POSSESSOR (2020) **

Director Brandon Cronenberg tries to show he can be a chip off the old block with the icky, moody, but empty Possessor.  Like his old man, David Cronenberg, he has a way with throwing the red stuff around.  He even uses some of the same motifs that his father trademarked throughout his career.  (There are bits that will remind you of Existenz, Videodrome, and Scanners.)  Unfortunately, just like Daddy Cronenberg, Brandon’s ice-cold aloof approach really keeps the audience at arm’s length from the characters.

Andrea (Mandy) Riseborough is an assassin who works for a mysterious organization.  During a job, her mind is connected to a random average citizen and she uses her mental energy to force them to kill her targets.  Her latest thought-controlled assassin (Christopher Abbott) doesn’t like having his noodle scrambled, so he fights back and sets out to turn the tables on Riseborough for messing with his noggin.

I like the idea of Possessor more than I liked the execution.  While the film is often gorgeous to look at (it reminded me of a Denis Villeneuve movie in some stretches), the pacing is stagnant, and the characterizations are almost non-existent.  The first act is the best as we get to learn the ins and outs of how the mind-control technology works.  Once Riseborough hops into Abbott’s body, things go out the window fast.  That’s mostly due to Abbott’s awful performance.  I know he’s supposed to be acting as if someone else is at the controls, but he at all times looks like a mannequin who just came to life.  (It doesn’t help that his character has about as much depth to him as a mannequin.)

Another issue is the subplot with Riseborough’s family.  We never really get to know them, which really takes the air out of the final scenes.  Imagine if we actually cared about any of the characters and we might’ve had a winner on our hands. 

Cronenberg does show us some quick glimpses of extreme gore here and there to justify Possessor’s existence.  The print I saw was the “Possessor Uncut” version, which adds in a couple shots of erect penises.  However, all the cocks I saw were clearly circumcised.  So much for being “Uncut”.

AKA:  Possessor Uncut.