Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough… Mandy from the film of the same name) is an assassin with a twist, namely that she works for an organization that utilizes brain implants to inhabit the bodies of people close to her assigned target which makes the killing a tad easier than it would be otherwise.
Things go along swimmingly… or as swimmingly as you’d expect, but shit goes majorly sideways with the quickness when our heroine gets the job of putting a murder on tech bigwig, and serious douche, John Parse (Sean Bean), and inhabits the mind of one Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott)… a dude that is both in a relationship with John’s daughter Ava (Tuppence Middleton), and is more resilient to implantation process than most.
Soon a full-on battle for control begins between Vos and Colin with the success of the mission looking more and more in peril!
First thing you should know about Possessor is that it’s directed by David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon, and if you don’t like his pappy’s work, you sure as shit aren’t going to dig on this. This flick has all the earmarks of a Dave Cronenberg joint; namely cold (often damn near alien) technology, body horror, gruesome effects, visual style for days, and Canada. It’s also one hell of a banger of a motion picture, let me tell you cats n’ creeps!
As you can surmise from that sinister synopsis up yonder, the film’s narrative is an intriguing one and deals with all manner of grizzly psychological implications, but a cool story is not all this one has to offer it’s arcane audience.
To that end, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the absolutely insane amount of practical gore effects thrown around in this one as bodies are harmed in various nasty ways. There’s also some truly amazing hallucinogenic sequences that are sure to stick with you long after the credits have rolled.
Of course a film can be made or broken due to the quality of acting on display, and in this one that category is top shelf material through and through. Riseborough and Abbott absolutely shine as the two sides of a rapidly tarnishing coin, and the torment they endure is palpable. Add to that some rock solid turns from Bean, and Cronenberg veteran Jennifer Jason Leigh (who starred in David’s 1999 sci-fi feature eXistenZ) and you are well and truly in good hands boils n’ ghouls.
Well all of that makes for a fantastic viewing experience from front to back, the good folks over at Well Go USA have included a few bonus features on this Blu-ray release to add to spice things up a bit further. Said content includes: a trio of deleted scenes, a glimpse behind-the-scenes of the film’s production courtesy of a handful of featurettes, and three trailers for the picture.
Gorey, psychotronic, and tense as all fuck, Possessor is one you absolutely have to see my fiends!
