Possessor Movie Review

Possessor (2020)

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Written by: Brandon Cronenberg
Directed by: Brandon Cronenberg
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
An agent works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies to commit covert assassinations for high-paying clients.

Verdict
This has an intriguing premise, but it doesn't develop anything past that. We don't delve into the characters, this business, or how a world with this capability works overall. Even the struggle between two consciousnesses is muted. The imagery is striking, but unfortunately it's stronger than the underlying story. This feels like a Black Mirror idea, but the strength of Black Mirror is how it develops all aspects of an alternate world and the ramifications that would have at large. Possessor doesn't have that broad of a look.
Skip it.

Review
Having just watched Cronenberg's Infinity Pool, I looked at his filmography and was intrigued by the premise of this movie.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) has a wild job as a contract killer that inhabits other people's bodies. It's the ultimate cover as she implants her consciousness in their mind, completes a job, kills the body she inhabits, and then exits back to her own body. There seems to be no way you could ever be caught or convicted, but I did wonder how many people know this technology exists. Based on what little we see in the movie, it's isolated.

Andrea Riseborough plays Tasya Vos

Vos has to act like the person she inhabits to maintain her cover, observing them before she takes over to learn their patterns and behavior. We also see her practicing to be herself after a job. When she spends so much time as someone else, it must be easy to lose yourself. It has to mess with your mind and perceptions. Her company does have protocols and checks to make sure she maintains a balance, but we initially have no sense of the effectiveness. As we get further into the movie, those checks don't seem to do much.

I wondered how Vos was recruited. It's crazy she has a family as you'd think that wouldn't disqualify your for these tasks, but they seem to exist more for plot reasons. How does she maintain her cover when she's living in someone else's body days at a time? This movie isn't concerned with details, just the concept. The killing doesn't seem to bother Vos. There's just a loss of self.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Andrea Riseborough play Girder, Tasya Vos

This movie enjoys showing all the gory details, it's a trademark of Cronenberg's. What I don't know is if this is gory because of the director of if Vos has become inherently cruel because of this job. She could complete these jobs much easier. The big job depicted in this movie could be completed with a single shot, but she decides to beat the person to death. Is that the character or the movie that wants to go for the grotesque? Is she like this because the job has twisted her mental state? We never know how much of what we see is Vos and how much is an act. I wish the movie explored these aspects.

From the very first scene we know Vos is having issues. This results in a difficulty to maintain control while in Colin's (Christopher Abbott) mind. He knows she's there and they fight for control. She ends up stuck in his head as Colin struggles to figure out what is happening to him, knowing there is someone invading his mind. At first I wondered how Colin was so proficient, but he has Vos's memories and likely her skills. This ends with a showdown between Colin and Vos despite them being in the same body.

This is a neat idea that I would love to see how Black Mirror would treat it. There's just too many questions about what kind of world has this kind of technology and who knows about it.