Backrooms and Obsession Take Different Routes to Streaming

A24 and Focus Features' 2026 horror hits have followed markedly different Pay-One paths internationally, with Amazon Prime Video the only service to secure both titles in the same market.

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Despite both emerging from the online horror scene, Backrooms and Obsession have found very different homes in their first subscription windows. Across seven markets examined by 3Vision’s Movie Tracker, the two films share just one Pay-One destination: Amazon Prime Video in Canada.

The divergence largely reflects their distribution arrangements. A24, which released Backrooms in the US, typically licenses international distribution rights to local partners rather than handling releases globally. Consequently, Backrooms has landed across a variety of services, including Stan in Australia, SonyLIV in India and HBO Max in Italy, Spain and the US.

Obsession, meanwhile, was acquired by NBCUniversal-owned Focus Features, with Universal Pictures International handling much of its international distribution. Its streaming destinations include Peacock in the US, HBO Max in Australia and JioHotstar in India.

The UK presents an interesting unresolved question. While Backrooms has secured a Pay-One window with Sky, no equivalent premiere has yet been confirmed for Obsession. Given NBCUniversal's established relationship with Sky, the absence of a confirmed destination is particularly notable, although it does not rule out a subsequent Sky premiere.

There is also evidence of overlapping rights arrangements. Backrooms debuted on both Filmin and HBO Max in Spain on 25-Sep-26, illustrating how first subscription windows need not be exclusive to a single platform.

Timing has varied considerably too. In the US, Obsession moved from its 30-Jun-26 PVOD launch to Peacock on 17-Jul-26, just 17 days later. Backrooms followed a more conventional progression, launching on PVOD on 14-Jul-26, moving to standard TVOD pricing on 18-Aug-26 and arriving on HBO Max on 25-Sep-26.

The contrast highlights how distribution ownership and territory-specific licensing arrangements can outweigh similarities in genre, producing very different streaming outcomes for two films targeting comparable audiences.