Spoiler warning for Obsession (2026) by Curry Barker

Curry Barker's Obsession has become a cultural phenomenon this year, grossing almost 330 times its original budget of roughly $750,000. It is currently the highest-grossing original horror movie of the 21st century. Obsession fuelled a larger conversation already growing in the current cultural environment surrounding female bodies or the expansion of the masculinity-infatuated movement 'Manosphere' and its ideological practices. Obsession is the newest, but seemingly most poignant entry in a growing network of thematically similar films over the past five years.

Taking a step back, horror and thriller movies have historically depicted social changes and fears prominent within their culture. Some examples of this include post-World War 2 nuclear fallout and the release of the nuclear-monster movie Godzilla (1954)—a pillar of monster horror despite the franchise’s more ‘action movie’ reputation nowadays. Films such as Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Psycho (1960) thematically address racial violence, the sexual revolution and overall social unrest. These films became reflective time capsules of the Civil Rights Movement and Second Wave Feminism.

In the 21st century, our horror and thriller films have taken on a broader scope of ongoing global socio-political distress. Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) addresses passive racism's impact in modern-day America; Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019) explores South Korea’s class disparity crisis; Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow (2024) addresses gender identity repression, and Heretic (2024) takes a look at the enforcement of belief systems on others. I could keep going, but the point being made is to identify that horror and thrillers historically, whether explicitly or implicitly, present fears and social changes prominent in the cultural environment surrounding the film's release.

This is where Obsession and films like it come into play. Over the past five years, more and more films have emerged at the cultural forefront of horror and thriller, delving into a subcultural genre many across the internet have called ‘Incel Horror.’ Despite the title’s implication, I would argue there are thriller films that also fit this format. Horror and thriller films that fall into this sub-genre would be Don’t Worry Darling (2022), Companion (2024), and Obsession (2026), to name a few.

To argue that these films fall under the category, you would need to present some identifiable common factors. This can be narrowed to three rough conventions: 

The first involves an ‘Incel’ or ‘Incel-adjacent’ character. Traditionally, an ‘Incel’, short for ‘Involuntarily Celibate’, refers to a primarily online subculture of young men who aspire to have a romantic partner but feel they are unable to find one. Much of this subculture's behaviour consists of self-pity and anger, primarily fuelled towards women. In these films, the ‘Incel’ or ‘Incel-adjacent’ character is a meek or socially struggling male character who, more often than not, is introduced in pursuit of romance with a female character. It can be as blatant as Jack in Don’t Worry Darling, who is dishevelled in appearance and seen surfacing through online forums. Or it can be more nuanced, like Bear in Obsession, whose frumpy appearance reflects his lack of put-togetherness, yet unlike the stereotypical ‘Incel’ he’s still somewhat sociable and has a group of friends.

The second would involve the stripped autonomy of the female body. These films often utilise a fantastical narrative device to display this act: the One Wish Willow in Obsession, the Victory Project alternate reality in Don't Worry Darling, or Iris’s status as a personalised android in Companion. In ‘Incel Horror/Thrillers’, the fantastical device places narrative emphasis on the stripped autonomy of the female characters, establishing this theme as unavoidable and key to the plot of Incel Horrors.

The third point involves a societal entitlement towards female bodies. Throughout these films, the connection between the seemingly ‘harmless’ male characters and their control of the female characters' autonomy is revealed as uncoincidental or deliberate. Furthermore, our male protagonist typically lacks remorse or accountability for his actions. At the end of most of these films, the male character who inflicts trauma on the innocent woman faces a form of definitive punishment. More often than not, death.

These conventions within the subgenre no longer reward socially awkward male characters with the female connection they yearned for; it almost tortures them for believing they were entitled to it in the first place. 

However, it is hard to ignore that while these male characters are tormented by their actions, the innocent female characters are also tormented for the male characters' actions as well. This uncomfortably grounds these ‘fantastical’ elements, as in real life, female victims of sexual assault or domestic violence are more often than not impacted for life by the experience. 

This is extremely significant in Obsession, where Nikki Freeman (the girl that Bear has a crush on, whose bodily autonomy is stripped by the wish that Bear made) is the sole survivor of the film's core group; her entrapment from the wish is broken with Bear's death, but it is implied she is left to deal with the consequences of Bear's actions when the film concludes.

So what does this rise in ‘Incel Horror/Thriller’ say about our current sociocultural environment?

