Curry Barker’s Obsession was one of the year’s biggest horror stories, and now its director says there’s more of it. In a new interview, Barker says a longer version of the film exists and that he’d love to release it. Here’s what has been said, what hasn’t, and why the cut matters to fans.
According to a November 1 report from World of Reel, which cites a Rolling Stone interview, Barker says there is an extended cut of Obsession that runs about 20 minutes longer than the 108-minute theatrical version. That would put it at roughly 2 hours 10 minutes. No release date, format or platform has been announced.
The Notes
- The claim: Barker says a longer version of the movie exists and that he’d love to release it “soon,” according to World of Reel’s summary of the Rolling Stone interview.
- The runtime: About 20 minutes longer than the 108-minute theatrical cut, which would be around 2 hours 10 minutes.
- The label: Barker reportedly calls the theatrical release the true “director’s cut” and the longer version an “extended cut.”
- The release: There is no date, format or distributor plan. World of Reel guesses at an extended home-video cut from Focus Features, but that is the writer’s speculation, not an announcement.
- The footage: Nothing has been said about what the extra 20 minutes contains.
The story
What Barker said. World of Reel quotes Barker saying there’s a longer version he’d love to release. He also reportedly says all he sees when he watches the film is its problems, which the site cites as a reason to wonder whether the theatrical cut was trimmed for good reason. I haven’t read the full Rolling Stone interview, so treat the wording as secondhand.
This isn’t the first tease. In May, Dread Central and Comic Basics reported that Barker told Popternative he’d like to make a director’s cut because “there’s so many things that are not in the movie.” He called it a major project that would mean going back through the footage, and said it would depend on whether Focus Features wanted it. The newer comments are more specific, since he now says the longer version already exists.
The scene fans want back. Much of the chatter centers on a car scene in which Nikki (Inde Navarrette) breaks through a window and repeatedly slams another girl’s head into a steering wheel. Dread Central reports that, per Barker, the scene was trimmed to avoid an NC-17 rating. Whether the extended cut restores it is unknown, and no outlet has said what footage was added.
The counterargument. World of Reel’s writer questions whether a longer cut is needed at all, arguing the film works because it’s lean. That’s a fair debate for fans of the theatrical version.
What we know vs. what we don’t
| Question | Status |
|---|---|
| Does an extended cut exist? | Barker says yes, per World of Reel’s summary of Rolling Stone |
| How long is it? | About 20 minutes longer than the 108-minute theatrical cut (reported) |
| Is a release planned? | Not confirmed; Barker says he’d like to release it soon |
| Will it be on disc, digital or in theaters? | Unannounced |
| Does it restore the trimmed car scene? | Unknown |
| Will it be rated NC-17? | Unknown |
What we still don’t know
- When, where or how the extended cut will be released
- Whether Focus Features has agreed to release it
- What the extra 20 minutes contains
- Whether any added violence changes the film’s R rating
For now, the theatrical cut is the only official version. We’ll update this post if Focus Features or Barker shares more.
Sources & further reading
- World of Reel: Extended cut of Obsession (November 1, 2026)
- Dread Central: Curry Barker teases an Obsession director’s cut
- Comic Basics: The trimmed Obsession scene may return in a director’s cut
- Dread Central: Obsession digital release date
Last updated November 1, 2026.