Respond to these rapid questions in our Possessor quiz and we will tell you which Possessor character you are. Play it now.
In Brandon Cronenberg’s “Possessor,” a hybrid sci-fi/body-horror film, there are some really interesting ideas swimming around, including ideas about gender and identity, artificial intelligence, and a healthy dose of paranoia about our corporate overlords and their nefarious activities. Cronenberg has a keen sense for the cinematic possibilities that can be found in the everyday (never has a double line of brick houses looked so ominous). “Possessor” is always entertaining to watch, thanks to the presence of excellent actors such as Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott, who play characters who, at times, inhabit each other. However, there is something missing, namely a sense of clarity and intent. When it comes to communicating really sharp ideas and concepts, humor can be the most effective tool. That is one way in which comedy can be sophisticated. It accomplishes the task more quickly and efficiently than straight drama or tragedy. From beginning to end, “Possessor” lacks any sense of humour. Because of this, the energy is ponderous and depressing, and the provocative ideas are not given the opportunity to truly take on a life of their own. Despite this, there is a lot here that is innovative and new.
The film gets off to a fast start, drawing you into its world of mystery and strangeness. One of the characters, a young woman (Gabrielle Graham), stands in the bathroom of a hotel room and jams an electrode into her skull, blood oozing from the wound. She stares at herself in the mirror and sobs uncontrollably, as whatever voltage is being delivered to her by the electrode begins to work its magic. Following that, we see her joining the ranks of a group of women in a hotel elevator, all of whom are dressed in turquoise sweatpants. Their journey takes them to a private lounge, which is eerie and pulsing with sinister energy, eerily similar to a scene from the film “A Clockwork Orange.” A special mention should go to Rupert Lazarus, who did an outstanding job as production designer throughout the film.) The young woman approaches a big-wig who is sweating profusely in his suit and stabs him to death. It’s a smorgasbord of overkill. When the police arrive, they run her over with their cars.
Another character, Tasya Vos (Riseborough), is in the process of awakening herself from whatever induced sleep she was in at the time. She is lying on a table in a pitch-black room, hooked up to a machine. She then submits to a decompression exit interview with her boss, who responds with a deadpan expression on his face. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s full name is Jennifer Jason Leigh. We get a kind-of-sort-of picture of what we just witnessed through this scene, which is shot in a striking space where darkness surrounds the two women, who sit on white chairs at a white table. These assassinations are carried out by Tasya, who has been hired by this company to “enter into” other people in order to carry out important missions. The company is a mysterious entity that lurks in the shadows, most likely operating under the guise of a legitimate “front” in order to conceal their true activities. Tasya is skilled at what she does, but she recognizes that being the “possessor” of other people comes at a high price. She has to be reminded of the reality of her own world on more than one occasion. She had completely forgotten that she was no longer married to her husband. She’s lost track of who she is and what she’s doing.
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Next on her list is to “possess” Colin (Abbott), a nobody of no consequence who also happens to be dating the daughter of the CEO of a Kafka-esque multinational corporation that is intent on gaining access to as much information as possible about every citizen of the world. The plan is for Tasya to take over Colin’s body and have Colin assassinate the CEO (Sean Bean). Unfortunately for Colin, he will be held responsible for the murder, and as a potential son-in-law, he will be unable to claim his inheritance. To do her research, Tasya spies on Colin, listens in on his conversations, and memorizes his intonations and vocabulary so that she can “pass” as him once she’s “in” him. Tasya’s research is a success. These are such interesting and entertaining concepts, and “Possessor” doesn’t do nearly as much with them as it could have done with them.
Possessor Quiz
At first, it’s a lot of fun to watch Abbott navigate his way through a routine morning with his girlfriend, all while trying not to give her any indication that he has lost his mind. Abbot is fantastic in these sequences, as he struggles to “act like” the real guy while attempting to “behave like” the real guy. The moment he kisses his girlfriend, she pulls back to look at him, her expression expressing, “What the hell is going on with you?” What kind of kisses does the real Colin normally give? Is he merely a ceremonial figure? Is he abrasive in any way? Is there too much tongue? Is it possible that the girlfriend is picking up on a feminine energy emanating from her supposedly male boyfriend? “Possessor” is a film that, for me, is fueled by the real juice contained within its gruesome body horror—all of those close-up shots of knives plunging into skin, of fire pokers going through soft gooey eyeballs, all of the blood, all of the penetration — and that keeps it going. It is not simply the case that one’s identity is in flux, although this is true. Because of this, there is an uncontrollable surge of sexual energy throughout the entire enterprise. Tasya spends so much time “in” other people’s identities that she has forgotten who she is herself. She’s a husk of a human being. Are her feelings of being “the possessor” more intense than when she is simply herself? Is it a turn-on or a turn-off? These are the kinds of things that “Possessor” isn’t really interested in, at least not in a complicated way. In this scenario, there are so many delightful possibilities: being a woman trapped inside a man, learning to navigate a strange world, attempting to “pass,” but perhaps… discovering something for herself, something she might not be willing to give up.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Possessor quiz.
This may seem like a frivolous comparison, but some of this reminded me of the film “All of Me,” in which Steve Martin is “possessed” by the bedridden snooty heiress Lily Tomlin, who plays Steve Martin. That film, of course, is a comedy, and it provides Steve Martin with an opportunity to demonstrate his physical abilities. While Martin is walking around with a woman inside of him for the entire duration of the film, there are several moments when you could swear you were looking directly at Lily Tomlin onscreen. A lot of that is absent from “Poissessor,” though it can be inferred from Colin’s girlfriend’s strange expression after they kissed after the kiss. There could be a great deal more. It explores the penetrability of bodies, the bloody insides we all share regardless of gender, the fluidity of identity and the porousness of reality, the desire to completely merge—host with possessor and vice versa—as well as the dangers of merging. “Possessor” depicts all of these things, and does so quite beautifully at times, but it does not go into great depth about any of them. In the sex scene, which takes place in a chilly neon-blue-lit bedroom, these concepts are explored to their fullest extent, with male and female merging into the same person, or emerging simultaneously, so that the sex act is practically a three-way. It’s a very crowded sex scene that’s both confusing and erotic at the same time.
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Cronenberg and cinematographer Karim Hussain have a wonderful chemistry on screen. In “Possessor,” the world appears to be terrifying in and of itself. The overall mood is gloomy, perhaps even too gloomy, but there’s a lot to think about here.Also, you must try to play this Possessor quiz.
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