Join the community on Revolt

If you're familiar with Discord, you'll feel right at home on Revolt. The difference? It's not a data grabber.If you continue and haven't registered yet, you can click the link again after registering to get in to the Fraemes server.

Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor

Style equals substance

Jean-Luc Godard once said, "It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to." In this case, the one who takes is Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg.

Written by

Lónsi

Sep 11, 2022

© Rhombus Media

The resemblance is obvious stylistically and thematically, but Brandon Cronenberg doesn’t seem to want to hide the inspiration, Possessor feels thoroughly original and uses the familiar as a means to drive into new unfamiliar and utterly creative spheres.

Possessor is set in a realistic future where even the most intimate cyber-surveillance of life is not only ubiquitous, but has become accepted. An allusion and extension of our current world, in which corporations penetrate the most private aspects of life and people willingly embrace it.

Cronenberg builds on this idea of a transformation towards a digital society, and pushes it further in which actual physical controls exist. Tanya Vos, the protagonist, works for a company that is capable of transferring consciousness into another body. In this way, assassinations are carried out that leave no trace of the actual perpetrator—the host becomes possessed, so to speak.

In this process, complications arise between body and mind, which becomes the central theme of this film. The duality and mutual interference of body and mind causes the protagonist to become increasingly disoriented, which also reaches us viewer through the metaphysical visualization of this conflict.

Possessor questions the influence exerted by others on the core of the own identity, which is maximized here by the conflation of consciousness. In recurring scenes where Tanya Vos has to shoot herself in the head while in possession of the other body to get back to her own, we see that she cannot separate her supposed self from this physicality.

© Kinostar

The disintegration of identity

Ambiguity is ever lingering in her actions, whether she is acting this way herself or the influence of her possessed self is an influencing force. This raises general questions about the sincerity of our sense of identity, which becomes even more apparent when Vos repeats phrases to herself before visiting her family in her own body, seemingly adjusting to the role as wife and mother—just as she has repeatedly learned to adjust herself to the other bodies as well.

The level of brutality felt, contrary to expectation, not excessive. In part, because it never seems like it’s done as a self purpose. Rather, the physical violence always feels in context and exposition of the protagonist’s inner state of mind.

In Possession, the style is also substance. The elements of body horror and the incredibly immersive dystopian world building—everything builds on each other to make us estranged from ourselves.

Alternate takes

No items found.
Cookie Consent

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.