Obsession (2025): parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity.
A disturbing, very graphic horror film for adults about a lovesick young man who uses a novelty wishing toy to make his friend love him, only for the wish to turn her into a possessed, violent stranger. Expect a skull crushed in a long bloody beating, shootings, a woman stabbing her own face with broken glass, a pet cat that dies and is later cooked, a graphic sex scene and about 100 f-words. A main character dies of a deliberate overdose. Because the romance and sex happen while she has no free will, the film is also about consent and violation. All of this is why we suggest 17.
What's in it
Violence
StrongBrutal and bloody: a head smashed again and again until the face is mangled, a man shot dead, a woman stabbing her own face with broken glass, and a mutilated body. Sex happens under supernatural control, which the film treats as sexual violation.
Language
StrongPervasive: Plugged In counts about 100 f-words and more than 20 s-words (Movieguide counts at least 90 f-words), plus p-ssy, b-tch and a--, and around 15 misuses of God's name.
Sex and nudity
StrongA graphic sex scene shows thrusting, climax and a man's bare buttocks. A woman's corpse is shown fully nude, a woman strips to her bra while kissing, and a story read aloud describes sibling incest.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
StrongA woman admits taking MDMA, characters drink beer and tequila shots and play a drinking game, and heroin is mentioned. A pet cat dies after eating pills, and a character dies from an intentional overdose of painkillers.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongSustained psychological and supernatural terror with intense jump scares: a woman who wets the floor and is later found covered in vomit, candlelit shrines with corpses, a front door sealed with duct tape, and a dead cat served in a sandwich.
Sensitive topics
- Sexual assault
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Overdose
- Animal death
Worth talking about
The film shows what love looks like when someone's choice is taken away. Why does real love depend on consent, and what are everyday ways people try to control a partner?
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Wikipedia, the MPA, movieguide.org, classificationoffice.govt.nz. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.