Obsession breakout star Inde Navarrette will officially campaign in the Best Actress category at the coming Academy Awards, as part of a bigger push from Focus Features to have Curry Barker's indie horror hit recognized this awards season.
Per Variety, who reported the news earlier today, Focus Features will seek recognition across nearly every category the film is eligible to enter, with Barker also entered into the race for Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Film Editing.
On the off chance you've been living on Mars and haven't been bitten by the Obsession bug, Barker's supernatural horror, which stars Michael Johnston as a lovelorn loser who makes a wish for his best friend Nikki (Navarrette) to fall for him too, grossed a gargantuan $505 million at the global box office off a sub-$1 million budget, and officially standing as one of the highest-grossing horror movies ever made.
Barker, best known previously for his viral YouTube film Milk & Serial, is now one of the hottest horror directors in Hollywood, with an upcoming Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake on his slate as well as Anything but Ghosts, starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul.
Traditionally a genre often dismissed by the Academy, the last few years have seen an increase in recognition for our favorite genre, with Coralie Fargeat's satirical body horror The Substance take home one of its five nominations in 2024. Last year, Ryan Coogler's Sinners nabbed Michael B. Jordan his first Best Actor Oscar, while Zach Cregger's Weapons saw Amy Madigan take home the gold for Best Supporting Actress.
But, as is so often the case, we at FANGORIA were the first to give the Obsession crew their first award nods across four categories, with Navarrette up for Best Lead Performance. Just sayin'. See below the full list of awards that Focus Features is pushing for Obsession, and stay tuned for updates.
- Best Picture
- Best Director — Curry Barker
- Best Actress — Inde Navarrette
- Best Actor — Michael Johnston
- Best Supporting Actor — Cooper Tomlinson
- Best Supporting Actress — Megan Lawless
- Best Supporting Actor — Andy Richter
- Original Screenplay — Curry Barker
- Film Editing — Curry Barker
- Cinematography — Taylor Clemons
- Original Score — Rock Burwell
- Casting — Skyler Zurn
- Sound — YJ Gold (production sound mixer) and Ben Zarai (supervising sound editor, rerecording mixer)
- Makeup and Hairstyling — Allie Shehorn (makeup and hair department head)
- Production Design — Vivian Gray
