Brandon Cronenberg's "Possessor" an arresting, visceral melding of the cerebral and corporeal

Possessor (2020)

Brandon Cronenberg already proved the poisoned apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree of auteur David Cronenberg with his bio-horror debut, 2013’s aesthetically striking and chilly “Antiviral.” Well, gird your loins for “Possessor,” his knockout follow-up that’s slightly more emotionally penetrating but nothing less than weird and uncompromising. A full-bore horror melding of the cerebral and the corporeal, this is like a one-sided body-swap movie that goes more for philosophical ideas and shocking violence than side-splitting hijinks. “Possessor” is not going to be for all eyes, but it is a disturbing and thrillingly unpredictable piece of work. 

In a world where the possibility of transferring one’s consciousness into another’s body has been achieved via brain implants, elite assassin Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) awaits her next assignment to take out a high-profile target. Her boss, Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh), runs a secret organization that specializes in assassinations. Vos is such a star that her return to normalcy with her separated husband (Rossif Sutherland) and young son (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot) is cut short by Girder. The latest mission involves John Parse (Sean Bean), the smug CEO of a tech company, and his daughter, Ava (Tuppence Middleton). When Vos receives her new proxy host, it turns out to be Ava’s boyfriend Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott), who works for Mr. Parse’s company. Vos, as Colin, must make the deaths of John, Ava, and then finally Colin himself look like a murder-suicide, but Colin is more self-willed than usual.

Despite being a chip off the old block—son shares Jennifer Jason Leigh from father’s “eXistenZ” as a puppet master—writer-director Brandon Cronenberg comes into his own with “Possessor,” a fiercely independent-minded examination of identity, free will, and remorse. From a story perspective, the film is fairly straightforward: an assassin gets too close to her target. How Brandon Cronenberg sets up everything else, though, is more complex. Cronenberg’s screenplay never digs too deep into the workings of the technology, allowing the viewer to just take it as read, but it more compellingly shows the emotional toll psychic warfare has on an agent’s psyche and personal life, ending in Greek tragedy. A chameleon from role to role, Andrea Riseborough (2020's "The Grudge") is extraordinary as Vos, and as he must, Christopher Abbott (2019's "Piercing") matches Riseborough every step of the way as Colin. Even when we are watching Colin, we feel like Vos is in there. In a bizarro yet mesmerizing sequence of vivid imagery, her face melting away to form Colin’s will sear itself into the brain. 

Brandon Cronenberg’s skills in creating a controlled tone and mood (and chilling sound design) result in an arresting, cutthroat sci-fi horror film. “Possessor” is visceral and brutally watchable, even when Cronenberg really goes there with some explicitly violent set-pieces. The opening sequence, like a punch in the face, does not mess around in setting the tone for the rest of the film. Then there’s a sequence, with a fireplace poker being taken to the skull, so shocking and gory that it’s hard to forget. Like watching a car crash, one grits their teeth but cannot look away. Quieter moments, where Girder debriefs Vos on her past memories to regain her sense of self back or when Vos must rehearse ordinary conversation before seeing her family again, are just as telling without spelling out thematic aims. Using the flesh in such audaciously strange ways to sell his ideas of control and sentience, Cronenberg is shaping up to be a master of his craft — like father, like son.

Grade: B +

NEON released “Possessor” (103 min.) in select theaters and drive-ins on October 2, 2020.