The Possession (2012) - Film Review

Director: Ole Bornedal

Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgewick, Natasha Calis, Madison Davenport, Matisyahu

MPAA Rating: Rated PG13 for Mature Thematic Material Involving Violence and Disturbing Sequences

 

A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

 Story:

THAT WAS ACTUALLY REALLY DUMB!

                                     Okay, the story of this film is one that has been done to death. The young girl possession film has been played out in every imaginable way that this film had a lot riding on it from the beginning and its sad to say that the story comes off very generic only offering a few actual terrifying moments. The whole premise of the story comes off the two main parents (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedewick) who are recently divorced and the problems it puts on their kids. The subplot of the film came of like an ABC Family television drama and felt too fake and at times took away from the main purpose of the story. Once the possession actually occurs, the film does pick up and you get more engaged into the film. The demon is very possessed and one of the more threatening demons that has been featured in possession films in a long time. If the film would have focused on that part of the story more throughout then more in the last act of the film instead of the generic family drama than the story could have been a lot better. I understand a film needing that grounded familial element, but the way its done in the story is so generic that you actually catch yourself looking at your watch hoping for things to eventually pick-up.


Acting:

                                     The acting of the film was also pretty generic. Most of the actors in the film felt like they were playing caricatures instead of real people in the film. The only two stand-outs in the film were Natasha Calis, who played the possessed girl, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. With Natasha Calis, what really impressed me most with her was that she did a really good job playing the slow mental descent of this young character. With most kid actors they usually come off annoying and unimpressive but this young girl was actually really terrifying and I was impressed with her. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, played the father of this film, and I felt like he was the most real character in this film. Every witty line of dialouge or real moment in the film was given to him. He came off really relatable as a guy who was trying to balance his job as a basketball coach and as father and best of all when all of this possession stuff actually starting happening. He was smart an actually acted reasonable while the rest of the characters were just wodden with them either crying or holding their mouths in shock at what was happening. I mean why they were all doing this, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, decided to contact a Jewish Rabbi to exorcise his daughter (Okay that just sounded stupid).

Directing:

                                         The directing of the film is where I believe the film falters most. The biggest complaint and one of the most notable of the entire film is the cut shots. When a scary or suspensful scene occurs and the music starts playing it just quickly cuts to a quiet shot to something completely unrelated and is very choppy in editing. This is notable in most films but with this happening throughout the entire film this becomes very annyoing and just makes them film look poorly made. Like I stated in the story portion of the film, the film picks up dramatically to where you feel real supsense. The director did a good job of using genuine horror like the exorcism scene instead of cheap jump scares. With everything else in this film if this portion could have been more consistent throughout, this film as a whole could have been a lot better,
 

 Final Thoughts:

                                Overall if you've been waiting for a great possession film, this isn't the saving grace of the genre but if you're looking for a possession film that offers a few decent scares with a great conclusion than the "Possession" is for you. What hinders the film most is that they focus most of their attention to the main plot, the backstory's to the characters become boring with generic stories and boring acting outside the main two. When you're film has very much importance given to your supporting cast its hard to care for them and everything they are going through. Overall this is a film I would recommend waiting until DVD to watch as while its a fine time at the movies, its nothing I'd recommend running out to see. Thanks for reading and this has been TheCriticSpotlight.

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Final Grade:  B-