Curry Barker's follow-up to his micro-budget breakout Milk & Serial reached theaters on May 15, 2026, bringing with it a premise that weaponizes romantic obsession rather than supernatural evil. Obsession centers on a man who uses a magical novelty toy to manufacture love - and discovers, at considerable cost, that manufactured love has a will of its own. For audiences eager to watch but unwilling to wait in theater lines, the road to streaming involves a few months of patience and, for those outside the United States, possibly a VPN.
What Obsession Is Actually About - and Why It Unsettles
Bear, the film's soft-spoken protagonist, works at a music store and carries a quiet, persistent longing for his co-worker Nikki. Rather than risk rejection, he reaches for a shortcut: a novelty item called a "One Wish Willow" that promises to make Nikki fall in love with him. The wish works. Nikki is now devoted to Bear in every measurable sense - except that her devotion is hollow, compelled, and increasingly dangerous. She loses her autonomy entirely, becoming what the film frames as a violent, unnatural extension of his desire.
Writer and director Curry Barker has been explicit about where the film's real weight lies. Speaking to TIME, Barker observed that any wish is "probably going to be selfish" and that the film's underlying conviction is straightforward: "Love should be earned. Anything that's not that probably isn't going to work out." In a separate conversation with DiscussingFilm, Barker described wanting the film to "feel grounded," to lean into the realism of a story about a man and a woman rather than the mechanics of the magic itself. The horror, by his account, is not possession - it is Bear's refusal to walk away from something he knows is wrong. That psychological dimension is what separates Obsession from straightforward supernatural fare.
Where and When You Can Stream Obsession
The film does not yet have an official streaming home, but its corporate lineage makes the destination reasonably predictable. Focus Features and Universal Pictures both fall under NBCUniversal, which also owns Peacock. That relationship has consistently funneled Focus and Universal theatrical releases to Peacock once their cinematic runs conclude. Given that theatrical exclusivity windows typically run at least two months, Obsession is unlikely to appear on Peacock before August 2026 at the earliest.
Peacock offers three subscription tiers:
- Select ($7.99/month or $79.99/year): Ad-supported entry plan covering new NBC and Bravo seasons, with limited access to Peacock Originals.
- Premium ($10.99/month or $109.99/year): Full Peacock library including originals, movies, next-day NBC and Bravo episodes, and live sports programming.
- Premium Plus ($16.99/month or $169.99/year): Ad-free viewing, offline downloads, and a live local NBC stream, though some live events may carry minor ads due to rights restrictions.
For those who prefer not to wait, PVOD pre-orders are already live - currently limited to the UK at £17.99. No US digital pre-order date has been confirmed at the time of writing.
How a VPN Lets You Watch From Anywhere
Streaming rights are sold on a territory-by-territory basis, which means a title available on Peacock in the US may be unavailable - or available under entirely different terms - in another country. A VPN addresses this by routing your internet connection through a server in a different location, making your traffic appear to originate from that region. The result is access to geo-restricted content libraries without physically relocating.
Beyond unlocking regional libraries, a VPN encrypts the data passing between your device and its destination server. This matters on unsecured public networks, where unencrypted traffic is vulnerable to interception. Some VPNs also help circumvent ISP throttling - the practice of some internet providers deliberately slowing down streaming traffic - which can meaningfully reduce buffering during high-bandwidth playback.
Two services stand out for streaming use cases:
- ExpressVPN: Operates across more than 3,000 servers worldwide, with a reputation for fast, stable connections suited to HD and 4K streaming.
- VeePN: A more affordable option with coverage across 2,600-plus servers, optimized for consistent streaming performance without the premium price tag.
Other well-regarded options include NordVPN, known for strong security and reliable speeds; Surfshark, which allows unlimited simultaneous device connections; CyberGhost, which emphasizes performance alongside a broad server network; and Private Internet Access, which prioritizes a comprehensive privacy feature set. The right choice depends on whether speed, price, or security depth matters most to you - and it is worth comparing them directly before committing.
One practical note: streaming platforms actively work to detect and block VPN traffic, so no single service guarantees access at all times. Paid VPNs generally maintain their server infrastructure more rigorously than free alternatives, which often impose data caps, offer fewer server locations, and in some documented cases have monetized user data - the opposite of the privacy protection a VPN is supposed to provide.
