"Possessor" - Film Review
Possessor is a science-fiction movie from Brandon Cronenberg, son of famed body-horror filmmaker David Cronenberg. This is the younger Cronenberg’s second feature film, and it follows in some ways in the footsteps of the body-horror genre that his father made famous. While there are visceral moments of blood and gore, the story is more interested in the intersection of free will, privacy, and humanity’s abuse of technology.
Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an assassin by way of technological implants. She works for a company that carries out hits by selecting people at random and inserting a cranial implant that allows Vos to take over the person’s body. Vos is in complete control of a person’s body and mind for days at a time until she is able to complete her assassination assignment. The nature of the job and her prolonged time in the bodies, minds, and lives of other people mean that Vos has trouble being present within her own life. She has an ex-husband, Michael (Rossif Sutherland), and a son, Ira (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot). When she’s around them, her mind often wanders to the last job she worked. This distraction only deepens the chasm between herself and her family.
Vos’ newest assignment is to take over the body and mind of Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott), a low-level employee at a data mining company called Zoothroo. Colin is engaged to Ava Parse (Tuppence Middleton), who is the daughter of Zoothroo CEO John Parse (Sean Bean). Vos’ company has been hired to assassinate both John and Ava, and Vos plans to use Colin to commit the murders. It should be a regular, run-of-the-mill assignment, but Vos’ unstable mental state causes the assassination attempt to go south.
Elevation Pictures
Possessor is a taut, violent, science-fiction nightmare. A bloody tale reminiscent of an early Black Mirror episode. Make no mistake, while this film comes nowhere near the level of body horror of his father, the younger Cronenberg doesn’t shy away from gore. The film’s opening prologue lets the audience know exactly what’s in story for them when mild-mannered Holly (Gabrielle Graham) commits a gruesome murder before putting the gun into her own mouth. Graham is only briefly in the film, but her commanding presence is the perfect introduction to Vos’ twisted assassination job.
Cronenberg doesn’t waste a minute of his film on needless scenes. Every second is thoughtfully planned to examine privacy and the abuse of corporations. Not only does Vos’ company use people and ruin their lives for the sake of profit, but Zoothroo offers a look at a reality that’s not too distant from our present world. The company hacks into webcams to mine consumer data and information about buying habits. Colin’s entire job consists of sitting at a desk and watching people through their webcams, cataloging whatever he’s been assigned to focus on that day. That may be lamps or curtains or payment methods or anything else deemed to be valuable information. It’s an invasion of privacy and a more literal look at how tech companies turn consumers into profit.
Possessor is one of those movies that immediately sparks debate and criticism, yet is so brutal that multiple viewings are probably unlikely.
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