A secretive organization uses an agent to commit high profile
​assassinations by inhabiting the body of an unwilling host.

HORROR/SCI-FI

Possessor (2020)

Written and Directed by Brandon Cronenberg

Starring Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, Rossif Sutherland

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Connor Eyzaguirre

December 29, 2020

8/10

Clearly, weirdness runs in the Cronenberg family. Brandon Cronenberg is the son of celebrated horror director David Cronenberg, the man behind The Fly, Videodrome, and The Dead Zone just to name a few. Possessor is Brandon's second feature film, and already this guy has a style and an eye for the macabre. While not as horrifying as I was expecting, Possessor is an engaging film with a unique premise that raises all sorts of ethical questions in the best way. This is a world where technology exists that allows someone to literally put their consciousness into an unwilling host and be them for a limited amount of time. The angle this film takes with that idea is high-priced assassinations, which I think is brilliant.

We follow one of this organization's agents, Tasya Vos (Riseborough), who has no doubt been doing this for a while. She looks burned out, has very little emotion, and resents her husband and son for holding her back. She gets put on a big job, killing a CEO and his daughter so the stepson can inherit everything. She gets put in the body of the daughter's boyfriend, Colin Tate (Abbott, in a great dual performance), but things go awry when the host takes back control. Now, Vos must fight Tate's mind before everything goes tits up. I don't want to give too much away, but the ending is quite shocking and the visuals are pretty disturbing at times.

I wouldn't classify Possessor as a horror movie. I think it leans more towards sci-fi as a whole. But it's one of the most original films of the year and a testament to Brandon Cronenberg's growing skill as a director in his own right. I am definitely looking forward to his next film, as he's on his way to being one of the signature cult directors of the next decade.