An unforgiving stomach-churning thriller about identity crisis and corporate espionage

By, Federico S. Gutierrez

The name Cronenberg is synonymous with the body-horror genre that exploded during the 1980s, and that is not a coincidence. Brandon is the son of legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg, and his 2020 film Possessor exhibits an indisputable correlation between both Cronenbergs’ cinematic sensibilities. 

As an admirer and a personal fan of David Cronenberg’s career of movies, it became impossible not to notice the father’s intellectual genetic imprint within his son’s own creation. The last movie directed by Cronenberg Sr., Maps to the Stars, premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and for a filmmaker who averaged a movie every couple of years, it seems like hope is fading for his return to the silver screen. Fortunately, thanks to Cronenberg Jr., there is hope remaining that his father’s relentlessly uncompromising techniques will not disappear.

 Packed with head-scratching philosophical ideas, Brandon Cronenberg’s psychological techno-thriller Possessor doesn’t beg for mass appeal, deliberately earning its R-rating due to its graphic depiction of violence. 

It opens with a shot of a woman alone in a hotel room as she plunges a needle-like object deep into her skull, blood oozing out. She then steps into an executive party somewhere down in the hotel, where she hones in on her target, an overweight drunk executive. Without a second’s hesitation, she stabs him a dozen of times until she’s bathed in his blood. In just this brief prologue, director Cronenberg is already warning us about the extreme levels of gore and unpleasant imagery that’s to come. If you find the opening scene difficult to digest, I’m afraid that it won’t get any easier and you should sit this one out.

 It’s revealed that the object the woman was inserting in her skull is a chip that allows the user’s body to be manipulated through somebody else’s mind. We’re then introduced to Tasya (Andrea Riseborough), the protagonist of the operation, and the person driving the woman’s body to cold-blooded murder. Tasya works for a secretive corporation that’s invented and successfully applied the technology for mind-control. Despite Tasya being the best agent in this new technological field, she’s nothing more than a puppet who has mastered how to be a puppeteer herself. Even though her abilities to embody somebody else’s skin, she’s not safe from the psychological damages that ensue.

 Deep beneath this premise of cold-blooded killers, there’s an interesting theme about identity crisis and how fragile and unstable we become when we commit ourselves to causes beyond our understanding – ideas which sadly remain unexplored in favor of the more aesthetically impressionistic visuals of the movie. Possessor is a visceral experience devoid of sympathy. Cronenberg, who also wrote the movie, seems to focus more on the shock elements to retain his audience, but in the process, he forgets, albeit deliberately, to flesh out the story and its characters. As a result, we start to feel repelled, rather than relinquish the movie’s brainy elements. Cronenberg’s fascinating philosophical ideas get lost by his own ice-cold narrative approach.

Cronenberg shot the movie in his home-city of Toronto. The depiction of the city’s skyline of large, glassed buildings induce a heightened sense of paranoia by making the viewer feel a little bit uneasy, as if any one of the inhabitants of those lavish penthouses is susceptible to Tasya’s unethical technological advantages. In just his sophomore feature, Brandon shows tenacity and confidence in his own vision, a characteristic crucial to any auteur sharpening his own skills. It lacks a compelling characterization to make us care for the people we’re watching and the result is the divisive piece that we got. In Possessor Cronenberg has achieved a surreal visual style that draws you in despite its gory content, but until Cronenberg finds a way to examine his character’s inner turmoils with more clarity his movies will struggle to stay relevant. 

Like his father, both Cronenbergs have a knack to creep under the audience’s skin to disturb rather than please them. Possessor may not be a crowning achievement, but it is definitely a stepping stone in Cronenberg’s portfolio. Looking ahead some years from today, I can imagine Possessor gathering a devoted cult-following audience who wait with anticipation and curiosity for the director’s next project. Yes, Possessor is gnarly and disturbing, a truly challenging watch to sit through, nevertheless, it will stick in your mind for days after, and it cements Cronenberg in the map of talented upcoming filmmakers to watch out for. Dare to watch at your own discretion, but just remember to not come in with a full stomach.

Rating: ★★½