Possessor
Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, 2020.
4/5
Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a hired killer who completes assassinations by possessing the bodies of others. Balancing her profession with her personal life, she comes to struggle with retaining her own identity.
The name ‘Cronenberg’ has become synonymous with a certain type of film over the last four decades. From David Cronenberg’s early sci-fi chillers to his later more grounded thrillers, there are recurrent themes and ideas — some of the more pertinent of which are the interplay of the psychological and the physical, and the question of identity. To belabour comparisons between the works of David Cronenberg and his son would be do a disservice to Brandon Cronenberg, suffice to say that Possessor proves that the Cronenberg name is in safe hands.
From the opening shots of the film, it is apparent that Possessor (salaciously marketed as Possessor: Uncut in the US) is not for the faint of heart. Throughout the film, the audience is consistently presented with extreme violence committed with a variety of implements. The very literal scenes of physical destruction and mutilation recall perhaps New French Extremity or torture-porn rather than the surreal body-horror of Cronenberg Sr, and should dissuade the more squeamish viewer from watching this film. All of which is not to say that the violence in this film could be considered excessive as the visceral displays are necessary for the questions that the film poses: namely, what sort of person could commit such acts?
It speaks to the film’s favour that the scenes of ultraviolence are perhaps not even the most disturbing scenes. Particularly unsettling are scenes where we see the titular possessor in-between hits, straining to remember details of her personal life or practising how she will greet loved ones. Riseborough is wonderful in the role, at points sympathetic and vulnerable, and at others profoundly unsettling. Compelling throughout, this performance should rightly garner her some awards buzz.
Of course, the character of Vos wears many faces in her profession and as such we see other actors inhabiting the role. Gabrielle Graham is excellent as Holly — as her face runs through the whole gamut of emotions prior to an assassination, it is an early indicator of the profound psychological impact that the possessor job has on Vos. Christopher Abbott is the true deuteragonist of the film as Colin Tate, the drug-dealing boyfriend to the daughter of a data magnate (played to sneering perfection by Sean Bean). Abbott essentially plays two characters in this film: Tate himself, and Vos-as-Tate.
As Vos-as-Tate, Abbott plays the character with a sort of hesitance and tremulous confusion. As he paces through his apartment and looks at his reflection as though it is someone unfamiliar, there is never any doubt in the audience’s mind that we are watching that same character that Riseborough is portraying. As Tate himself, Abbott plays him as a more desperate, passionate figure with less of Vos’ cold detachment. Wonderful too are Tuppence Middleton as the data heiress girlfriend of Tate, Ava, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Vos’ handler who is responsible for ensuring she can perform her job.
Throughout the film there are a series of kaleidoscopic sequences representing the plight of the possessor that seem part dream, part metaphor. We see bodies melting and reforming, ill-fitting masks stretched over faces, and inner battles made visually literal. These sequences are as unsettling as those of extreme violence and are to the credit of Cronenberg and cinematographer Karim Hussain.
The film is not perfect, and at points the worldbuilding seems a bit sloppy. As simple and interesting as the central premise is, Cronenberg fails to make the rest of the world he presents seem as compelling. Aspects such as Tate’s job (data collection via spying on people through their webcams) feel both superfluous and thematically redundant: the idea of the alienated individual being subsumed into their occupation is clear enough without so obvious a representation of the professional encroaching on the personal.
This is a trifle though compared to the rest of the film which is constructed with a great degree of care. One of the most interesting sci-fi thrillers of recent years, Possessor is a confident and accomplished second feature for a filmmaker who seems to be living up to the legacy of his visionary father.
