LFF 2020: Possessor
LFFMuch like his father before him, Brandon Cronenberg writes and directs an intriguing deep dive into the ideas of identity and the self with Possessor. He manages to find a unique voice to tell an ultimately familiar narrative.
It may be somewhat counterproductive to compare and contrast Brandon with the works of his close family, yet it is near impossible to miss the similarities that become increasingly prominent in the themes Possessor aims to tackle. Andrea Riseborough stars as assassin, Tasya Vos who works for a secret agency lead by Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Tasya is tasked with performing assassinations via brain-implant technology, allowing her to completely inhabit another being. Upon her merging with Colin (Christopher Abbott) to begin her next assignment, the psyche of Colin begins to slowly bleed back in, forcing Tasya and her host to fight for control of the mind before the mission is unsavable.
The set-up makes for an immediately interesting one thanks to the slow drip feed of information that Cronenberg offers up in the opening of the film, while never allowing the film to reveal all of its cards to the viewer. It’s a tough act to pull off, and it is certainly one that is executed unsuccessfully in many other films. Yet Possessor, while offering head-scratching elements, is relatively easy to follow for the entirety of the run-time, but this could be partly down to the familiarity of it all. Not to say, the story doesn’t offer any exciting twists on a narrative that one might come to expect from the king of tech-horror, Black Mirror, but there is a sense of deja-vu in it all that keeps the film from hitting the ideas it aims for.
Possessor does manage to escape familiarity with the often-horrifying visual elements that Cronenberg crafts. Karim Hussain keeps the camerawork feeling slick throughout but is really given the chance to shine through specific sequences that go all in on the intense gore that the film offers. The gore and abstract imagery in these moments might be enough to push away many audience members, but they are ultimately used by Cronenberg to further convey the core themes. The distinction between mind, body and soul is tackled with ferociousness in the film, feeling less Persona and, what will be a shock to no one, more Dead Ringers.
This does act as a double-edged sword for the film, as the harsh atmosphere that it relishes in results in some cold performances from the cast. Riseborough’s emotionally void portrayal of an assassin is certainly fitting in the narrative, but the removed moments of character development feel out of place here, resulting in a lead character that feels detached from the film as a whole. Christopher Abbott is given more to do as a result; he portrays someone struggling to keep control of their being while also giving the character slightly more depth, yet there is still much to be desired.
It is sure to be divisive, partly due to the intense gore and the abstract visuals, yet even with the varying quality of the film’s individual elements, Brandon Cronenberg has created an engaging world., For the most part, it manages to bring all the elements together for a derivative, but nonetheless, thrilling film.
