Possession, short movie (2016) - Film review by Kadmon

Possession, short movie (2016)
image © Pixel Pictures

Article updated: 2021.06.23

The Possession (2016) is a fantasy thriller short film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.

Product: Possession, short movie (2016) - Film review by Kadmon

Original title: Possession

Series: -

Setting: alternate Earth

Product type: Film, Genre: fantasy thriller, Style: fantasy, thriller, short film, mystery

Release: 2016.03.26

Watched: very recent (2021.03), first time

Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)

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This is my review of Possession, a fantasy thriller short movie from 2016. It's about a man, whose kid starts to act strangely. The Possession short film is average, but the concept interesting, I recommend it if you don't have better things to watch.

If you'd like to be surprised by the Possession film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:20, because it gives away all of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the film, up to the ending scene, so if you watch the trailer all the way through the end, you don't need to watch the full movie any more.

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Review (spoiler-free) - Possession, short movie (2016)

Somebody recommended this movie, and when I had the chance, I've watched it. I didn't know anything about the story, not even the genre. I didn't watch the trailer before watching the film.

The film is about a father, whose kid starts to act strangely, so he tries to close him into his house, but his mother calls the police to help her get the kid back.

The story is okay. It's short, so it doesn't waste time. There are no character arcs, or an overarching story, it's just a single situation with a twist. The concept of the story is interesting.

The cinematography is okay. It's not especially interesting visually, but you can see what is happening. The special effects are okay, not stellar, but they work for the film.

The characters are not very deep, and not very interesting, but they are enough for this story. The actors are a little wooden, the kid especially. They didn't feel to act naturally, but considering that this is some low budget indie film, I don't think that's much of a problem.

I can't remember the music, so I assume it was okay.

I think this could be an interesting watch if you are into short fantasy thrillers, and don't expect much, especially if you can find it on a subscription based streaming service, so you don't have to pay extra for it.

My experience

I was mostly satisfied with Possession (2016). I liked the concept, and while the execution was average, it didn't bore me.

Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Possession is not a well-made film.

Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). It was watchable. The concept was more interesting than the execution.

Rewatchability: I don't think there's anything in this film that would make it anyone want to watch it again.'m not sure.

Chance of watching it again: Nope. This was just enough.

Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure be interested in watching it.

Will you enjoy this?

If you like mystery or thriller movies, you might like Possession.

If you prefer straight horror or action thriller movies (Alien, Freddy, Omen), it's probably not the film for you.

Watching for plot points

If you are interested in fantasy thriller stories, you might find it's worth watching the Possession movie for the plot points.

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Possession, short movie (2016)
image © Pixel Pictures

Review with spoilers - Possession, short movie (2016)

I liked the Possession movie.

Cover

The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.

The trailer

The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the short movie.

If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Possession film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.

Promise of the first scene

There's going to be a guy who'll have something to do with either the meteor shower and the alien he has hit with his car.

Execution: It was fine, we got the aliens, although the meteor shower was left out.

Plot summary / Synopsis

A man is driving through the woods. He hits some strange creature with his car.

Later we see that police officers are called by the man's wife, as he doesn't want to let anyone in his house, or let his kid out of the house. The man says that the kid has changed, he acts strangely. A psychologist arrives and convinces the man to let them in. After talking to the kid, they decide to let the psychologist hypnotise him. In the hypnosis, the kid reveals that there's something there with them, a visitor in his head. The psychologist asks the kid to let the visitor speak. The visitor in the kid tells that the man hit him with his car, and then he died, so he took the kid's body so he can live on. He tells them that he is going to be their new god, and controls the minds of the policemen to take their guns, shoot the others then themselves. He tells there's something left of the kid so he can't hurt the father. Then the kid leaves.

The setting

Contemporary alternate Earth.

There is an alien / demon who was in the woods, and who wants to take over the Earth.

Possession, short movie (2016)
image © Pixel Pictures

The creature

It had a physical form of a small humanoid. Hitting it with a car, and some kicking was able to kill its body. We don't know if it was its original body, or an already possessed one. The creature could transfer his consciousness into a child.

It is able to demand acts by nearby people, for example, when it was thirsty, it was given a glass of water. It can also possess people, and use their bodies.

