Possession

This is middle-tier SMG film, but I must say, it has really grown on me over the years. It's gorgeously shot, the story is pretty twisted which keeps you guessing, and Sarah has total command over the emotion of the film. She's pretty fantastic; she's always been one of the best criers in Hollywood, and here she manages a certain emotional state consistently as Jess collects these experiences and weighs the possibilities. Lee Pace is rather good, too.

The directors have a strong sense and a compelling approach to the material that is not stylish and clicks with the audience. The script is the most flawed aspect but serves the basis for a solid thriller. It's quite impressive that they filmed an entire alternative third act. I do prefer the alternative ending to the more Hollywood-ized final version. However, the producers made the right call. American audiences wouldn't have gone along with Jess's final motivations and conclusion in the alternative ending. I find the psychology so interesting.

I wish it would have had a proper wide theatrical release. It would've made $bank$ had it been released early February or mid-April.

I have watched both versions of the film, and after eagerly anticipating it for more than a year, I can say that the alternate version is what I had expected/hoped for and completely changes the entire film. This film is by no means perfect, and certainly isn't the best written piece of cinema out there, but the story had me wrapped up and interested. The alternate ending made me love it.

If you go into this film under the misapprehension of the marketing - which is, that this film is another "Grudge" or whatever the company tried to push - then you may be disappointed; it is less supernatural and altogether more human.

Jess (Sarah Michelle Gellar) finds her perfect married life turned upside-down when both her husband Ryan (Michael Landes) and his bad-boy brother Roman (Lee Pace) are sent into comas following a head-on car collision. Roman eventually wakes from his coma, but seems convinced that he is Ryan. Will Jess believe that her husband's spirit has somehow passed into the body of his brother, or will she call bulls**t?

It doesn't surprise me at all to find that Possession is a remake of an Asian film: it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, it moves like molasses, and the messy plot sure takes some swallowing. The title promises supernatural shenanigans, and for most of the film, that is precisely what we are led to believe we are watching; but as the film progresses (very, very slowly) to the less than scintillating finale, it becomes apparent that there is nothing supernatural about the story whatsoever. Personally, I felt more than a tad cheated: I watched the film with the expectation of a spooky chiller, but what I got was a psychological thriller-cum-romance instead. And a pretty poor one at that!

Edit *** I've just watched Addicted, the Korean film on which this was based; it is also a very slow-moving film, but a much more worthwhile effort overall—classy and subtle, where Possession is just clumsy ***

Sorry, Sarah, but, since your 'Buffy days,' your film career has hardly been glittering. What we have here is a short - and pretty empty - horror/thriller. If you believe the marketing on the poster, the people who made it have something to do with both The Grudge and The Ring. I can assure you... it's not even nearly as good as either of them.

In my opinion, it has two major problems: the first is that it's rushed. It's only eighty minutes long and everything has to happen really quickly to fit it all in. Buffy is now married to 'nice brother,' but 'nasty brother' is generally hanging around with them. Then, one fateful day, nice brother and nasty brother accidentally crash their cars into each other (yeah, seriously), leaving them both fighting for life side by side in their hospital beds.

Then, nasty brother wakes up, only he claims to be nice brother. And now we have our film. Only we don't. Seeing as it's nice brother in nasty brother, he behaves very well and doesn't do anything nasty. So... who's really in there? Nice brother, or nasty brother? Um, do we care? He's nice, so there's absolutely no real sense of danger or dramatic tension (my second fault with the film).

If you're a Buffy/Sarah fan like me, you'll probably agree that she's the best bit. She does her best, but the script is lame and she could do with either having to fight someone, or be chased by something (ala The Grudge).

Sadly, Possession offers nothing you haven't seen before, only better. Stick to the Grudge or the Ring. Like I say... sorry, Sarah.

http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

American remakes of South Asian films have often produced disastrous results. 'Possession' faces a similar fate. It's not as bad as most remakes of South Asian movies but as a stand alone it's not very good either. The execution is passable. There are some eye-candy photographic visuals but the background score is annoying. The forced 'jump' moments are unnecessary and out of place.

The movie hardly works as a thriller but to an extent it does work as a human drama. Jess's hope of her husband's recovery conflicted with her confusion in seeing her brother-in-law act familiar is well displayed. Sarah Michelle Gellar is brilliantly restrained. How I hope she would move out of the horror thriller genre and attempt different kinds of roles. Lee Pace's performance suffers due to poor characterization.

'Possession' is easily forgettable. Other than Michelle Gellar's performance, there isn't much to look forward to.