POSSESSSOR: UNCUT (2020)
Label: Well Go USA
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 114 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo & 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh
In Brandon Cronenberg's sophomore film Possessor (2020) we have a secret black ops organization who carry-out next-level assassinations through a body-implant technology that allows a "possessor" to inhabit and control the mind of a host body. This tech allows them to get close to a high-profile target and take them out from within. The film opens with a scene of a contract killer named Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough, Oblivion) inhabiting the mind of a young woman, we see her insert a probe into the hosts skull and use some sort of recalibration device to help her maintain control of the host body. A short time later the young woman enters a club where she brutally attacks and kills the intended target. Vos's handler Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight) becomes concerned when Vos strays from the plan, stabbing the victim instead of shooting them, and then proving unable to kill herself with a gunshot to the head, which is how the "possessor" severs the connection to the host.
Inhabiting the mind of a host is not without risk to the "possessor", the human will is string and suppressing it risks losing their sense of identity during each possession. Vos's handler Girder debriefs her afterward, running her through a battery of memory-tests that confirm her memories are in fact her own. Though she passes the test Vos is clearly struggling in her personal life, the strain of the clandestine job having estranged her from her husband Michael (Rossif Sutherland, TV's Reign) and their young son Ira (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot). We see her visit with them for dinner later that night, before she enters the home she stands outside the door awkwardly rehearsing her greeting and polite conversation, her connection to them seems to be slipping away and even this casual effort to connect with them is difficult.
Later she is assigned a new high-profile target, John Parse (Sean Bean, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), the wealthy CEO of a powerful data-mining company and his daughter Ava (Tuppence Middleton, Jupiter
Ascending). The host is to be Ava's boyfriend Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott, It Comes At Night), and we se how Vos does reconnaissance to prepare for the mission, observing Tate to learn his habits and speech patterns, and later Girder's operations team abducts him and surgically implants a neural probe into his skull. Vos is them placed in a VR-type headset in a lab that allows her to project her mind via the implant into that of the host. Her handler Girder remains close by to her physical body and is able to communicate with her and guide her through the mission. Possessing Tate's proves to be a challenging proposition, during it Vos begins to experience heightened emotions and visual distortions that threaten to derail the mission, with Oliver and Vos psychically battling for dominance over the host body.
This flick is a cool piece of sci-fi that could is set in an alternate reality similar to our own, the technology is advanced but not so advanced that it boggles the mind, and it's all wrapped-up in a retro-futuristic veneer that brought to mind both Looper (2012) and It Follows (2014). The tech looks like it comes from the late-80's, it doesn't look too advanced, which I sort of liked. I also like other cool retro design flourishes like vintage cars and flip-phones, so it has a cool retro-futuristic flourishes.
The cast is fantastic, particularly Riseborough and Abbot who do great work portraying characters being inhabiting and being inhabited by each other. You feel Vos becoming unglued, her quiet breakdown chipping away at her control, and the struggle to maintain normalcy with her family is palpable. Meanwhile Abbot as Colin does solid work as someone within someone else's skin pretending to be someone else, the way he conveys the struggle within to maintain control, the duality of it, he sells it completely.
The film also has some strong violence, right from the opening scenes we see the host take out a target in a very bloody manner that will appeal to the gorehounds. Later a fire-poker is used to dispatch someone, the encounter which dislodges teeth and eye made for a difficult watch, the sound effects managing to churn my stomach just a little bit. The FX are of the practical variety throughout the film which was a nice treat, used to show not only the violence of the assassinations but also used to visualize the psychological internal struggle to maintain control of the host during a few surreal scenes that include ripping off someone's face and wearing it as a mask.
Brandon Cronenberg didn't fall far from the family tree, he definitely has a lot of his father's filmic DNA, exploring similar body-horror themes but with his own unique slant, and it makes for quite an engaging watch, this stylish and unsettling bit of sci-fi is pretty great, check it out.
Audio/Video: Possessor: Uncut (2020) arrives on Blu-ray from Well Go USA in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. Colors and contrast are strong, though the look of the cinematography varies quite a bit by design with differing shades of color saturation and contrast, so it's hard to pin down the visuals, but it looks true to the original intent and is a visually stylistic watch. We get some blue, orange and yellow hues that saturate a few scenes, which as described in one of the making-of extras were created through in-camera effect rather than through artificial color-grading in post-production, and they look great. Black are also quite nice and have decent looking shadow detail, it's a strong visual presentation of a unique looking film.
Audio comes by way of both English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is crisp and forefront, the surround mix is quite strong with good use of the directional creating a sometimes dizzying sound spaces with the more visceral scenes of violence punched up with some nerve-jangling punctuation.
Extras include eight-minutes of deleted scenes that explore Vos's mental instability as well as a strange interaction with the client who hired her. We also get a three-part making of featurette that runs about thirty-eight minutes in total examining the look and visual aesthetic of the film, the actors exploring their roles, and a cool featurette that gives a closer look at the practical special effects of the film.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the key art which is replicated on the slipcover, the disc itself features an image from the film.
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes: Panic Attack (4 min), Reid's In the Pool (3 min), Wake Up and Count (1 min) HD
- Behind The Scenes Featurettes: A Heightened World (11 min), Identity Crisis (15 min), The Joy of Practical (12 min) HD
- Red Band Trailer (1 min) HD
- Green Band Trailer (1 min) HD
- Uncut Trailer (2 min) HD
- Well Go USA Trailers: Synchronicity, Freaks, The Cutthroat City (7 min) HD
It's been eight years since Brandon Cronenberg's Anitviral (2012) and it was worth the wait, Possessor (2020) is a mind-bending and violent sci-flick flick that posits a lot of cool ideas. The Blu-ray from Well Go USA is a solid presentation of the film and we get some plentiful extras, this comes highly recommend.
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