It seems like the child was able to withstand the possession, at least in the first days, and didn't let his father to be hurt by the creature inside.

It is able to read thoughts of nearby people. Whether just surface thoughts, or any kind of memories, it's not revealed.

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Possession, short movie (2016)
image © Pixel Pictures

Analysis of the story - Possession, short movie (2016)

I liked the story, I didn't find problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Possession.

The only thing that comes to my mind is that we probably wouldn't need the flashback with the alien, but as the look of the creature adds to the film itself, it's okay to have it there. It doesn't hurt the movie.

The message of the story

I'm not sure there's one. "If you hit aliens/demons with you car, make sure they are really dead"?

The structure of the story

The scenes of the Possession film are mostly played in sequence, but in the end, we switch back after the first scene, so we can see the creature the man hit with his car.

It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.

Things I liked

• The concept of the story
• The look of the creature was good

Unanswered questions

• Where did the creature come from? Is it an alien, or some kind of demon?

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Possibilities of improvement

How it could have been better?

Hire better actors.

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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?

As far as I know, I haven't seen any other works of the writer / director (Ben Carland). Possession is not a bad movie, so I'll be interested in his future works.

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Possession, short movie (2016)
image © Pixel Pictures

Uses for the film - Possession, short movie (2016)

Plot

• Aliens/demons can possess the bodies of people (or at least the bodies of kids)
• The possessed people do not let their loved ones to get hurt

Scenes

• The shot of the creature at the end might be used to depict some alien / demon

Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas

• One of the forces have a leader with special abilities. When he has line of sight to enemy units, he can try to control them. On a 1-2 on a d6 dice, he can control their actions for that turn. He can even order them to attack themselves, that inflicts full damage, as they won't defend. Or this could be a roll for both sides, and if the enemy leader rolls higher, he can take control. Or if the game has intelligence or willpower statistics, the targeted units can test for that. If their test is a success, they are not controlled. The source of the control can be some super-natural power, high-tech gadget, or it can be mundane, for example, there's a civil war, and the leader is respected by both sides (although that won't allow to order them to commit suicide).
  
  • The control could be limited to non-leader units, or robots, animals.
• There is a special ability that lets one of the forces possess members of the other force. The target of that ability can roll some tests to refuse the control (like in the previous scenario). If they are taken, from that turn, the enemy can control the possessed member, until they choose another target. If it is done by some high-tech gadget, they can only target people in the range of the device, and they need to be in line of sight. If it is some super-natural entity that possesses the targets, it can only transfer to other targets if it has line of sight to them.
  • The possessed member doesn't hurt his superiors or members of his own squad. Any other unit in his own force is fair game to be attacked by the possessed.

Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)

Father: Human-sized (S3) male civilian, with no weapons.

Mother: Human-sized (S3) female civilian, with no weapons.

Boy: Any kind of young male civilian, with no weapons. Although I'd choose one that looks intense or malicious.

Psychologist: Older Human-sized (S3) male civilian, with no weapons. Possibly overweight and bald, with a beard.

Police officers: Human-sized (S3) police officers. There are a couple of policemen out there for modern games that could fit. Weapons probably shouldn't be in their hands.

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Similar stories - Possession, short movie (2016)

Movies

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982): Alien creature is found by a family. ET is more kid-friendly, and an overall better movie than Possession.

The Exorcist (1973): A child is possessed by an evil entity. The Exorcist is more interesting than Possession.

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Frequently asked questions - Possession, short movie (2016)

Is Possession film based on a book or comics?

No, as far as I know, Possession is not based on either books or comics.

Is there a post credit scene in Possession?

No, as far as I remember, there's no post credit scene in Possession.

Where can I watch Possession online? / Is Possession available on Netflix?

At this moment (2021.03.28), I've only found Possession on Amazon Prime Video.

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Resources - Possession, short movie (2016)

Official

Information

IMDB: Possession (2016): Database article.

Letterboxd: Possession 2016: Database article.

Reviews with no spoilers - Possession, short movie (2016)

Reviews with spoilers - Possession, short movie (2016)

: Review article of the movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.

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Buying the product - Possession, short movie (2016)

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Have you seen the Possession film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!