Obsession (2026): How Vivian Gray Designed a Horror Hit on a Tiny Budget

How do you create the world of a hit horror movie when you barely have the money or time to pull it off?

Production designer Vivian Gray joins me to talk about Obsession, the horror film written and directed by Curry Barker, and the creative problem-solving behind its unsettling sets.

With roughly three weeks of prep, a small art department and just three days to transform the main house, Vivian and her team had to get incredibly resourceful. We're talking custom wallpaper, transforming an almost entirely white house into a believable grandmother's home, reusing materials from previous projects and finding solutions with whatever happened to be lying around.

We also get into the film's incredibly dark cinematography. Was it really shot that way, or was the darkness created in post? Vivian explains how the lighting influenced her design choices, from creating silhouettes to making sure audiences could still understand the spaces even when so much was hidden in shadow.

Plus, we talk about designing the One Wish Willow, working with practical effects and the constant collaboration it takes to make an independent film look like it had a much bigger budget.

This is one of my favorite kinds of conversations because it gets into the actual work behind what we see on screen. Sometimes great production design comes down to a few screws, leftover construction materials and a team that knows how to figure things out.

Watch the full interview on the Decorating Pages YouTube channel to see the sets and details we're discussing.