Obsession film sparks low‑budget horror surge across Southeast Asia

Obsession, a thriller produced for under $750,000, has earned hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide. Strong word‑of‑mouth, social‑media sharing and a youthful audience have turned the modest release into a commercial breakout, prompting major studios to examine its lean production and marketing model.

The same low‑budget horror formula is driving box‑office dominance throughout Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s 2022 horror hit KKN di Desa Penari joined the “10‑million‑ticket club” with about $13 million in revenue, and seven of the ten top‑grossing Indonesian films of the first half of 2026 are horror. In Thailand, horror titles captured roughly 54 % of the domestic market, with three of the four highest‑earning Thai films of 2025 belonging to the genre. Similar popularity is evident in Laos and Vietnam, while in Cambodia horror accounted for about 85 % of licensed releases in 2025, leaving family‑oriented movies with only 2 % of total box‑office revenue.