The Possession (2012) Movie Review
Directed by Ole Bornedal
Starring Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick
Reviewer: Jamie Jenkins 

The Possession has been doing well so far so I decided to toss it some opening weekend dollars. Truthfully, I have been waiting for this flick to come out for quite a while. I enjoy possession movies when they are done well. The unfortunate part of that is that well done possession movies are extremely rare. Of course, every one of them will be held up to The Exorcist since they all deal with the same subject matter. That’s one thing The Possession has going in its favor. Yes, it is about an evil spirit possessing a little girl, but this time they’re not Catholic. That’s new. You know the old adage that everything in horror films happens to Catholics. If you don’t, it’s out there. Think about it.

In Bornedal’s The Possession, the spirit in question is of the Jewish tradition. So, instead of seeking the aid of priests, Em’s father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan / Dead and Breakfast, Supernatural) must turn to the Hasidic community for help when his daughter begins exhibiting strange behavior. He is met, not with skepticism which is the usual default response, but, with an understanding all too clear. These Rebbes have no interest in getting involved in the problem because this particular brand of evil can jump into anyone once someone attempts to exorcise it. The risk is too great.

But we aren’t there yet. Let’s back up. Our story begins with Clyde (Morgan) picking up his daughters for the weekend from his ex-wife’s (Kyra Sedgwick) house. He takes them to the new house he bought. That weekend he stops at an estate sale with his daughters where his youngest, Em (Natasha Calis), finds and purchases an old wooden box which strikes her fancy. It is nearly impossible to open and boasts Hebrew letters carved on the outside. Once home with it, Em develops an unhealthy attachment to the box and bizarre things begin to happen. This leads to Clyde asking a colleague about the relic and, in turn, seeking the help that I described earlier.

Now here’s the breakdown. The movie is beautiful. It’s capably shot and edited and the actors all did a good job if some of them were uninspired (I’m talking to you, again Grant Show). The score seemed a bit anorexic but sound design may have taken some cues from The Exorcist, though not enough to make it good. I have no complaints about the technical aspects of the film. The pacing, however, left me scratching my head. In my experience, fans will sit through a lengthy film if it is a quality film. This one seemed to think it was in some sort of race. I found that many things were assumed and glossed over, yet it was well into the running time before anything happened. Even then, I didn’t really feel like anything happened. We were at the big, final battle before I knew it, that was a slapdash affair, and it was over. There I was, sitting through the credits thinking, “well okay, that’s it, I guess.” As I exited the theater, I was contemplating my feelings over this film. I wanted to really like it. I thoroughly enjoyed Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s work and was pleased with the originality of the idea. But overall, The Possession remains timid (apart from a few jump scares, regardless how effective) and rushed to an unsatisfying conclusion.