Carrying the Cronenberg name comes with much pressure and anticipation, particularly when it comes to the world of body horror, but David Cronenberg’s son Brandon Cronenberg has already carved out his own stamp. Following Antiviral, he’s back with the horror feature Possessor, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by NEON for a release.
Starring Christopher Abbott, Andrea Riseborough, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tuppence Middleton, and Sean Bean, the film follows a company who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, and have them carry out assassinations. While I missed seeing it at Sundance, the reactions from friends painted a picture of grisly nightmares, making for what’s sure to be a must-see for horror fans.
“I think Possessor is at most loosely related to Inception,” Cronenberg told Bloody Disgusting. “It’s true they both touch on the idea that aspects of a person’s will and desires can originate outside them, but structurally my film probably has more in common with body-swap comedies. Possessor is also more focused on what it is to play a human character, on the conflict between internal and external identity, and how both those things are in some ways imposed on us.”
See the trailer and poster below.
