Possessor - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Possessor



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
There is nobody who understands body horror and psychological twists like David Cronenberg (well, maybe besides David Lynch). He was the king of those types of films in the 80s and 90s, and has a cult following that is unlike any other. The man had a natural handle on bizarre imagery and parabolic tales of morality and suffering. So naturally you would assume that his son would garner some of the prolific director’s styles, but even I was not prepared at just how much of a handle Brandon Cronenberg would have on his father’s motif’s when I first sat down to watch Possessor. I will fully admit that I usually stick to Well Go USA’s Asian releases, but seeing David Cronenberg’s son as the writing and directing credits had me instantly intrigued. I actually completely ignored the trailer (even when I got the press release) and went into the film completely blind so as to enjoy it with a clean slate, and was simply blown away.

I won’t say that Possessor is an instant classic, or that it’s a great movie, but Brandon Cronenberg has taken his father’s love of body horror and visual artistry and blended them together in a way that feels so very familiar, yet at the same time so very new. It’s a fascinating tale of psychosis and madness, told in a story that buries it’s roots in classic sci-fi as well as ridiculously gory body horror. I can’t say that I actually truly LIKED the movie, yet I truly appreciated the love and care that went into it, and was fully disturbed by what I saw (which is a form of praise in and of itself, as that seems to have been exactly what Cronenberg Jr. Was aiming for). I’ve yet to see a horror movie that is this thought provoking, this revolting, yet this fascinating in my life. At least not since maybe Spider or The Fly as a young child.

The film is a bit of a mind bender to say the least, and much of what I can describe would seem like gibberish unless you actually are watching the film. Even then it takes a couple of viewings to actually start to catch some of the nuances that ties the story together. The basic plot is that a super secret black ops organization run by a woman named Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh) utilizes a sort of “VR” style machine to transfer or “possess” (thus the name of the movie) an individual with an agent of hers, and then use that agent to control the host body and carry out assassinations, espionage, and other various things one can do when you’re controlling someone’s body. Girder’s top agent, Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is shown executing an assassination at the beginning scene of the film, only to be forced to commit suicide in order to be “brought back out” (something she’s extremely reticent to do).

Her next mission is a big one. Get inside the mind of a software industry insider (he’s dating the boss’s daughter) named Reid (Christopher Jacot) so that Tasya can get close enough to the big boss (Sean Bean) and kill him for whatever mysterious buyer is paying for the hit. However, things get sticky when Tasya goes in due to the fact that she’s becoming more and more disassociated with reality the more she goes into another person’s mind. After getting into Reid’s head she tries to get close, but soon can barely tell the distinction between her own mind and Reid’s mind.

Cronenberg does a masterful job of usual visual insanity to represent the horrific events going on in the psyche, as well as coupling that with disturbingly violent actions in the real world. When Tas is inside Reid’s head she can pull the strings and do some pretty gory and horrific stuff, but it’s the psychological damage that’s truly fascinating (represented with some of the most insane body merging where we see Tasya and Reid’s psyche’s blending together). To say the film is part art house, part violent horror and part sci-fi is an understatement. It dances between all three genres quite handily and uses a lot of visual subtext to tell certain portions of the story. I won’t spoil too much, but you can definitely tell that Tasya is starting to loose herself and leave an imprint of the host’s psyche in her own as she goes over her memory tricks. Watch the opening scene with Girder and Tasya playing the trick, then watch the final one at the end and you can draw the connections.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Shot on a variety of digital cameras, with a ton of different filters and angles, Possessor is a film that is it’s own unique thing, and needs to be judged by that factory rather any adherence to traditional film making. There is no one NORMAL visual image, but rather a cornucopia of different colors, contrast levels, black levels, and darkness levels. Some scenes are neutral and razor sharp (usually in Reid’s place), but others are a psychedelic blast of colors and differing hues that assault the senses. Some times there are diffused shades of confusion (such as in the middle of Reid’s mind, and other times it’s razor sharp. I can detect no real signs of artifacting or crush that wasn’t intentional to the picture, and as such as I’m rating it as a phenomenal image.








