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Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

Article updated: 2023.06.19

The Possessor Uncut (2020) is a futuristic drama film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.

Product: Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

Original title: Possessor Uncut

Series: -

Setting: future Earth

Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic drama, Style: futuristic, sci-fi, drama, thriller, horror, violence

Release: Premiere: 2020.01.25 (Sundance Film Festival), Release: 2020.10.02

Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them

Watched: very recent (2021.10), first time

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

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This is my review of Possessor Uncut, a futuristic drama movie from 2020. It's about a secret agent, who uses high-tech to commit criminal acts, get into a bad situation. The Possessor Uncut film has some interesting parts, but I only recommend it to fans of the genre.

If you'd like to be surprised by the Possessor film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer at all, because it gives away too much of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the film, up to the ending scene, it's only the very end we are not shown.

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Review (spoiler-free) - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

I've found this movie a while ago, and I even started watching the first couple of minutes when I stopped, because it didn't seem like the movie I wanted to watch at that time. I've read some marketing articles about it, and it made me want to watch it less, as they boasted about how bloody and violent this movie is, and I'm not fond of films like that. The cover image is also disturbing. I might have watched the trailer at the time, but I don't remember anything about it.

The Possessor movie is about a secret agent, who uses high-tech to commit criminal acts, get into a bad situation.

The story is good, it has some nice twists. The pacing is consistent. There's a character arc, although I would have wanted to see it established better. There were no major logical problems for me.

The cinematography is okay. Visually it's not very interesting. The action scenes are straightforward and brutal.

We don't really get to know the characters. Their portrayal by the actors is fine.

The music (by Jim Williams) was mostly unnoticable for me, so I think it was the right choice for the movie. When it's noticable, it's unnerving, but that was also fine.

Possessor is a futuristic drama with twists, I think only fans of the genre might enjoy it, but I don't recommend it to others.

My experience

I wasn't really satisfied with Possessor (2020). The basic idea is interesting, but it was more tiresome to watch the events unfold, than thrilling to see the twists.

Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). Possessor is a watchable, but not a perfect film.

Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). Possessor has interesting parts, I liked it.

Rewatchability: I'm not sure. I think it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested.

Chance of watching it again: I don't think so. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again.

Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it.

Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

Will you enjoy this?

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

If you like straight horror or action thriller movies, you might like the film, although there are not many action scenes or scary scenes in the Possessor movie.

If you like techno-thrillers, you might like Possessor, although the focus is not really on the thriller parts.

If you prefer visuals over story, you'll probably find this movie boring.

If you hate violence and gore in movies, Possessor Uncut is not for you. Probably the cut version is more safe, but I'm pretty sure that's also just as violent.

If you have problems with frontal nudity, there are scenes where naked people are fully visible.

Watching for plot points

If you are interested in high-tech crime stories, I think it's worth watching the Possessor movie for the plot points.

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Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

Review with spoilers - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

I liked parts of the Possessor movie, but somehow the film as a whole didn't really catch my tastes.

Cover

The cover of the movie is creepy, it might keep the audience away. It sure kept me away for a long time.

The trailer

The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the movie.

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

Promise of the first scene

People are being used as puppets to commit crime. I assume we'll see who does this. I also assume one of the puppets will get free, and fights back.

Execution: We did see it's an agency. There was really a puppet that fought back, but got killed in the process, without changing anything.

Plot summary / Synopsis

A woman (Gabrielle Graham as Holly Bergman) sticks a needle into her brain that connects to a machine that makes her feel different emotions. Then we see her enter as a staff member into a party. She grabs a knife, and kills one of the guests, and nobody stops her. Then she takes a gun she had in her bag, and says "pull me out", and then she looks confused. Then cops arrive, and she tries to shoot them, but she is shot by the police, and when she falls unconscious, one of the police executes her with a headshot.

We see a frail woman (Andrea Riseborough as Tasya Vos) get out of a machine. She is a member of an agency. She is told that the host is confirmed to be dead. Her handler tests her in an interview if she has her normal memories, and didn't get any fake ones from the host. She says she want's to have some free time to meet with her husband, who have separated from her.

The frail woman visits his husband and son, and they spend a night together. During the time she has vision of the murder she commited at the party. She doesn't feel comfortable with her family, so she asks for a new job.

The new client wants to inherit a large corporation, and in order to do that, she has to kill a couple family members. Her masters also want to take over the corporation, as they will be able to blackmail the client.

