Let’s get inside.
Possessor is a new film from Brandon Cronenberg that follows Tasya Vos (Andrea Risenborough), an assassin who can take over the consciousness of people in order to carry out high profile killings. The process allows her company, led by Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to execute individuals with little to no risk of anyone suspecting foul play.
The company now has its largest target ever, and no mistakes can be made, is Tasya up to the challenge? Or will things go wrong? Tasya overtakes Colin (Christopher Abbot) with the mission to kill his fiancé, his father in law, and have the man commit suicide.
As things go predictably wrong, we are given insights into human exploitation and control. The film does well with these themes, but I wish that they would have given us a little more background on Tasya. She does not report oddities to her handler, and while we can presume that an assassin wouldn’t want to say anything is wrong, some more information in that regard would have been nice.
I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe this movie in a sentence or two. The best I can come up with is that Possessor is a Christopher Nolan film without all of the stupid sound and pretension.
Gorgeous and surreal visuals contrast with extreme body horror in a nearly hypnotic way. Where Tasya’s mind ends and Colin’s begins (or any of her targets) isn’t always clear. Reality seems to blur and the host fights against the invade. The sequences of strange and intense imagery are a treat to watch and will demand being watched twice.
Aside from interesting visuals, there is a theme of exploitation and control that pushes this film into one of the best of the year. The story is fascinating, and the revelations towards the end will make you question everything that came before, in a good way.
Reviewing this one is somewhat difficult as even minor plot points may bring spoilers to later revelations. Every little scene has purpose, which makes me want to say as little as possible other than a strong suggestion to watch it.
What I loved about this movie is that we have a science fiction film for grownups. The ideas present are at the same thoughtful level of Bladerunner 2049. For people wanting a movie that they will be thinking about for a while, this one is hard to top for this year.
While reviewing it might be tricky due to spoilers, discussing the film should be easy for folks. I highly suggest watching this one with friends who will want to have a chat afterword. Granted, might have to do social distancing viewing or something.
One of the best of the year.
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