Made independently on a shoestring budget, Obsession has defied expectation, surging past half a billion dollars at the global box office and emerging as a cultural flashpoint that is reshaping the conversation in Hollywood. Almost overnight, Haley Johnson went from an ambitious young producer to one of the most sought-after names in the industry.
Nearly a year after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival ignited a frenzied studio bidding war, Johnson reflects on the whirlwind journey. She takes us behind the making of Obsession with a scrappy independent crew, and the meteoric rise to become one of the most successful theatrical films of 2026.
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Haley Johnson
Oct 4
12:30 pm
VIFF Centre, VIFF Cinema
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American Doctor
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A. Rimbaud
Patrick Wang (The Bread Factory) presents the life of French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this staggeringly adventurous and deeply considered movie, a three-hour, one-man show quite unlike anything we have seen before. "Poetic, audacious and singular."
The 39 Steps
In our new film studies series, FRAMEWORK, film scholar Michael van den Bos explores the work of Alfred Hitchcock, across four monochrome masterworks. This week: The 39 Steps (1935), a witty and fast-moving spy thriller from Hitchcock's English period.