Considering the current socio-political state of Western countries, the exploration of the stripped bodily autonomy of women in these films becomes unavoidably connected to a time when women's reproductive rights are being restricted and policed. An obvious example would include Roe v. Wade (the constitutional right to an abortion) being overturned in the United States of America on June 24, 2022, almost 50 years after it was established in 1973. 

13 states in the USA had “trigger laws”, which meant that upon this reversal of the act, bans and limitations on abortion access went into immediate effect. As of the fourth of June 2026, 13 states have a total ban, while 28 have bans in relation to gestational duration.  Not isolated to the USA alone, the overturning of Roe v. Wade emboldened the enforcement of restrictions upon female bodies, which has spread to countries where protective laws have been in place. 

In South Australia, we saw a failed bill to restrict late-term abortion in June of this year, which passed through the upper house 10 to 9 but was voted down 36 to 9 in the lower house. Overall, this suggested a shift in culture towards the discussion of policing women's reproductive rights as a normalised topic of debate, rather than what it has been acknowledged as for decades: an established form of healthcare.

Following that, the rise in ‘Incel’ or ‘Incel-adjacent’ characters can be perceived as a reflection of the growth of the Manosphere and ‘Red-Pill’ rhetoric. This is a movement using a phrase from the 1999 movie The Matrix, which revolves around an idea of ‘awakening’ about the truth in society, rejecting social norms in favour of a male hierarchy and an essentialist perception of women.

Agency that women have fought for across waves of feminism has been framed by many right-wing extremist movements presenting as women being unjustly high in their standards for dating. In reality, harmful movements such as ‘Men's Rights Activists’, ‘Men Going Their Own Way’, ‘Incels’ and many more push young men to adopt ideologies that are not only harmful to women, but to themselves and society as a whole, enforcing an unproductive ‘gender war’ primarily manufactured by the Manosphere.

What is significant is that these movements frame women as responsible for men’s social struggles. In reality, these movements and, more specifically, ‘masculinity influencers’, indoctrinate young men under the false promise of bettering themselves through economic and physical appearance while actually teaching boys to neglect true social connection. Statistics back this up: the Movember Foundation found that young men who consumed this content online had higher levels of worthlessness, were less likely to prioritise their mental health, and prioritised social standing and economic prosperity over friendship connections with other men.

Let’s use Bear from Obsession as an example. His character can be perceived as reflective of how many young men in these online spaces are being conditioned to abandon respectful relationships and to develop the expectation of entitlement to women. I do want to preface: Bear is not necessarily a villain at first. He is not an Incel like many are presenting him as; I think it's a disservice to the layers of his character. I think Bear represents a cautionary tale of insecurity, loneliness, and the fear of discomfort that is being policed into young men. This has the potential to inflict harm on others and themselves.

Bear does not have a fully formed sense of self, which, for a teenager, could be normalised or expected, but Bear is 25. His meekness and lack of self-assurance make him appear juvenile, helpless, and lonely. What is significant is that in Obsession, both Nikki and Sarah (the two female main characters in the film) have fully fleshed personalities and senses of self—significant as the audience only experiences the ‘real Nikki’ for 15 minutes before Bear makes the wish—yet we can get a sense of her passions, aspirations and personality. Bear's insecurity, immaturity and uncertainty in himself are juxtaposed against the assertive and extroverted female characters, placing a mirror on the lack of development of maturity and individual personality seen in many young men, especially those who identify as ‘Incels’ in current society. Bear’s loneliness and insecurity are what make him appear empathetic to an audience at first, but that is what makes the trauma he inflicts upon an innocent party—in this case, Nikki—that much more terrifying. 

Moreover, Bear's ‘harmless’ persona and close connection to Nikki from the film's introduction reflect the common statistic of sexual violence and assault in real life occurring between known and trusted individuals. This is reflected in Don’t Worry Darling and Companion as well, as both Jack and Josh were the intimate partners of both Alice and Iris in their respective film’s universe. This is significant, as rather than what is traditionally represented in horror media—a terrifying stranger inflicting the violence—it is now presented as the wolf in sheep's clothing.

We are living in an age of fantasising about and romanticising traditional lifestyles, single-household voting, and restricting women's right to their own healthcare needs. This emergence of ‘Incel Horror/Thriller’ as a sub-genre really explores the terrifying nature of policed bodily autonomy and the Manosphere of modern-day culture in the most gruesome and terror-evoking packaging.