Possessor (dir. by Brandon Cronenberg, 2020)

Like father, like son. Spawning from the mind of Brandon Cronenberg, Possessor is a uniquely sickening film that won’t be quick to leave anyone’s mind. Filled with visceral, astounding violence, its psychological and graphic nature seem to be central to the mind of a creative Cronenberg. He is the son of the famous David, the godfather of body horror and director of classics such as The Fly and Dead Ringers. David can certainly be proud of his son, as Brandon’s Possessor is a horrifically savage fugue state put to film, encased within the sleek visuals of a modern sci-fi thriller.

The film’s protagonist is Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) who is the titular “possessor”. She is a corporate assassin whose consciousness is implanted into another person’s body in order to carry out a contracted killing. Those she inhabits are in close contact with the intended victim. This is so that the death can be attributed to personal motives rather than outside intervention. It’s a scary and interesting concept; identity theft cranked up to the lethal max.

After a breath-taking opening that really sets the film’s bloody tone and explains Vos’ peculiar vocation, we are introduced to her life, and how she is torn between the appetising yet mentally-straining nature of her job, and the stable hope of a normal life with her estranged husband and son. Vos takes some time off, but it isn’t long before the appeal of becoming someone else drifts back into her mind, and she takes on another high-level contract.

Her target is John Parse (Sean Bean), the owner of a massive corporation, and his daughter Ava (Tuppence Middleton). Instructed by a jealous younger son who wishes to take over the company for himself, Vos is told by her boss (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) that she is to inhabit Ava’s boyfriend Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott) to carry out the assassination. Once this has taken place, the plot soon descends into a display of a twisted identity crisis, as Tate fights with Vos for control of himself.

The nature of the story, as well as the close-up shots of human figures, makes you shockingly aware of the inner workings of your own body. At times the film unlocks some sort of primal fear of what’s within, and makes the tempting prospect of slipping into someone’s else’s shoes look like a living nightmare rather than a playful fantasy.

Riseborough is great as the weary and off-kilter Vos, but its Abbott’s performance as Tate that really steals the show. Often switching between playing Tate and Vos inhabiting Tate, he does a fantastic job of signalling his internal struggle through his dialogue and physicality.

For fans of science fiction and gory horror, Possessor is certainly for you. It’s fresh, satisfying, and offers more than enough thoughts on identity and the corporate future to ponder on. But I’m afraid for many its bodily carnage will be too much. It contains some of the most ghastly and grotesque imagery I have ever seen in a film, all of which looks startlingly realistic. I advise watching Possessor on an empty stomach, but its vile and explicit tendencies are certainly worth delving into.