Obsession becomes the latest laugh riot to submit as comedy at the Golden Globes

You may now consider the annual race for "weirdest movie trying to convince the Globes it's officially a comedy" to be formally afoot.

By William Hughes  |  September 30, 2026 | 11:30pm
Inde Navarrette in Obsession, Screenshot: YouTube
Film News Obsession
Obsession becomes the latest laugh riot to submit as comedy at the Golden Globes

Among the various nonsensical traditions that surround Hollywood’s vaunted awards season, we’ll confess to a certain affection for one of the silliest: The annual race to see which film can make the weirdest case for itself as a “musical or comedy” at the Golden Globes. Because while strict genre lines are, of course, obviously absurd, that hasn’t stopped the Globes from sticking with them over the years; consequently, that hasn’t stopped studios and publicists from trying to make a straight-faced assertion that a movie with a joke or two in it somewhere—and which would get utterly creamed in the highly competitive drama categories—deserves to run in musical/comedy. Last year, that saw such kneeslappers as One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme facing off for the top comedy honor; this year, it might see feel-good laugh riot Obsession competing for the title.

This is per THR, which reports that Focus Features has decided to submit Curry Barker’s low-budget breakout hit in the category, presumably because that’s where tonally tricky horror flicks are now destined to go. (Warner Bros. pulled the same move last year with Weapons, although it failed to secure a Best Picture nomination.) And, hey, it’s not like Obsession doesn’t have some jokes in it; it’s just that they’re kind of sandwiched in between those moments when a woman who’s had all her agency magically stripped out of her brain goes on a blood-soaked killing spree. The biggest beneficiary of this move, meanwhile, might wind up being said killing spree-er herself, star Inde Navarrette; submitting in musical/comedy could allow her genuinely great performance in the film to shine in the acting categories without any immediate comparisons to heavy hitters like Léa Seydoux or Helen Mirren, even as it might run her straight into the award-devouring killing machine known as Julianne Moore (for The Debut). 

Official nominations for the 84th Golden Globe Awards are scheduled to roll out on December 7, 2026.

 
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