Possessor

Possessor
Starring Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Bean
Directed by Brandon Cronenberg

Many times a father desires their children to continue on the family legacy by doing the same type of work that they've done.  Most of the time this is blue-collar work like carrying on at a local car dealership that's been in the family line for years, or a family-owned construction company, but then there's times where the family business is showcasing your seemingly supernatural ability to get under the skin of millions of audience members by providing unforgettable films that'll shock and amaze.  Director David Cronenberg has been doing this expertly for decades in films such as "Videodrome," "The Brood," and "Scanners," and now its his son Brandon's turn to turn viewers' stomachs upside down.  He's already shown a knack for it in 2012's "Antiviral," but it's "Possessor" that truly takes the cake in unnerving, unrelenting body horror mixed with mential hysterics.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an ace at her job - which is to digitally enter the mind of another person and completely take them over to pull off an assassination and to travel back to her own body by killing the host, leaving no one the wiser.  Her business is run by Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who wishes to eventually pass the mantle of leadership to Tasya - but as she keeps going into different bodies, she becomes more hesitant to do her job, and she takes some time off to spend with her estranged husband and young son.

Returning to work anew, Tasya is given a new job - enter the body of nobody Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott) to kill the CEO of a multi-national corporation named John Parse (Sean Bean).  Tasya enters the body and all seems normal, until she begins loosing control, leading the real Colin to attempt to take over his body again before the act can be pulled off, endangering Tasya's own life and sanity in the process.

Not only is this film a body invasion type of film, but Brandon Cronenberg manages to invade our very soul with this unrelenting bloody gorefest - and yet also provide a thought-provoking script that is highly cerebral.  Cronenberg infiltrates our senses with rapid-fire edits and flashing lights that leaves us discombobulated, unsure of what we just witnessed in the most wonderful way possible.  This is a unique film through-and-through, and even though it could've focused on something more than bloody gory goodness, it's not exceptionally necessary.

The concept of a human entering another human's body and controlling them is something that hasn't been done too often in film, and more often than not it's been done for humorous intentions.  There's no humor here, no moment of laughter or brevity, no millisecond of peace.  From start to finish, it's punishing and enticing, intriguing and aggressive.  While we do see how Tasya acts in Colin's body, there could've been more to be said about the concept of a woman in a man's body and how they're perceived, but that's a small crack in an otherwise stellar story (some of the most tense moments is when Tasya first enters Colin's body and how he interacts with his girlfriend, who seems wary of what's happening, and you can sense the worry in TasyaColin's expressions). 

The performances are top notch, especially from Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Gabrielle Graham, who provides a smaller role but equally unforgettable in the film's shocking opening moments.  Riseborough shines as Tasya, a woman who's struggling with her memories and the holds she still has in this world, while letting loose in another person's body in the hopes of not forgetting who she really is - but also in a sense wanting to do that as well.  Tasya is deeply flawed and haunted, and Riseborough brilliantly plays that out.

Christopher Abbott has the hardest challenge in that he has to act like he's not himself, but much more than that - he has to act like he's not a woman in his body.  Seeing how he interacts with his girlfriend and others around him is equally strained and loose, and you can feel the tension within his own character like it's two people fighting side-by-side.  There's moments where you're not sure who's in control - Tasya or Colin - and Abbott plays it out perfectly in his expressions and mannerisms. 

Just as you'd expect from a Cronenberg - father or son - "Possessor" assaults the senses with unmitigated vigor, with flashes of light, separation of bodies, melting bodies, and everything in between.  This is juxtaposed with the literal gallons of blood being shed by the protagonists during their missions that leaves no bloody stone upturned, and under the guide of the "uncut" version, allows the true vision to be complete.  It's definitely one of those nauseating films that'll stick with you, and adds another notch on the belt of an up-and-coming visionary.

At one point in time or another, we've all dreamt of being someone else, and "Possessor" takes that desire and amps it up to a million, providing an unforgettable body horror masterpiece by the younger Cronenberg, following in his father's esteemed footsteps.

The Score: A+