Guest reviewer Kirk Boyle:
Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession is like a classical Hollywood comedy of remarriage if it were a genre-busting, pan-European horror-of-marriage-in-freefall arthouse film wherein the couple spawns a demonic doppelganger version of itself that instigates nothing less than Cold War Armageddon, a description that I believe doubles as a recommendation. ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰
Returning guest reviewer Dr. Matthew Feltman:
The inclusion of bestiality with a sea creature might make Possession the underlying influence for The Shape of Water—if nothing else, this film has clearly influenced many filmmakers; the tracking shots lingering over abjection capture scenes of possession and madness that will scar the viewer for life, but the indelible and horrific images of a marriage gone awry keep you awake throughout the film even with a heavy-handed philosophic/psychoanalytic bent to them—this film will shake you to your core and maybe even shock you out of your own, complacent marriage bed if you are lucky enough to be in a partnership. ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰
Josh:
So there’s that scene where Isabelle Adjani is cutting meat with an electric knife while speaking angrily to Sam Neill and looking deranged, and I was a little relieved when she finally turned off the knife, but then she pulls over the meat grinder and I just had to laugh, and I’m annoyed with myself for taking so long to get to this one, because I feel like I’ll need to watch it another 20 times before I can really talk or write about it. ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰
Steph:
This film is probably about so many things, like the breakdown of a marriage or sex and power or a woman’s feelings of being trapped, among whatever else—it’s difficult to say with so much surrealism and the lack of a straightforward narrative—but I found myself in awe of its extravagance and the completely and unapologetically, over-the-top bloody mess of it all, which is testament to its ambition and choice to take risks, and the film is worth watching even if it’s only for what I’m calling The Epic Grocery Bag Freakout scene. ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 