Typically, movies surrounding possession really don’t creep
me out the way they do most people. Though
I have seen countless movies with this theme, I have never lost a night’s sleep
after watching one. This movie may be
the exception to the rule.
Directed by Ole Bornedal, The Possession stars Jeffrey Dean
Morgan and Krya Sedgwick as newly divorced parents with two daughters. One weekend Clyde
takes his daughters to a yard sale where his youngest daughter, Em, is drawn to
a mysterious wooden box with strange carvings on it. Unaware that the box is haunted by a
malicious spirit, Em opens the box unleashing the entity who seeks to take over
the young girl’s life. After several weeks of Em exhibiting strange behavior, Clyde begins to suspect that something more is going on
with his daughter. When his ex-wife
brushes her behavior off as a symptom of their divorce, Clyde
begins to do his own research on the box and its origins discovering its
terrible history.
Though the subject of a haunted object, or even the
possession of a young girl, is far from new, the execution of this story definitely
sets it apart from the rest. The acting
by everyone, especially that of Natasha Calis who plays Em, is well above bar
and the pacing, though slow at first, pulls you through the story at a
reasonable pace. Where most movies focus
primarily on the possession itself, this movie focuses more on the family and
the devastating effects through the steady change in Em’s behavior. The “shock-and-awe” scenes are subtle and the
movie doesn’t focus on gore like most of its brethren. Though there wasn’t any head spinning in the
movie, I’m not sure that I will be able to look at the back of my throat the
same way again.
This concludes day 5 of my 31 Days of Horror and so far I am
not terribly disappointed in Netflix’s choices so far.
Here’s to 26 more days...
Comments
Post a Comment