design and a neat exploration of accountability and self-reflection, Backrooms is the perfect double feature option for Obsession, and not just because they are both in theaters at the same time.
Key to the success of Obsession is its detailed examination of the world’s current relationship with relationships, specifically how consent is understood. For another horror film that captures the sexual zeitgeist and battles with consent in its own intelligent way, look no further than David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows.
Boasting a central performance that cemented Maika Monroe as a modern-day scream queen, *It Follows *is, at its heart, a truly terrifying film, featuring one of the most frightening jump scares of the 21st century. But its less-than-subtle metaphor for sexually transmitted disease is what helped it stand out among the horror crowd in 2014, and it is superbly relevant 12 years later.
Relationships are the hot topic of horror films this decade, and that is indicative of a world currently fearing codependency and constantly exposed to terrifying examples of romance-gone-wrong. One of the gems of this niche sub-genre of horror arrived last year in the form of Drew Hancock’s Companion, the tale of a sentient android (Sophie Thatcher) who becomes wrapped up in her owner’s (Jack Quaid) murderous plot to secure a fortune.
A domestic horror of the highest order, this clever, biting film boasts a pair of terrific lead performances and a twisting plot that isn’t satisfied with just dropping jaws. “It’s a genuinely funny comedy, a suspenseful thriller, and has some pretty gnarly gore scenes to boot,” wrote Emma Kiely in Collider’s review, with this just one of gushing critical responses to a true 2025 gem.
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
The spiritual predecessor to Obsession, Possession, the 1981 horror favorite by Andrzej Żuławski, explores the downfall of a marriage, as a woman spirals out of control following her husband’s request for divorce. However, when infidelity is uncovered, a hunt for the truth soon exposes something much more sinister, ripped straight from the most gruesome of sci-fi horror stories.
One of the most viscerally captivating horror experiences of all time, Possession might not have literally inspired Obsession, but its tone is felt throughout. Director Żuławski had been through a bitter, upsetting divorce of his own, and used the film as a cathartic expression of his pain, with the raw, unfiltered mind of the man exploding into horror gold.
Who knew ballet could be so scary? Well, clearly, Darren Aronofsky did when he crafted one of the most intense movies of the century so far in Black Swan. Led by Natalie Portman, the film follows a ballerina’s pursuit of perfection in her craft, as her position as the prima ballerina in Swan Lake is threatened by the arrival ofa newcomer, Lily (Mila Kunis).
The desperate hunt for perfection can quickly turn into an obsession, with Nina becoming detached from reality and engaging in self-abusive behavior as a result. This should sound like a familiar concept to Obsession fans, with Nikki and Nina oddly similar. *Black Swan *was nominated for an impressive five Academy Awards in early 2011, with Portman swanning away with the prize for Best Actress in one of the most well-earned wins of the decade.
Just the above image alone is reminiscent of Navarrette’s already iconic grin, pained by the reality that hides behind it. The smile is that of Pearl (Mia Goth), who beams from ear to ear as her husband returns home to a gory crime scene, much like Bear’s arrival from work to see that Nikki has quite literally waited in situ for him in Obsession.
The second installment in Ti West’s X film series, Pearl is one of the shining lights of 2020s horror. Goth’s performance as the titular serial killer is perfectly unhinged, but, like Navarrette, she doesn’t simply rely on the chaos of her actions to be watchable. Instead, Goth imbues the character with deeply tragic emotion, with her and Navarratte delivering two of the defining female horror performances this decade so far.
When it comes to the cinematic depiction of obsession, have any ever been better than Annie Wilkes in Misery, the adaptation of Stephen King’s 1987 novel? Kathy Bates’ performance is pitch-perfect, walking the tightrope between disturbing and darkly humorous. For her trouble, she became the first woman ever to win the Best Actress Oscar for a performance in a horror movie, something that Navarrette herself might just replicate next year.
Bates’ Annie is seemingly harmless and almost mouse-like when we first meet her. However, behind the quiet smile is the terrifying mind of an obsessed fan, who transforms from the rescuer of James Caan’s Paul Sheldon into his, well, biggest fan. A masterful adaptation that has since defined the horror genre, Misery is a must-watch and a perfect double feature with Obsession.
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William Goldman, Stephen King
Andrew Scheinman