Possessor

The son of David Cronenberg wants to to a movie like Existenz, but he ultimately fails to do so. The acting is good, but the plot is really drawn out and says almost nothing in the end. Also, as many others noted, there is some gratuitous gore and violence put in which doesn't really advance the story in any way, and that extends to some other things as well.

The entire thing revolves around people that "jockey" other people in order to do very mundane things like assassinations. The very idea is lacking imagination, considering that the premise of this film is killing people for other people that want their money and the very obvious alternative is to jockey the people directly and take their money. And then there is an entire exploration of what it means to inhabit other people's lives and minds, but it goes nowhere other than hallucinating some images.

At least the end was good because the jockey finally got back on track and remembered her work ethic! I am kidding. The end was bad.

Bottom line: an overly long film that shouts "Cronenberg!!!!" but needed very little of the signature characteristics of a Cronenberg movie to tell this story. I hope Brandon will find his own voice rather than bank on the same ideas his father explored. Or was it really Brandon? Maybe his father was jockeying him!

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.

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.

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.

Immensely disturbing, shocking and provocative; "Possessor" takes you on a wild ride while playing with your mind.

In this science-fiction horror film, an agent working for a secretive organization uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.

It goes without saying that Cronenberg is heavily influenced by the earlier films his father made but I also couldn't help but think of John Frankenheimer's "Seconds"while watching this. You can see where Cronenberg wants to play with sci-fi, horror and even reality. It's a daring vision and one you won't soon forget (if you have the stomach for it). Christopher Abbott is haunting in the lead role and Andrea Riseborough delivers a solidly chilling performance. It's a scary-ass film and I'm telling you there are visuals in "Possessor" that will haunt you for days, but I recommend you see it.

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