Possessor (film)

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a corporate agent who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of the company. While she has a special gift for the work, her experiences on these jobs have caused a dramatic change in her, and in her own life, she struggles to suppress violent memories and urges. As her mental strain intensifies, she begins to lose control, and soon she finds herself trapped in the mind of a man (Christopher Abbott) whose identity threatens to obliterate her own.

— Sundance Film Festival[1]

• Andrea Riseborough as Tasya Vos
• Christopher Abbott as Colin Tate
• Rossif Sutherland as Michael Vos
• Tuppence Middleton as Ava Parse
• Jennifer Jason Leigh as Girder
• Sean Bean as John Parse
• Kaniehtiio Horn as Reeta
• Raoul Bhaneja as Eddie

In May 2018, it was announced Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott had joined the cast of the film, with Brandon Cronenberg directing from a screenplay he wrote. Fraser Ash, Niv Fichman, Kevin Krikst, and Andrew Starke will produce the film under their Rhombus Media and Rook Films banners. Telefilm Canada will produce the film, while Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada.[3] In February 2019, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stacy Martin and Sean Bean joined the cast of the film.[4] In May 2019, Tuppence Middleton joined the cast of the film.[5]

On November 2018, Well Go USA Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film.[7] The film later had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020.[1][8] Shortly after, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film, with Well Go USA only handling the film's home media release.[9]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Possessor holds an approval rating of 93%, based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 7.94/10.[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]

Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gave the film a score of four-and-a-half out of five, writing: "Like dad David Cronenberg, Brandon Cronenberg has a unique way of testing the boundaries of comfort and exploring the human mind and body in squeamish fashion."[12] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film's direction, visuals, as well as its performances, and special effects.[2] Rob Hunter of Film School Rejects gave the film a positive review, writing: "While Possessor retains his family's love of body horror and morally misused electronics it also manages an engrossing pace, engaging characters, unrelentingly brutal violence, erect penises, a must-own Halloween mask, a mean-spirited Sean Bean, one hell of an ending, and more [...] All of it, though, is fantastically and cruelly unforgettable."[13]

JoBlo.com's Chris Bumbray gave the film a score of eight out of ten, stating that the film 'recalls many of his father David Cronenberg's previous works", Bunbray further praised Abbott and Riseborough's performances, as well as similar praise towards the film's visual style.[14] David Ehrlich from IndieWire gave the film a grade of "B-", praising Cronenberg's direction as well as the film's cinematography, visuals, and performances, while also stating it did not fully realize its potential.[15]

• Possessor on IMDb
• Possessor at Metacritic
• Possessor at Rotten Tomatoes