They catch the target man (Christopher Abbott as Colin Tate). She possesses the man. The plan is to make the man seem instable, then he'll kill the intended targets, then kills himself. After some time spent together, the man feels strange to his wife. He is slow in his work. He has some kind of panic attack, and leaves the workplace. Then, he goes to the party, stabs the intended target, and kills his own wife, but unable to kill himself, and the possessor is unable to leave the body.

The man hides at the place of his former girlfriend. It turns out that the intended target, though critically wounded, but still alive. A workplace friend visits him, then attacks him as he turns his back. It turns out that the friend was a plant by the agency to take care of him. Now he tries to recalibrate the body. It looks like the host is able to dominate the mind of the controller. When he wakes up from the effect, the friend is dead, and he also finds the ex-girlfriend shot, probably killed by himself.

Accessing the controller's memories, he visits the house of her husband. He holds the gun to the husband, and tells the controller to leave him alone, otherwise he'll shoot the husband. She says that he can go on. He kills the husband and the kid, but gets a deadly wound from the kid. The kid was also controlled by her handler.

It seems that in order to get free from her family attachments, she wanted to have her own family dead.

She wakes up, and gets tested.

The setting

The story is set in the future of Earth. Probably 2050s or something like that. (Edit: The writer/director said that in his mind, the story is set in an alternate 2008, but there's no reference to this in the movie.)

Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

The mind control technology

They catch the target, and sedate them. Then they drill into their heads to create a neural web that will allow a controller to take over the target's body. It takes 4 hours to complete this. The web will dissolve in 5 days.

Then the controller enters the target, gets used to the new body.

They have a small device they can use to recalibrate the neural web, by sticking the needle in the brain.

While the controller controls the target, their own body lays in a special bed, attached to medical machines.

The controllers might start to loose their own personality, so they are tested after each mission if they retain their own feelings. Tasya Vos had to recite her lines when she was preparing to meet her husband, so she could stay in-character. Having a family or friendly attachments is problematic, as it's stressful to maintain the charade, this is why it's advantageous to have no attachments.

It's not clear if the subjects of possession may recover from this without further problems.

The message of the story

I'm not sure there's one. "You won't be a seriously good assassin, until you get rid of your family"?

The structure of the story

The scenes of the Possessor film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline.

The viewpoint character is Vos, and the people she controls.

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

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Things I liked

  • I liked it that the mother is controlling the minds of people with technology, and her son controls robot puppets with programs he writes.
  • I liked the data-mining scene, it's nice to see the mind-numbing job in a movie.

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

I haven't seen any other works of the writer / director (Brandon Cronenberg).

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Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

Analysis of the story - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

I mostly liked the story, I didn't find major problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Possessor, although I've found minor ones .

Problematic elements

The title: "Possessor" sounds like some horror B-movie.

Lack of security at the party: How was the woman able to get a gun into the party? Where were the bodyguards and security personnel when she stabbed the man?

Execution by the police: Was the policeman who shot her in the head part of the conspiracy? Otherwise it would seem really excessive to kill a person that's already knocked out.

Police investigation: How come nobody notices that someone drilled a hole in the heads of every recent killer?

Stoic victim: The father is so stoic it leads to his defeat. A normal human would probably take a murder attempt a bit more seriously.

The last test: According to WikiPedia, it's significant that Vos doesn't feel guilty about killing the butterfly. However, we don't really get to see the full scene, so she might express guilt later. If this was important, it could have been more pronounced.

Unanswered questions

What happened to the father, the original target? Did Vos complete her objective?

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Possibilities of improvement

  • Add some text implying that the father has taken sedatives, that's why he cannot fathom that his life is in danger.

How it could have been better?

Focus more on the parts that Vos is too attached to a family that she doesn't really love. It seemed to me that she really loved her son.

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Possessor Uncut, movie (2020) - Film review by KadmonPossessor Uncut, movie (2020)
image © Rhombus Media & Rook Films

Uses for the film - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

Plot

  • There's a technology to mind-control people.
  • A secret organisation is using high-technology to commit crimes in secret.

Scenes

  • When the controller is tested, it's a good scene to show testing people's personality.
  • The data-mining scene is a great way to show what data-miners do.

Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas

  • You are tasked with the assassination of a target, during a party. You are able to use mind control to choose any single person who attends the party. You have to find a way to spend some time alone with that person for the mind control to work. During the party, you have to find a way to murder the target, find a weapon, and find a way to get close to him.

Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas

  • The attacker side has the ability to control some sleeper agents (they get one agent for every defender squad, or a some army points to spend on the defenders units). The playing area is the base of the defender, it has some places to provide possible objectives. The objective of the attacker is to activate / destroy one of the objectives, or kill / capture on of the characters. The defending player chooses their army. Then the attacker takes pieces of paper, writing the distinctive marks on the models they've chosen as sleeper agents. After the playing area is set up, the defender can place their models anywhere. Even patrol routes can be determined for the units. Then, at the beginning of every turn, the attacker has the chance to show one of the pieces of paper to activate the sleeper agent, and make an action with it. Otherwise, the defender player can move their units. If the sleeper agent moves against their commands, and leaves their squad, the first action of the defender can be only to stop the agent. If the sleeper agent moves more than once, or acts against personnel or objects, they are considered an enemy, and they can be attacked. The controller can leave the agent for another sleeper agent at the beginning of any turn. Then the new agent is activated, and the previous agent falls unconscious, and leaves the game. If the attacker runs out of sleeper agents, the game ends. The attacker wins, if they are able to complete their objective. The defender wins, if they can prevent the attacker from winning.
    • Harder version: There's a normal game setup, with two forces. However, one side has a controller unit, and they have a number of models in the force of the other side as sleeper agents. This controller can only control the models, if they are in range, so they have to move closer to the chosen agent they want to activate. If there are more than one controllers in the force, any controller can control any sleeper agents. They can choose to take over a sleeper agent the other one leaves it.
      • Harder version: If there are more than one controllers in the force, then each of them have separate sleeper agents they can activate, they can't mix them.

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

Controller: Human-sized modern/futuristic human with a device on head, lying on a medical bed.

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Similar stories - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

Movies

Being John Malkovich (1999): An innocent guy is being possessed by people. It's not as violent, but similarly dark as Possessor.

eXistenZ (1999): Violent futuristic thriller.

Please Speak Continuously and Describe Your Experiences as They Come to You (2019): Short movie that inspired Possessor.

Venom (2018): An alien creature takes control of an innocent guy, and uses his body to kill a businessman (also controlled by an alien). Venom is a violent, but more comedic.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020): The ghost of a man takes control of an innocent guy, and uses his body to fight a businessman. WW1984 is a more action-oriented movie, and less serious than Possessor.

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Frequently asked questions - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

Is the Possessor film based on a book or comics?

No, Possessor is not based on either books or comics.

Is there a post credit scene in Possessor? Does Possessor have end credit scenes?

No, there's no post credit scene in Possessor Uncut.

Where can I see Possessor Uncut? Where can I watch Possessor Uncut online? Is Possessor Uncut available on Netflix? Is Possessor Uncut on Amazon?

As of 2022.10.17, Possessor Uncut is on Apple TV, Microsoft Movies.

The original Possessor is available on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube (not available?).

Is there a sequel to Possessor?

As of 2023, there's none. However, Brandon Cronenberg, the writer/director of Possessor told that he has some ideas for a Possessor sequel.

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Resources - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

Official

Rhombus Media: Possessor: Official article.

Rook Films: Possessor: Official article.

Information

IMDB: Possessor (2020): Database article.

WikiPedia: Possessor (film): Database article.

Letterboxd: Possessor 2020: Database article.

Rotten Tomatoes: Possessor 2020: Database article.

TVTropes: Film / Possessor: Database article.

Creation

: Concept art article.¤

Reviews with no spoilers - Possessor film (2020)

: Review video about the Possessor film with no spoilers.¤

Reviews with spoilers - Possessor film (2020)

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

Analysis - Possessor movie (2020)

Movie-Censorship.com: Possessor: Analysis video, showing the differences between the original Possessor, and Possessor Uncut.¤

 

https://www.creepyshake.com/possessor-uncut-2020-rd8yjfgvuhzv

https://times-herald.com/news/2020/10/possessor-uncut-the-cronenberg-horror-brand-liveth

https://www.thefilmyap.com/movies/possessor-uncut/

http://www.cinedump.com/reviews/2020/10/7/possessor-uncut-2020

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2020-11-06/under-the-skin-brandon-cronenberg-on-possessor-uncut/

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-10-08/possessor-uncut-brandon-cronenberg

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Buying the product - Possessor Uncut, movie (2020)

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Have you seen the Possessor Uncut 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!

 

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