Confident, stylish, and esoteric, writer/director Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor is also one of the most gruesomely violent pictures I’ve seen in some time. That should maybe come as no surprise, considering his father is the legendary David Cronenberg, master of the body horror flick. However, Brandon proves he is a filmmaker capable of harnessing his own aggressively brutal vision here. Beware, light spoilers ahead involving plot details.
The film begins in media res, as we follow a woman named Holly (Gabrielle Graham) as she preps for some unknown task by plugging what looks to be a sort of AV cord directly into her skull in bloody fashion. The murder she soon commits via stabbing is horrific, with clear shots of the cruel blade penetrating soft flesh. This prolog sets the tone for the rest of the film. There’s to be no handholding with the narrative, and unexpected graphic violence will be presented with crisp and sleek precision.
The story proper concerns troubled assassin Tasya Vos (haunted and sickly Andrea Riseborough). See, Vos works for a shadowy organization that uses a technologically arcane method to allow contract killers to control the minds and bodies of other people. The possessed individuals then play out a script of sorts that establishes a motive for killing their intended victims, with the possessor forcing the host body to commit suicide before being pulled back into their own body, leaving no trace of the company’s efforts. After each hit, Vos’ superior, Girder (a cold and calculating Jennifer Jason Leigh), administers a test to make sure that Vos has not retained any aspect of her host’s personality. Clearly, the psychological toll exacted on Vos by mingling with so many other consciousnesses and being responsible for so much death is threatening her own sanity. Still, she’s able to maintain a veneer of normalcy.
Exhausted, but determined to pursue this normalcy, Vos attempts to reconnect with her estranged husband, Michael (domestic Rossif Sutherland), and young son Ira (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot). It’s not meant to be, though, and she soon takes on a job involving Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott). Her task is to make Tate seem unstable and to eventually kill Tate’s girlfriend Ava Parse (Tuppence Middleton) and her abrasive business magnate father, John Parse (Sean Bean). The job goes sideways, though, when Vos loses control of Tate and finds herself dissolved and imprisoned within her host. Small supporting roles also belong to Kaniehtiio Horn as Reeta and Raoul Bhaneja as Eddie.
Cronenberg’s script is dependent on its premise, and while it’s not thoroughly explained, it’s easily understood. We are given snippets of details of this strange world that’s maybe only a few steps removed from our own, but it’s just enough to provide flavor without bogging down the story. The character work is excellent without being substantive. We understand the major players well enough, even if only in somewhat broad strokes. Vos receives the most attention, naturally, but the details of her psyche are displayed in more emotional terms and communicated visually. The dialog is naturalistic and thankfully eschews exposition, in keeping with the approach to show, not tell. It’s a strong piece, though Cronenberg relies on his collaborators to flesh out the experience.
Riseborough is captivating in her veiled misery. Her determination to fight off her mounting mental difficulties is often delivered with a loaded glance or clipped smile. I particularly enjoyed the scene of her rehearsing lines to say to her family, which is a mirror of what she does in preparing to take on a host. Her waifish, otherworldly look also meshes with the near future sci fi aesthetic. Leigh, whose presence is one of a few subtle nods to Cronenberg’s father’s eXistenZ, is deceptively ruthless in her role as Vos’ corporate handler. It’s not a showy or substantial role, but she nails it with quiet support. Abbott has the difficult task of essentially handling two parts, and does solid work delineating each. Really, though, the entire cast puts in restrained, polished, and capable work.
Cinematographer Karim Hussain, whose effort I admired on Hobo with a Shotgun, is excellent here in a completely different manner. Slick visuals of opulence and decadence are juxtaposed with explicit gore, making for a pleasing cocktail of elegant violence. Hallucinatory sequences of inner mental anguish disconcert and further establish the colorful visuals as being a key component of the film’s effectiveness. It’s all around beautiful work, despite seeking to consistently evoke unease. Costumes and sets are nicely done, with the upper class architecture of the powerful gifting convincing backgrounds for the actors to play against. The banal setting of Michael’s smaller apartment also creates an interesting dichotomy while also helping to illustrate the narrative theme of duality.
Gore effects are outstanding and shocking. The various stabbings, hackings, beatings, and blasting are squirm inducing. Violence is not glorified, and is portrayed in realistically grim and ugly terms. I believe this is an effort to evoke in us the exhaustion that Vos feels, ultimately leading to a profound and melancholy numbness at the film’s disturbing conclusion. The scene that symbolically represents Vos infiltrating Tate’s mind utilizes cool waxwork to wordlessly portray the transaction.
Jim Williams’ droning and eerie electronic score amplifies anxiety. It’s not all low key, though, erupting at choice points into cacophonous and dissonant representations of confusion and dismay. It’s not ostentatious work, but it’s completely in-line with the flick’s overall tone. Taking into account the fact that much use is made of silence and quiet, sometimes barely discernible dialog, the dread it produces is not inconsiderable.
Brandon Cronenberg has delivered a must see film for science fiction and horror fans in his atmospheric Possessor. Not for the squeamish, the 103-minute runtime showcases shocking violence and explicit sexuality while cultivating a dread of modernity. It’s accomplished stuff and I am absolutely looking forward to any future efforts from the talented filmmaker. Highly recommended for fans of the aforementioned eXistenZ, as well as Mandy and Kill List.
Michael Cavender