Inde Navarrette dodges the Oscar circus as Obsession buzz builds

Inde Navarrette is suddenly the name everyone keeps bringing up when the O-word comes up, and no, I don’t mean Oppenheimer. Her breakout in the micro-budget horror hit 'Obsession' has turned into a full-on wave, the kind that usually ends with someone reading their name at 5 a.m. on nomination morning. Navarrette, for her part, is trying very hard not to ride that wave straight into a panic attack.

Navarrette on the Oscar noise

In a chat with Gold Derby, Navarrette said she hears the chatter but isn’t letting it run her life. She called herself 'very sensitive' and said she’s focused on, basically, not spiraling over something she can’t control.

'It’s not that I don’t care about it. Like I said earlier, I’m very sensitive, so I kind of want to protect my peace. I don’t want to get too excited about something that may or may not happen. So, I’m kind of just taking it day by day and being excited about what that day brings.'

That’s a measured stance, especially considering how fast this thing has blown up.

How big did 'Obsession' actually get?

• Budget: $750,000. Yes, three quarters of a million.
• Festival debut: TIFF, where it started catching fire.
• Writer-director: Curry Barker.
• Box office: Over $234 million worldwide in its first month.
• The performance everyone’s talking about: Inde Navarrette as Nikki Freeman, playing opposite Michael Johnston (Bear).

Navarrette’s turn as Nikki is the movie ’s pressure point — cold, unnerving, and weirdly human — and it’s a big reason the awards drumbeat hasn’t let up.

Tom Holland, of all people, is in the fan club

During a visit to the Spanish talk show 'El Hormiguero,' Tom Holland said he caught 'Obsession' in London with a packed crowd and called it one of his favorite recent theater experiences: people screaming, laughing, crying — the whole rollercoaster. He also gave the film real craft points and singled out the cast. Translation: if you were wondering whether this was just a niche horror hit, Spider- Man just told mainstream audiences to get a ticket.

The universe just got bigger (and creepier)

If you like the movie’s lore threads, here’s a chewy one: Curry Barker confirmed that 'Anything but Ghosts' lives in the same world as 'Obsession.' The two are tied together by the One Wish Willow mythology that powered Nikki and Bear’s nightmare, which strongly implies the thing pulling the strings in 'Obsession' isn’t done with us yet. Details are under lock and key, but expect more stories from that same, very cursed tree.

Whether Navarrette ends up on the Dolby Theatre stage is anyone’s guess — Academy math is chaos — but the Nikki phenomenon clearly isn’t over. If the buzz keeps compounding like this, that Oscar conversation isn’t going away.

What did you think of Navarrette’s performance in 'Obsession'? I’m all ears.