The Possession - Movie Review

Movie Review

The Possession is a fairly pedestrian horror tale, with a Jewish-themed monster/demon. The story centers around Em (Natasha Calis), who lives with Mom (Kyra Sedgwick) and older sister Hannah (Madison Davenport). Divorced dad Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is still trying to be part of his children’s lives, a la Mrs. Doubtfire, but he just can’t get do anything right in his ex-wife’s eyes. Dad buys Em an old wooden box at a yard sale, after which she begins to act very strangely indeed.

This one is based on a true story, and while the buildup was decently done, the payoff was lacking.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in a familiar role here, the devoted dad dealing with supernatural forces-John Winchester as a basketball coach. He does as well as he can with a humdrum script. Kyra Sedgwick, on the other hand, seems to be just going through the motions.

Thirteen-year-old Natasha Calis shows amazing range playing ten-year-old Emily–the role requires instant changes in her entire persona: her facial expression, posture, attitude, etc. all completely different in the blink of an eye. The makeup effects accompanying her transformations are first-rate: they begin as subtle differences and build up to more extreme changes.

Jewish-rapper Matisyahu is wonderful as Tzadok, with the perfect blend of innocence and wisdom, but the script gives him a predictable storyline with very little to do. From the moment he appears on screen, I was waiting for him to break from his obvious destiny. He didn’t.

Oddly, the Dad who spends weekends with his kids notices what’s going on, while Mom is completely oblivious. When things are called to her attention, she is quick to trivialize problems and dismiss them as a result of stress from the parents being divorced. You can tell that the source material came from the Dad’s point of view.

The villain of the piece, the dybbuk box, isn’t consistent in its abilities or what it’s trying to do. Sometimes it’s attacking random people, at other times it’s going after Emily with a specific goal in mind.

Partway through the movie, there’s a sequence that comes across as dreamlike–despite none of the characters being asleep. It doesn’t fit in with the overall tone of the rest of the movie at all.

The special effects are uninspired, including a lot of bugs. The lighting came right out of the horror movie handbook. The music did a good job of setting the mood, but the whole movie was creepy more than scary, and just not that interesting.

Honestly, given the caliber of the cast, I expected a better movie.

In the end, I kept waiting for Sam and Dean to show up . . .

Elektra Hammond
Buzzy Mag Editor & Reviewer