Inde Navarrette is going for Best Actress, and Focus is pushing Obsession into almost every category

Right, bit of surprises out of awards season this year. Inde Navarrette, who some viewers might have seen coming but plenty didn’t, has officially entered the Oscar conversation with her performance in Obsession—and now she’s got Focus Features throwing real weight behind her campaign for Best Actress.

According to Variety (who love a stats chart this time of year), Focus isn’t just backing Navarrette—they’re gunning to put Obsession in for nearly every eligible category. It’s a hands-all-in situation, and frankly, why wouldn’t they try? The film’s done numbers nobody expected.

Awards push: focus on the cast

For those keeping score, director Curry Barker is getting triple treatment: Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Film Editing. Navarrette’s nomination is the centrepiece, but Focus Features aren’t stopping there. They’re angling for Michael Johnston in Best Actor, and then you’ve got Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter all up for supporting roles. Basically, if you so much as delivered coffee on set, they’re looking for a slot for you. Smart, honestly—it’s all about building momentum during the campaign months.

Obsession cost just $750,000 to make and has brought in over $505 million at the worldwide box office.

The box office bit is where things get… ridiculous, in the best possible sense. Obsession was cobbled together on a shoestring budget (all of $750,000), which in modern horror-romance money is pretty much the catering bill. Despite that, it’s pulled in a teeth-rattling $505.6 million worldwide. Yes, that’s an actual number, not a typo, and that kind of hit gives their awards push a fair bit of ammunition with voters.

What’s not quite nailed down yet is where the film’s headed at the Golden Globes—Variety notes Focus still hasn’t committed to submitting it as a drama, musical, or comedy. You’d think that’d be straightforward (it’s R-rated, it’s horror-romance, sorted), but apparently not. Expect more ‘category confusion’ headlines as that bit drags on.

Quick background: plot, release, and company

If the actual film slipped past you earlier this year, Obsession is an R-rated, genre-blending flick that first popped up at the Toronto Film Festival in 2025. Its US run started 15 May 2026 under Focus Features, with Universal Pictures handling the rest of the globe. Winning combo behind it: Blumhouse Productions (the jump-scare merchants), Capstone Studios, and Tea Shop Productions.

As for what you’re actually watching: the official description is as follows —

‘After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.’

And there you are: unknowns, low budget, and now a major Oscar campaign riding on unexpected box office gold. Can’t say that happens every year.