Audio:

Much like the visuals, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track (only one track on the disc, no Atmos or foreign language tracks) is a complete psychedelic attack on the senses, with a non stop assault that doesn’t really stop at any one time. There are moments of quiet, but those are usually VERY brief, and then it goes to ringing in the ears, a roaring of the score, or the general craziness as Tasya plies her violent trade. Bass is powerful and robust, and the surrounds are used so often that you almost feel like it’s all channel stereo. Voices are a range of different octaves and distances from the mic, and everything is spot on perfect depending on the scene. My only complaint is that sometimes voices can be a bit muddled when the score starts humming and shrieking (quite literally sometimes). Otherwise a great mix.








Extras:

• Behind the Scenes Footage
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

I really feel like I can’t truly describe Possessor. It’s extremely disturbing to watch, utterly fascinating, and a solid attempt by Brandon Cronenberg at making his own art. The story itself is mostly self explanatory, but there are so many background details that get picked up on the second viewing. I really had a hard time “enjoying” myself due to the disturbing nature of the subject matter, but at the same time I was definitely getting absorbed in it. You can say that it’s one of those films that is a hard watch, but you appreciate how hard the watch is and how well done it is and take that as part of the “enjoyment” so to speak. The 4K UHD disc itself is definitely top notch. Especially considering that it’s coming from a 4K source master. I have a hard time recommending it to your everyday joe, but if you’re a fan of David Cronenberg’s more surreal works, then this will definitely appeal to you.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Gabrielle Graham, Hanneke Talbot, Matthew Garlick, Daniel Park, Andrea Riseborough
Directed by: Brandon Cronenberg
Written by: Brandon Cronenberg
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 104 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 8th, 2020

Recommendation: Unique Watch

 

[Todd Anderson]

The cover art on this release is crazy!



I'm in!

 

[Michael Scott]

The cover art on this release is crazy!



I'm in!

lol, the scene in question where you see the part that's on the cover is messed up and whacked out.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Sounds like this is a flick that I shouldn’t watch with my wife - she’s not a fan of graphic violence.

Do you have a favorite Cronenberg flick?

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, nooooooo, she wouldn't like this then. There's a couple of scenes that even made me wince and squirm a bit

Favorite Cronenberg Mass Market film = The Fly
Favorite Bizarre film = Scanners
Most Mass Market Palatable Film = History of Violence
Worst Cronenberg Film = Crash (sorry, I hate to say that this was garbage IMO)

 

[JBrax]

So, we watched this last night and WHEW! I’m still conflicted as to whether I liked it or not. If nothing else it certainly kept my attention and some of the visuals were spectacular. Definitely on the artsy side.

 

[Michael Scott]

yup, that's the way I felt about it. I wasn't sure whether I LIKED it or not, but I appreciated the skill and storytelling techniques

 

[Todd Anderson]

Alrighty…. I’ve owned this disc for 11 months and FINALLY watched it.

WOW. I’m almost speechless. First off, it’s a level of graphic violence that I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed. Probably due to the shear rage and brutality involved… but also the sadistic mutilation of victims?? I don’t know.

I agree with @JBrax, I think I liked It. It definitely kept my attention… I rarely look away from a movie. This one had me hiding my eyes multiple times.

crazy

 

[Michael Scott]

Alrighty…. I’ve owned this disc for 11 months and FINALLY watched it.

WOW. I’m almost speechless. First off, it’s a level of graphic violence that I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed. Probably due to the shear rage and brutality involved… but also the sadistic mutilation if victims?? I don’t know.

min with @JBrax, I think I liked It. It definitely kept my attention… I rarely look away from a movie. This one had me hiding my eyes multiple times.

crazy

it was an insane film. In many ways I loved it. In other ways I was truly revolted.....pretty much sounds like a Cronenberg film to me

 

[Todd Anderson]

The fire poker in the mouth…. Yuck

 

[JBrax]

Sheesh Todd, you are running a bit behind.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Sheesh Todd, you are running a bit behind.

You don’t even know the half of it ;-)

I have a stack of flicks I need to watch. The last year year has been crazy in our house, largely driven by two puppies arriving (one in 2020, one in 2021). Definitely playing catch-up!