Curry Barker’s box office hit Obsession has divided the Dazed team. The supernatural psychological horror, which follows Bear (Michael Johnston) as he makes a wish on a toy for his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), to fall in love with him, takes the saying “be careful what you wish for” to the nth degree. For some, it is seen as a welcome addition to the “incel horror” genre – highlighting the way men can feel entitled over women who explicitly express their disinterest in them. For others, it felt like a parody of the genre, with one of our editors remarking that it felt like watching an “SNL sketch filled with TikTok discourse”. But despite our disagreements, we all agree that it’s entertaining as hell. 

If Obsession has stuck with you as it has with us, here is a list of seven films – ranging from horrors, revenge thrillers and romance dramas – to watch next. 

RUBY SPARKS, 2012

When I first watched the trailer for Obsession, I thought, ‘This reminds me so much of Ruby Sparks’, and many of my friends who have watched Obsession agree. The 2012 romantic comedy, written by Zoe Kazan and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, stars Paul Dano as an anxious novelist who found success early but now struggles to write his next book and form relationships. His therapist suggests that he write about someone who likes his dog for fun, and he starts writing about a woman named Ruby Sparks (Kazan). One day, she comes to life and chaos, magic, and romance ensue. It’s like Obsession but twee. Dano is stunning, and Kazan is perfect in this film! (HJ) 

FATAL ATTRACTION, 1987

When I heard the premise of Obsession, I thought it sounded like a supernatural version of Fatal Attraction, the 1987 erotic thriller in which Glenn Close becomes murderously fixated on Michael Douglas after a one-night stand. But while their plots share some basic similarities, the two films are quite different. The most obvious reading of Obsession is that Bear – a cowardly, ‘nice guy’ incel who effectively rapes Nikki – is the real villain. Fatal Attraction, on the other hand, is perhaps one of the most misogynistic films ever made – a case made by feminist scholar Susan Faradi, among others, in her 1991 book Backlash, which used it as an example of the particularly heightened fear and scorn directed at unmarried women in the late 1980s. 

Dressed at times in BDSM-esque leather and living in a cold, sterile urban loft, Close’s character is a depiction of the single career woman as a monster, menacing the nuclear family until she meets a violent end (at the hands of Douglas’s wholesome, stay-at-home wife, no less), and the natural order is restored. Quite an evil and reactionary film, then, but also a very entertaining, campy thriller – and even if her character is written as a demonic harpy, Close is so good that she affords her moments of real pathos. Fatal Attraction may not be trying to say that Michael Douglas is the real villain, but the beauty of cinema is that you can read it that way if you want! (JG)

COMPANION, 2025

As the old saying goes, Companion walked so Obsession could run. The 2025 sci-fi thriller shares a similar premise with previously mentioned movies on this list, but adds a more timely twist. During a friend’s getaway weekend, it is revealed that Josh’s (played by Jack Quaid) girlfriend, Iris (played by Sophie Thatcher), is a companion robot he controls. Iris finds herself fighting for her life when she learns the secret of her existence, as Josh attempts to shut her down. It’s an interesting meditation on love, control and AI. (HJ)

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, 1992

Like Fatal Attraction, Single White Female is another non-supernatural tale of Obsession, and a classic of one of my favourite micro-genres: the 90s thriller where the villain starts acting kind of weird, but not so weird you can tell them to fuck off without it being awkward, then gets increasingly weirder until it’s too late and they’re trying to kill you. In this case, it’s a story about the roommate from hell: someone who copies your every move (down to getting an identical haircut) and who tries to sabotage your relationship. Hence, they have you all to themselves, and someone does something very unfortunate to your cat :( I wouldn’t say it’s a great film, but it’s silly, campy fun, and something is appealing about the aesthetic of these mid-budget thrillers from the early 90s; they’re polished, but have a kind of grainy, hazy quality a world away from the Netflix sheen of today. (JG)

GONE GIRL, 2014

If you’re in the market for another film which satirises the state of modern romantic relationships, you should make Gone Girl your next watch. If you’re somehow unfamiliar, the 2014 film, based on the 2012 novel by Gillian Flynn, centres around the disappearance of Amy, the wife of Nick Dunne. It’s made clear from the outset that the couple’s marriage has been in turmoil: Nick is emotionally withdrawn and having an affair, Amy is resentful that she’s been unwillingly dragged into a pedestrian life in the suburbs. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that their relationship was plagued by more than just straightforward boredom and ennui – Amy’s diary entries suggest that she feared Nick would kill her one day. Then comes a stunning plot twist – arguably one of the best of all time – which upends the narrative entirely. If you enjoyed the dark, disturbing elements of Obsession, definitely check out Gone Girl. (SS) 

TALK TO ME, 2022

Talk to Me doesn’t have much in common with Obsession in terms of its themes or storyline: it’s about a group of teenagers in suburban Australia who find a haunted hand which allows them to be briefly possessed by the undead, which, instead of taking seriously, they use as a hallucinogenic party drug and a source of TikTok content – until things go horribly wrong, obviously. But the two share a similar blend of supernatural horror and comedy; they’re both directed by filmmakers who made their start directing YouTube sketches, and there is one scene in Obsession (the bit where Nikki stabs herself in the face with a broken bottle) that is almost certainly influenced by a similar, more brutal moment in Talk to Me. If you liked Obsession, and want something similar in tone and style, Talk To Me would be a great shout, but be warned: it’s an even tougher watch. (JG)

POSSESSION, 1981

The common denominator of most of these films (apart from Talk To Me and Single White Female) is that they are dealing with the topic of heterosexuality. No film examines the dynamics between men and women better than the 1981 psychological horror drama Possession by Andrzej Żuławski. It follows the dissolution of Anna’s (Isabelle Adjani) and Mark’s (Sam Neill) marriage, and after asking for a divorce from her husband, Anna starts displaying increasingly unsettling behaviour. (HJ)