2026's Surprise Horror Hit Becomes a Global Streaming Sensation

As Oscars season begins to draw attention, horror fans' hopes rest on one title in particular. Curry Barker's Obsession, this year's most impressive breakout, smashed all expectations and even sank the new Star Wars movie at the early summer box office. Becoming the highest-grossing original horror movie of this century and the fifth highest-grossing horror film of all time, the world couldn't get enough of this pressing blend of black comedy and terrifying horror.

Now many are predicting that Obsession will steal several spots in some of the most important categories at next year's Academy Awards. Inde Navarrette, whose performance as Nikki was called "one of the year's best" in Hannah Hunt's review for Collider, is the favorite to take home a nomination and perhaps even a Golden Statue in the Best Actress category. But although the spotlight has shone on Obsession for much of the year, that doesn't mean lesser-spotted horrors haven't been hitting their own impressive milestones.

At the time of writing, the 2026 sleeper hit Primate is one of the most-watched titles on Paramount+ in the world. The latest horror project from Johannes Roberts, the man behind the likes of The Strangers: Prey at Night and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, stars Academy Award-nominee Troy Kotsur and Johnny Sequoyah in a vacation-gone-wrong tale that is sure to send a shiver down your spine. "Primate is aimed at a singular cinematic experience, and that's to weave a gory tale of youngsters besieged by an unhinged chimp," wrote Collider's Jeff Ewing in his review for Collider, one of many who praised this clever, inventive horror.

Horror Is Topping the Box Office

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It's spooky season, and horror is back at the top of the box office. On its debut last weekend, Rob Savage's Other Mommy took home an impressive global haul of around $40 million, against a production budget of just $19 million. That total has risen to $50 million ahead of this weekend, as people can't get enough of Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain's dual performance in this adaptation of the 2024 novel Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman.