The Possession

2012 "Fear the demon that doesn't fear God."
5.9| 1h32m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 31 August 2012 Released
Producted By: Ghost House Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.thepossessionmovie.com/
Synopsis

A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

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Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
lorcan-61881 During 2010-2012, a period of exorcism and possesion films came out including The Rite, Exorcismus, The Devil Inside, The Last Exorcism and of course, The Possession which came out in the Autumn of 2012 and was reportidly the last one to arrive before the trend ended. The film follows a young girl who takes in a box from a yard sale which will not open but one night, she then does and releases all kinds of malevolant evil..including the ones who want to take over her. So, one thing..this film is a possession film, so it's pure boredom, simple as. There is not any exorcism film that is actually very entertaining, the only one that sort of succeeded on that was The Exorcist. So ya, just a short review for you guys about this film, The Possession, it's good, it's not very creative but it does creative things with the story but it is VERY boring which is why everyone does not like it.
BA_Harrison The Possession—not to be confused with Possession (1981), Amityville II: The Possession (1982), The Possessed (2017), The Possession of Michael King (2014), or countless other films based around demonic possession and exorcism—is about as inspired as its title.The story is cookie-cutter stuff, The Exorcist given a Jewish spin, and sees a young girl, Em (Natasha Calis), buying a box from a yard sale unaware that it contains an evil spirit called a Dybbuk. On opening the box, Em becomes possessed by the Dybbuk, much to the horror of her recently divorced parents (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick), who call in a Jewish priest (Matisyahu) to cast the spirit out.Director Ole Bornedal rattles off all the expected genre clichés and numerous less-than-effective jump scares whilst simultaneously leaving several plot threads dangling (where did Brett drive off to after his teeth fell out? What was the significance of the moths? Why did the Dybbuk stop some people using supernatural force but allow others to seek help? Why does the spirit leave Em and enter Clyde at the end?). The result is a mediocre movie at best.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
MaximumMadness It occurs to me that there is something arguably far worse than a film falling short or turning out objectively bad. It may seem slightly strange, but even bad films have their value. They make you feel something. And while it may not be particularly pleasant, in making you feel something- even something bad, they have given you at least a bit of a fulfilling emotional experience. But what could be worse than a bad experience with a movie? A wholly empty and forgettable one. That's what.Perhaps most notable as one of the few horror movies to approach its story from the perspective of Jewish mythology and faith, "The Possession" is a 2012 horror film inspired by the alleged true story of the haunted Dybbuk Box- a container used to capture and hold a malevolent and highly malicious spirit. The story behind it is quite the fascinating one, with just enough odd coincidences and dark turns to make you question whether or not it actually be true. And perhaps the most tragic thing about this film is that despite a fairly stellar cast, a good production team and a handful of great moments, it cannot even begin to compare to the story that served as its main inspiration. Instead, it trades the mysterious circumstances of what allegedly occurred for run-of-the-mill jumps and a second-act tonal shift that leads into a prolonged and half-baked redux of old-school exorcism films. The result is a sadly disappointing and wholly forgettable experience in recycled scares and scenes we've seen done far better many a time before.Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as newly-divorced father Clyde Brenek, who is trying to maintain a healthy and positive relationship with his children despite his marriage ending. When he buys his daughter Emily (Natasha Calis) a mysterious box at a yard sale, strange phenomena begin to plague he and his children. It seems that the box has a dark and depraved history and that the malevolent spirits attached to it are trying to take over Emily's body for their own devious reasons. And so, Clyde must seek the help of the Hasidic community (including the character Tzadok, portrayed by musician Matisyahu) in order to save Emily's soul.To be fair, there are a handful of strong elements at play. Morgan and Calis make for a very enjoyable set of lead characters, and their chemistry as father and daughter is generally believable. It helps keep just enough interest for you to want to see how it all plays out. Matisyahu is also quite good in his role, and gives us a nice new take on the classic image of an exorcist. Competent visual direction by Ole Bornedal is nicely complimented with an adequately moody score by Anton Sanko. And one deliciously creepy scene involving tooth decay will make any horror fan's skin crawl. It's the one stand out scare-sequence in the entire film and it's likely the only thing that will stick with you long after you've easily forgotten everything else about it.Unfortunately, these elements are at the service of an otherwise completely and utterly unremarkable and unmemorable mish-mash of bland, undeveloped characters and plot lines. It's such a disappointment when a film tries to take a new look at familiar territory by creating new perspectives to explore... only to fall back on the most glaring and obvious of clichés and tropes. Nothing is taken proper advantage of. The idea of exploring a horror film through Jewish mythology is a lot of fun... but it's little more than an afterthought here. The demon possession angle can be fun and affords a lot of creative motifs and sequences... but we just get ho-hum retreads of sequences that we saw back in the 70's. Having a strong male character in a single father is a nice change-up to the standard use of a single-mom in similar movies... but the characters are so basic, it amounts to nothing.The fact of the matter is, the only reason I saw the film to begin with is because it was crudely shoved into a boxed-set of other much-more entertaining films I purchased (including the subversive black comedy "Cabin in the Woods" and chilling creepfest "Sinister"), and I get the feeling that was the only way the studio could move copies of it on home video. It's such a bland retread, that chances are, you won't remember it a day after you see it. And to me, that's one of the ultimate sins a movie can make.I'm giving "The Possession" a sub-par 4 out of 10. It's not offensive in any way, nor is it remarkable in any way. It's merely amongst the most forgettable horror films I've seen in recent years, and it's a real shame as there was high potential for a startling and original tale. It just failed to meet even a sliver of this potential.
ericrnolan Now THIS was a decent horror movie. "The Possession" (2012) was a well-directed and capably written yarn about a demon afflicting a divorced family via a cursed box. It had great acting all around, most notably by the possessed innocent (Natasha Calis) and especially her well meaning father (the talented and likable Jeffrey Dean Morgan). I'd give it an 8 out of 10.My quibbles were minor. This is essentially a Jewish retread of "The Exorcist" (1973), with the Catholic clergyman and demon swapped out for a rabbi and a "dybbuk" (sp?). If you've seen "The Exorcist," you've basically seen this. There is some CGI-rendered body horror that seemed gimmicky and unneeded. And I hate movies where divorced families are magically reunited after facing a challenge together. (Does this ever happen in real life?)Still, this was a scary flick and a fun watch. I'd recommend it.https://ericrobertnolan.wordpress.com/