Possessor (2020)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐  

Possessor is an original tale of science fiction horror that comes across as something unique, and original in its concept and cinematic approach. Set in an undisclosed not too distance future, we follow the assignment of a hired killer of the future where technology has advanced enough to allow a person to enter the mind and take control over another person's body. An underground agency uses this admittedly flawed technology to commit high stakes murders for clients leaving no trace of who is behind the murders.

The hired mind possessor / killer here is a married woman (played by Audrea Riseborough whose other works include Mandy, and Oblivion) who is assigned to take control of a man's body (played excellently by relative unknown Christopher Abbott who was in It Comes At Night) to murder his girlfriend's rich father (nice cameo by Sean Bean). Naturally things don't go quite a planned and what ensues makes for great suspenseful and violent cinema. Definitely not for the weak at heart and those who faint at the sight of blood because there are literally buckets of blood used in this movie. The ultra creative and violent kills are perhaps not too surprising seeing that this fil was written and director by a David Cronenberg prodigy, non other than his son, Brandon Cronenberg. To be far, Brandon exhibits his own style here and created his own mark in the genre. Perhaps the only link to his father's style here is their common flair in coming up with creative scenes of extreme violence and shock. But gore and violence along does not make for good entertainment. It needs to have an interesting story and strong performances to support it. Brandon's vision is here aptly realised by a capable cast and two leads giving convincing performances amidst a imaginary universe. In a way, I feel this succeeds at a higher level than the high concepts and baffling futuristic universe that Christopher Nolan created for Tenet. An example where less can be more.

Possessor is however not for everyone. It is ultra violent so stay clear if you are not able to stomach this. It is futuristic but not overwhelmingly so, which means you won't be intimidated by too much unfamiliar concepts. That is good because that way we can focus on the plot flow without being too distracted by other background details. It's originality is a breath of fresh air in the dire lack of good new materials to sample this year. More exciting is the discovery of a new Cronenberg to look forward to.