The possession movie is becoming somewhat tiresome. After a sudden burst of regained interest in the horror sub genre in recent years it seems everyone wants to try their hand at the classic tale of a demonically possessed girl and subsequent exorcism. Ghost House Pictures’ ‘The Possession’ is no exception, apart from one overriding fact, this flick actually works.
What separates the Ole Bornedal helmed feature from its sub par counterparts is at its very core, the movie has a heart. There’s a certain level of empathy felt for these characters which is often a major missing element in most ‘exorcism’-esque movies. The families involved are the most important part of a film like this as it’s typically their most loved ones who fall victim to the evil host. The possessed individual becomes the main hub of the feature and suddenly everything points to jumps and scares more so than the shock and awe being experienced by those around.
‘Supernatural’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick play ex-husband and wife Clyde and Stephanie whom find themselves becoming even more strained by the apparent possession of their youngest daughter Em (played by Natasha Calis) after the purchase of a mysterious old wooden box from a yard sale. The box turns out to be a Dibbuk box, a Jewish box containing a malicious spirit that feeds on the living who are clueless enough to open the damn thing.
Whilst ‘The Possession’ takes a slightly alternative route religiously speaking it also manages to slow the movie down to really pull focus on the relationships between this modern family unit. The ever changing attitudes and behaviour of Em is often brushed off as ‘acting out’ towards the break up of the parents but of course this is more than just a little princess having a major strop. It becomes the responsibility of her estranged father to re-engage with her daughter’s life when he discovers that she is having her strings pulled by the foulest of demons.
The movie itself isn’t overly scary when compared to similarly themed horrors in the genre which may be a reflection of its PG-13 certification in the US. It’s unclear whether this was its intention and Bornedal’s skillful hand that helped keep the story its main focus and to not rely so much on heaps of cheap shocks or a more forceful hand from the studio intervened during production. Either way its subtlety seems to work well.
OVERALL SUMMARY
‘The Possession’ itself isn’t a life changing experience and won’t exactly blow any doors wide open in the genre but is still an effectively crafted piece of work that overshadows its equivalents. The performances are solid and the young Natasha Calis is particularly outstanding with her tough role.
