Possessor

The incipit is really good: an agency that perform contract killings, use a very innovative technology that implants a device on the brain of a designated target that allows to the killer to remotely wire. Therefore the person is replaced, his free will is canceled and the killer is then able to complete the assignment, without being directly involved. The concept is really good, but the movie has a lot of issues.

The movie has an ethereal kind of narration, which is a good choice, considering the main theme, but the pace is too slow. The director, which is also the main screenwriter, wanted to experiment, by creating strange effects and applying weird sound design and music, which I personally appreciated, but the story is not going on. There are a lot of stuff that are not explained: we never know what this agency is, why it exists, is it some kind of secret government project? Who are these agents? Why they are doing what they are doing? Do they receive a special training? Because none of this is clarified, I did not care about the context nor characters, I could not bound with them. The main character, Tasya Vos, played by Andrea Riseborough, has clearly some personal issue with the ex fiancée, or maybe husband, I don't get to know, but why her relationship is broken? What happened? Is it because of her job? You see how many questions I am writing in this review? There tons of plot holes.

After an interesting and involving intro, the screenplay starts to crumble. I have understood that the director wanted to keep a mistery-vibe, but you cannot keep your audience completely blind for the entire movie. There was a lot of potential, but it was wasted, because the director decided to play too much with visual effects, instead on focusing more on the story.

With its good performances, excellent visual design, and all the blood and gore you could ask for, Brandon Cronenberg's 'Possessor' is a thrilling, engaging experience that succeeds in getting under your skin.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is the Possessor. She's a corporate assassin who uses a brain implant to take over other people to do the killing. Her boss is Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Her next take-over target is Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott) who is dating Ava Parse (Tuppence Middleton), the daughter of tech tycoon John Parse (Sean Bean).

This is a Brandon Cronenberg film. It has his father penchant for blood. It's a fine sci-fi flick with a dash of style. The filming does need something more. I can't quite put my finger on it. It has style but it needs more. It has moments of intensity but it needs more. It has ideas about control and self-identity. I'm not completely bought into the character Tasya. I don't know who she is and quite frankly, she may not know herself. That would have been an interesting idea if it's clearer about being murky. All in all, this is more interesting than not. There are enough in here worthy of the Cronenberg name.

There aren't enough people doing this kind of stuff anymore, you know, the kind of movies David Cronenberg used to do, low budget but well crafted, high concept and not afraid to disturb, then lo and behold, looks like his son took the torch and I couldn't be happier. Possessor has some great performances and nice visual choices, the body horror bits do not disappoint as well and I thought the narrative was engaging from start to finish, found no issues with the pacing whatsoever.

We need more creative works like this on horror-fantasy.

I think this is one of those films you will love or hate.

It is quite slow moving and you do have to pay attention to get the most from it. Personally, I enjoyed it, and it makes a change from the usual sci-fi 'factory' movies churned out by Hollywood.

The acting, writing, and production are superb.