Exorcism films crashed to an all time low with the disastrous The Devil Inside but, of course, Hollywood never grows tired of demonised youngsters. The latest to face a dousing of holy water, The Possession, is an improvement on this but is ultimately gutless and predictable, continuing to give the genre a bad name.
The Possession has the generic set up required of possessed youngster films with a little extra broken family trauma thrown in; couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) have two young daughters, Hannah (Madison Davenport) and Em (Natasha Calis), and have recently gone through a divorce. Clyde has purchased a new home and so Em persuades her father to stop at a yard sale, where Em finds and buys an antique box. Over time Em’s behaviour changes, she becomes distant and violent and Clyde realises the box has brought a curse upon his daughter.
Overall, it’s a scare-free experience, having said that, the subtleties at the beginning create an uncomfortable vibe. However, once the build-up fizzles out, The Possession relies on CGI and the story dives head first into over-the-top exorcism mood with full complement of frantic family members, a priest and a squirming young girl. It’s been done to death.
The story may not generate any originality but at least director Ole Bornedal makes it look good and we should all be thankful it’s not handheld camerawork or found footage. Unfortunately, some awkward edits and an overpowering score dampen the mood created by the initial hard work.
Holding the fort together is the cast. Natasha Calis does surprisingly well; she reaches great emotional depth and eclipses her superiors. Calis’ onscreen father, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is an appealing lead.
The Possession has its fine moments, sadly they are thin on the ground and the ending brings the film to a disappointing and foreseen close.
Ben has awarded The Possession two Torches of Truth.
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I don’t get this genre: it seems, like set theory would tell you, a null set, nothing in it except a few pieces of fluff and some green stuff – because it now consists nowadays of nothing that inhabits / renews the genre.
(In other words, possession needs to be possessed itself by some stronger spirit in the typical story-line, if it’s not to continue as a poor, feeble, supernatural depiction of mental ill-health.)
Is it the fault of all the makers of the film (cast, crew, catering) that, maybe, there’s no incentive ‘to dish up’ anything better, if the core genre audience is undiscerning and doesn’t vote with its cinema feet, but just wants to cringe and roar?
Elsewhere, has, maybe, the identity-theft theme (the most brilliant, in reverse, being Cary Grant in North by Northwest, where he has an ID forced on him, which he grows into) been revitalized in an unpredictable way by not-quite-on-the-surface The Imposter?
Even the Potter series had a possessed book (Chamber of Secrets?), but sounds to have done a lot more with it than this offering…