Curry Barker's Obsession arrives in theaters on May 15, 2026, building on the director's reputation for psychologically grounded horror established with his micro-budget debut Milk & Serial. The film centers on Bear, a music store employee who uses a magical toy called a "One Wish Willow" to make his coworker Nikki fall in love with him - with consequences that are as emotionally brutal as they are visually disturbing. For viewers who want to watch the film outside a theater, or outside their home country, here is a complete breakdown of streaming options and how a VPN can help.
What Obsession Is Really About
Strip away the supernatural elements and Obsession is a film about coercion dressed up as romance. Bear does not earn Nikki's love - he commandeers it. The wish works in the most literal and most damaging sense: Nikki's feelings become real, but her autonomy does not survive the transaction. She is left as a hollow, dangerous extension of Bear's desires, going to violent extremes simply to remain close to him.
Barker has been direct about where the film's emotional weight sits. Speaking to TIME, he framed the central message plainly: "Love should be earned. Anything that's not that probably isn't going to work out." To DiscussingFilm, he emphasized wanting the film to "feel grounded," steering attention away from the mechanics of the magic and toward the recognizable human tragedy underneath - a man who, given the chance to have what he wanted, chose possession over connection.
That framing gives Obsession an edge that distinguishes it from conventional supernatural horror. The monster in this film is not Nikki's transformed state. It is Bear's refusal to undo what he has done, even after the consequences become clear. Barker described that as "really tragic," and the film appears to lean into that discomfort without offering easy catharsis.
When and Where You Can Stream Obsession
Because Obsession is a Focus Features and Universal Pictures release, its eventual streaming home is almost certainly Peacock - a logical destination given that both studios sit under the NBCUniversal corporate umbrella. Standard theatrical exclusivity windows typically run between 45 and 75 days before a title moves to its streaming platform, which places a probable Peacock debut sometime in late July or August 2026.
Peacock currently offers three subscription tiers in the United States:
- Select ($7.99/month or $79.99/year): Ad-supported entry plan covering new NBC and Bravo seasons and partial access to Peacock Originals.
- Premium ($10.99/month or $109.99/year): The standard ad-supported tier unlocking the full library, next-day network episodes, and live sports programming.
- Premium Plus ($16.99/month or $169.99/year): Ad-free viewing with offline downloads and a live 24/7 local NBC feed, though some live events may carry minor ads due to rights restrictions.
For viewers who do not want to wait, Obsession is already available to pre-order on PVOD platforms in the United Kingdom, priced at £17.99. No confirmed release date for the digital rental window has been announced at time of writing.
How to Use a VPN to Watch Obsession From Anywhere
Streaming rights are licensed on a territory-by-territory basis, which means a Peacock subscription in the United States does not automatically translate into access from abroad. When a user connects to a streaming service from a different country, the platform reads their IP address, identifies the location, and restricts content accordingly. A VPN - a Virtual Private Network - solves this by routing a user's connection through a server in a chosen country, replacing their visible IP address with one from that location.
The underlying mechanism is encryption and tunneling. A VPN client on the user's device wraps outbound traffic in an encrypted tunnel directed at the VPN provider's server, which then forwards requests to the destination - in this case, Peacock - appearing to originate from the server's jurisdiction. The streaming platform sees an American IP address and grants access. The user's actual location remains hidden from both the platform and the internet service provider.
Beyond bypassing regional restrictions, this encryption layer has practical privacy value. ISPs are legally permitted in several jurisdictions to monitor, log, and in some cases throttle traffic to specific streaming services. A VPN prevents that inspection entirely, which can meaningfully reduce buffering on congested networks.
Two VPNs worth considering for streaming use are:
- ExpressVPN: Operates over 3,000 servers across dozens of countries. Known for consistent performance at HD and 4K bitrates, making it well-suited for uninterrupted viewing.
- VeePN: Covers 2,600-plus servers globally and is positioned as a more affordable alternative without sacrificing meaningful streaming reliability.
Other credible options include NordVPN, Surfshark, CyberGhost, and Private Internet Access - each with distinct strengths around speed, device limits, and privacy architecture. The right choice depends on whether premium performance, cost, or device flexibility is the priority.
One practical consideration: not all VPNs maintain consistent access to major streaming platforms. Services like Peacock actively identify and block known VPN IP ranges, so a provider's ability to work around those blocks matters as much as raw speed. Paid VPNs generally rotate server IPs more frequently and invest in maintaining platform compatibility in ways that free services cannot.
