Curry Barker has another version of Obsession he’d like horror fans to see, and it runs about 20 minutes longer than the movie that played in theaters.
The filmmaker recently confirmed that an extended cut exists and that he hopes to release it, but there’s one distinction he wants audiences to understand: the 109-minute theatrical version is already his director’s cut.
Curry Barker discussed the footage in an interview with Rolling Stone. When asked about the longer version, he explained that the released film represents the cut he intended audiences to see.
“The [existing] movie is the director’s cut,” Barker said. “I would say extended cut [for this one] for sure.”
So, while another 20 minutes of Obsession could eventually be on the way, Barker isn’t describing it as a replacement for the theatrical release. He considers that version complete. The additional footage would give viewers a longer look at the story, rather than introduce a new version that he believes corrects the original.
That’s a pretty interesting distinction for a film that became one of the biggest horror hits of 2026. Barker wrote, directed and edited Obsession on a reported budget of around $750,000. The psychological horror film went on to gross more than $519 million worldwide, turning a micro-budget production into a massive theatrical success for Focus Features.
The story follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a music store employee who has trouble expressing his feelings for his co-worker and longtime crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette). After getting his hands on a mysterious object called the One Wish Willow, Bear makes a wish that Nikki will love him more than anyone else in the world. The wish works, but the result is far from the romantic fantasy he imagined. Nikki’s feelings become frighteningly intense, and Bear is left dealing with the consequences of trying to control someone else’s emotions.
Barker has previously discussed how much material was removed during the editing process. An earlier version ran longer, with expanded conversations and additional moments of horror that didn’t make the theatrical release. He has also talked about the challenge of trimming particularly violent material to secure an R rating rather than an NC-17. The infamous brick scene, for example, originally included several more blows before the sequence was shortened.
There is also an alternate ending in the film’s history. Barker revealed that he had initially considered a much darker conclusion for Nikki, before deciding that the version audiences saw was more disturbing. Whether that ending, the additional scenes or other unused footage will appear in the proposed extended edition has not been confirmed. Barker has not provided a scene-by-scene breakdown of the longer cut, so for now, the extra 20 minutes remain a tantalizing mystery.
The timing could be interesting for anyone who hasn’t caught up with Obsession yet. The film is scheduled to arrive on Netflix in the United States on November 17, 2026. It has already been available on Peacock, so this is another streaming window rather than its first streaming debut. The movie also arrived on home video in July, giving fans another way to revisit Bear and Nikki’s increasingly disturbing relationship.
Barker has expressed interest in releasing the extended version, but there is no confirmed release date or announcement from Focus Features. For now, the theatrical cut remains the version he considers finished. If the longer edition does happen, it will offer audiences another 20 minutes with one of the year’s most successful horror films, and perhaps a few more reasons to regret ever making a wish on the One Wish Willow.
