Nearing the end of its fifth week at the box office, it seems moviegoers are still fixated on Obsession. With global ticket sales nearing $300M, its now arguably one of the highest grossing movie to ever be picked up at a film festival.
But with five weeks to have found way to watch Obsession, odds are you've probably already seen it and are itching for more. Whether you're drawn to toxic romances, dangerous fixations or relationships that blur the line between devotion and destruction, we've put together a curated film list that proves infatuation remains one of cinema’s richest and most enduring subjects.
Read on for all the film like Obsession to watch next...
1. Bad Timing (1980)
This is one of director Nicolas Roeg’s most divisive films – a fractured psychological thriller about a toxic relationship between an American psychiatrist and a young woman in Vienna. It's assembled through a quite dazzling mosaic of flashbacks and shifting perspectives, but it was vilified upon release by its own distributor (yet now it's widely regarded as one of Roeg’s masterpieces). It also features some pretty remarkable performances from Art Garfunkel and Theresa Russell and remains a touchstone for filmmakers interested in obsession, memory and ideas of emotional unreliability.
2. Pearl (2022)
Shot as a lurid, technicolor kind of nightmare, Pearl rewinds the story introduced in X to reveal how Mia Goth’s aspiring dancer transforms into one of modern horror’s most tragic villains, chasing the chimaera of fame. Goth, obviously, is astonishing in the lead performance (very à la Inde Navarrette) and earned widespread critical acclaim for the role. This is the film that really cemented her as a contemporary scream queen – and with some fairly comparable conniptions to those viral Obsession monologues.
3. Whiplash (2014)
At first glance this might seem like a music-school drama, but Damien Chazelle’s breakout feature plays more like a psychological horror. We see Miles Teller's ambitious jazz drummer pitted against J.K. Simmons' abusive instructor determined to manufacture greatness. It won three Academy Awards – including Best Supporting Actor for Simmons – and culminates in one of the most ferocious final sequence in modern cinema.
4. Together (2025)
A cocktail of body horror and relationship autopsy, Together is a film about a couple whose emotional codependency begins manifesting in *increasingly grotesque* physical ways. What's cool is that this film is anchored by real-life partners Alison Brie and Dave Franco, and was one of the most talked-about genre releases of last year thanks to its pretty inventive practical effects.
5. Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Megan Fox’s performance in this film has become a defining pop-cultural artefact of the late 2000s. In Karyn Kusama’s razor-sharp horror comedy, we see her as a possessed high-school cheerleader who develops a predilection for teenage boys. But what makes this film particularly satisfying is its pointed critique of gender politics and female friendship (something well ahead of its time, but now undercurrents so many modern horrors like Obsession). It may have been a little misunderstood upon release and poorly marketed, it has since undergone one of cinema’s most significant critical reappraisals.
6. Audition (1999)
What begins as a melancholy romantic drama gradually mutates into one of the most terrifying films ever made. A widower's search for companionship leads him towards a woman harbouring deeply disturbing secrets. This is Japanese director Takashi Miike’s masterpiece, and helped introduce Japanese horror to a more global audience.
7. Companion (2025)
Dressed up as a sleek sci-fi thriller, Companion is one of those films that quite cleverly explores questions of autonomy, desire and control through the story of a seemingly perfect relationship. Of course, that begins to unravel in unexpected ways. Sophie Thatcher really emerged as the film’s standout revelation.
8. Fresh (2022)
Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones. A pairing we never knew we needed. The duo headline this darkly funny horror thriller, which weaponises the anxieties of modern dating by taking a promising romance somewhere much more deeply sinister. Its got a really audacious tone shift and some biting satire. It made a lot of buzz when it was released back in 2022 (Edgar-Jones fresh from her Normal People fame).
9. Christine (1983)
No one really knows horror like Stephen King, and this adaptation by John Carpenter transforms a seemingly ordinary 1958 Plymouth Fury into a pretty unforgettable villain. Beyond its killer-car premise, the film functions as a surprisingly poignant coming-of-age story – with the titular possessed car representing toxic, consuming obsession, much like an addiction or an unhealthy relationship, which slowly isolates its owner, warps his personality, and destroys his life.
10. Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher’s icy adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller follows the disappearance of a woman whose husband quickly becomes the prime suspect, before pulling the rug out from under audience expectations. There are undercurrents of obsession, but in a totally backwards way. Rosamund Pike earned an Oscar nomination for her role, and the film has become a bit of a cultural flashpoint for conversations about marriage, media spectacle and gendered public perception.
11. Blink Twice (2024)
For her directorial debut, Zoë Kravitz crafted a glossy psychological thriller about a group of young women invited to a billionaire’s private island. Surprise, surprise – paradise slowly gives way to something far more sinister. The film arrived squarely within post-#MeToo cultural conversations and – similarly to Obsession – relies on a mind-bending premises, creeping dread, and unexpected power dynamics.
12. The Roommate (2011)
Queen B herself, Leighton Meester brings a kind of unnerving intensity to this campus-set thriller film. It's about a college freshman whose seemingly friendly roommate develops an increasingly dangerous fixation on her. Naturally for a twenty-teens horror, it was critically dismissed at the time, but the film has enjoyed a second life as a cult psychological thrillers about infatuation and female rivalry.
13. Possession (1981)
Few films capture emotional collapse with the raw intensity of Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession. It's a feverish tale of a disintegrating marriage that spirals into body horror, political allegory and surreal-ish nightmare. Isabelle Adjani won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her leading performance (it's regularly cited among the greatest and most fearless ever committed to screen).
14. Time (2006)
South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk made this provocative psychological drama where a woman undergoes radical cosmetic surgery after becoming convinced her partner has grown tired of her appearance (for a film created two decades ago, the premise feels scarily day-in-age). It obviously interrogate beauty standards, identity and romantic insecurity – a great left-of-field pick for an Obsession follow-up we think.
15. Saint Maud (2019)
Rose Glass announced herself as a pretty major new filmmaking voice with this chilling debut, following a devout hospice nurse whose religious fervour gradually tips into obsession. Welsh actress Morfydd Clark put on an extraordinary central performance, which earned widespread acclaim. It's a perfect example of the so-called “elevated horror” movement of the late 2010s.
16. Ruby Sparks (2012)
A romantic fantasy and a cautionary tale all wrapped up on in one. Ruby Sparks is a film about a struggling novelist who discovers that the woman he is writing about has somehow materialised in real life. It's written by and stars Zoe Kazan opposite our forever fave Paul Dano. It also cleverly deconstructs the manic pixie dream girl trope while examining the dangers of idealising a partner.
17. Fatal Attraction (1987)
Adrian Lyne’s erotic thriller is a true masterclass in sustained tension. It follows a brief affair that escalates into a campaign of stalking and psychological terror. It was nominated for no less than six Academy Awards – mostly propelled by Glenn Close’s iconic performance at its helm. It's about themes as varied as infidelity, gender and what it meant to be a career-driven woman during the Reagan era.
18. Single White Female (1992)
A quintessential 90s thriller, Single White Female sees a woman’s new roommate become disturbingly invested in copying every aspect of her life. We've got Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh anchoring the film with magnetic performances, which helped turn it into a box-office hit. It's now getting a remake of sorts, with Jenna Ortega and Taylor Russell reportedly at the helm.
Looking for something else to fill the Obsession void? We've got all the details on when the film will arrive on streaming platforms, and whether or not a sequel might be in the works.
