‘Obsession’ Took Its Awards Campaign Back to the Restaurant Booth Where It All Happened
Most awards campaigns follow a familiar script of screenings, panels, and polite Q&As in hotel ballrooms. Focus Features decided its horror breakout deserved something stranger, building its October push around the actual locations where the film was shot. The ‘Obsession’ Happy Hour event turned one of those spots into the centerpiece.
The specialty label has packed its calendar accordingly. The NBCUniversal-owned distributor scheduled multiple Los Angeles-area screenings followed by Q&As with cast, filmmaker and crafts team, moderated by names including Karyn Kusama and Jason Reitman.
Then came the location play. On October 19, Focus hosted the gathering at Little Toni’s Restaurant in North Hollywood, the eatery where Inde Navarrette’s Nikki has her now-iconic moment, with a recreation of Nikki’s booth installed for the occasion.
The reunion drew the film’s core team. Navarrette attended alongside co-stars Michael Johnston and Cooper Tomlinson, plus writer-director Curry Barker, with the actors posing in front of the booth.
Navarrette’s outfit drew its own coverage. She wore a grey tailored waistcoat with a matching mini skirt, paired with sheer dark knee-high stockings, wire-rimmed glasses and an olive quilted handbag, a look described as an unconventional take on preppy dressing.
Inde Navarrette at the ‘Obsession’ Happy Hour Event. 📸 (Getty) https://t.co/6zDL1sifHP
— JumpTrailers (@JumpTrailers) October 20, 2026
It capped a busy stretch for her. Navarrette had attended the 6th Annual Academy Museum Gala on October 17 and the Newport Beach Film Festival HONORS on October 18. The reason Focus is spending this much energy comes down to an extraordinary commercial story.
Written, directed, and edited by Barker, the film premiered at TIFF in September 2025 before a US theatrical release on May 15, 2026. Its trajectory was almost unheard of. Opening to $17.2 million for a number-3 debut, the film went on to gross $523 million worldwide against a reported production budget of around $750,000 to $1 million.
Inde Navarrette & Michael Johnston are having such a nice time at a Focus Features happy hour in Los Angeles. 😍 (📷: Stewart Cook) https://t.co/sC2vqnuMlC
— E! News (@enews) October 21, 2026
Those figures reshaped records. It became the highest-grossing horror film of 2026, the 5th highest-grossing horror film of all time unadjusted for inflation, and the highest-grossing live-action English-language original movie of the 2020s, overtaking ‘Sinners’.
The reception matched the receipts. The film holds a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94% Popcornmeter, and earned an A- CinemaScore, with second and third weekends that actually increased over its opening.
You wished for this. Official trailer for OBSESSION, only in theaters May 15. Text 724-876-4554 🖤 https://t.co/rNfs9wfwml
— Obsession (@obsessionmovie) March 11, 2026
Focus initiated an awards campaign for Navarrette in the fall of 2026, and the early indicators are promising. Gold Derby’s tracking has placed her among Best Actress contenders with a 65.4% figure attached to her odds.
Her profile has risen accordingly. Navarrette has already won a Critics’ Choice Super Award for Best Actress in a Horror Movie and hosted an episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’. She arrived at the role with television credits behind her, having appeared as Estela de la Cruz in ‘13 Reasons Why’ and Sarah Cortez in ‘Superman & Lois’.
The film follows Bear, a shop clerk who breaks the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, only to discover the consequences are considerably darker than he bargained for. Barker drew partial inspiration from ‘The Simpsons’ episode “Treehouse of Horror II”.
Navarrette has said she appreciated the story remaining a standalone film while expressing interest in continuing in horror. She has already filmed a lead role in ‘Invertigo’. The film is also expanding its reach, arriving on Netflix in November after earlier runs on VOD and Peacock.
Do you think Inde Navarrette deserves a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Obsession?
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