The Possession (2012) Directed by Ole Bornedal. Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, & Natasha Calis. IMDB says: ”A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl’s father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.”
Whoever edited the trailer for this film did a phenomenal job. I was excited to see this film from the time I first saw the preview a few months ago which makes the disappointment all the more aggravating. If you plan to watch The Possession do not rewatch the trailer. It is literally a string of practically every single scene in the movie and leaves almost nothing new to see in theaters. Even some of the plot twists are so heavily hinted in the trailer that they never come off as a surprise.
This is the most recent entry into the possession horror genre and it offers almost nothing refreshing. A young girl, Em, finds a Dybbuck box at a yard sale which is unfortunate because the box contains a malevolent spirit that would like nothing more than to inhabit Em’s body. Her parents (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick) have to find a way to help their daughter when the inevitable happens (I mean it’s in the title–obviously she has to get possessed). She also has an older sister that mostly is there to be Em’s foil as the bitchy sister to make Em seem super sweet and innocent… and to dance.
The Jewish influences on the plot offer the only interesting aspects. The Dybbuck box is based on Jewish folklore and the exorcism is attempted by a Jewish Orthodox man (played by Matisyahu). It was at least a change to have the possession based in a different religion than Christianity, but it still wasn’t handled well enough for it to resonant in any way.
The pacing and editing of this movie are the worst parts. Scenes build up to big moments with a loud, intense score to accompany it but before they have a chance to climax they cut off. Usually it cuts to an overhead establishing shot of the next scene with the same droning bell-like note. It’s incredibly tiresome and unwelcome after the second time, let alone after you realize almost every scene transition is going to do it.
The whole ordeal is tiresome. Nothing in this film is unexpected. Nothing even really works. The disturbing imagery in the trailer doesn’t even have a similar effect in the film because the surrounding scenes and build up are boring and predictable. It didn’t help that throughout the film the audience was laughing out loud at some of the more emotional moments because they just were not effective. The ending sequence attempts to go all out with the scares but at that point there’s no tension to back it up.
Do yourself a favor and skip this movie. So far this year the horror selection hasn’t been fantastic (not including Cabin in the Woods which was awesome obviously) and this is the worst of what I’ve seen. It’s tedious, lame, poorly executed, completely lifeless, and worst of all not the least bit scary.
Uuu, that’s too bad, was hoping this one won’t be awful. This sounds a lot like Unborn, which was awful and can’t imagine this one being worse than that. Shame Morgan doesn’t star in better films.
YES! The Unborn is a perfect comparison. Fantastic trailer but the film was a huge letdown. Hopefully there will be some solid horror films this season to wash the taste of this out of my mouth. It was very disappointing
I was prepared to write a companion review with you Jess but you summed everything up really succinctly. I was searching for something to like about it and constantly waiting for a glimmer of hope but it never came. What a letdown!!
Same here. I kept hoping it would get better and was really building to something but it was a complete let down. I was sort of looking forward to you ranting about this though
Shame to hear. Although I haven’t watched the trailer and never will incase I ever decide to try this. I feel like they just abused Sam Raimi’s name in all the marketing to make this seem more important than it is.
That’s very true. I wonder how much he was really involved. It’s very similar to last year’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark with Guillermo del Toro’s name being attached building up a lot of expectations but the movie ending up a complete mess.
Well damn… this looked mildly interesting. I’m tired of the possession ‘genre’ but this looked half decent, especially with Jeffery Dean Morgan as the father. At least it’s ‘original’ enough to try out another religion lol. Maybe next year we will see Confucious demons or something.
Good review!
Haha! JDM was pretty good in it but definitely not good enough to save it. I am over the possession genre too. I did really like The Last Exorcism from 2010 though. It was scary and original enough to stand out.
Oh know. I read a positive review of this one elsewhere and thought – maybe, just maybe, a supernatural horror made in America within the last decade might actually be worthwhile. But, oh know, the grim reaper strikes again and I may as well save myself a few bucks (or, Great British pounds as it is in my case).
From your review I find myself thinking – these sorts of films all tread the same ground and seem to lack an original idea within their crooked bones. Riffing off The Exorcist is fine from my point of view – most films have done that since it came out – but the best (…such as The Entity) do something unique and keep you on your toes. Today’s horrors seem to copy each other, yet they’re all making the same mistakes!
That last part is so true! You’d think filmmakers would learn by now that their audience is sick of the same tricks. Please, skip this movie because it’s very very lame.