Possessor (Self-Denying Sci-Fi Nighmare Fuel)
As legendary Canadian auteur David Cronenberg continues to sway from directorial duties, his bloodline has taken the reigns. The pressure was on Brandon Cronenberg to deliver a successful follow up to 2012’s Antiviral, but with Possessor, it can be confirmed that the prodigal son has returned with a shocking new vision. The film deals with transporting one’s consciousness into another body, like an avatar, and committing assassinations. The body is then be disposed of via suicide (like blowing their fucking brains out), while the assassin’s conscience returns to their own body. Transporting one’s consciousness is not without its downsides, however.
After her first, and successful assassination, Andrea Riseborough finds it hard to pull the trigger before returning to her own shell. The host is resisting in some primal way. Afterwards, while in her own skin, her sense of self is distorted and she awkwardly tries to assimilate through a normal conversation with her family. She is then given her latest assassination assignment. Riseborough must occupy a man (Rossif Sutherland), but first studies his mannerisms; making sure she can talk, act and have intercourse like him. From the first moment she enters his body the sense of cognitive discomfort and sexual dysmorphia is in full effect, but when it’s time for the assassination, the two combined minds fight for supremacy with grisly consequences, in an ending which fucks the minds of the characters and audience on an eXistenZual level. With Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, the new flesh certainly fits this brood member just fine.
Written by The Dyer Wraith
Possessor (2020)
Brandon Cronenberg (director), Elevation Pictures, Neon (distributors)
4.2 / 5
