Ava's Possessions

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a priest (John Ventimiglia) successfully completing an exorcism on Ava (Louisa Krause), who is stunned to find that she has spent the last 28 days possessed by the demon Naphula. She's initially flippant towards her actions during this time, but soon discovers that she caused serious emotional and physical damage, resulting in her losing her job, friends, and boyfriend, as well as potential jail time. Ava's parents (William Sadler and Deborah Rush), sister (Whitney Able), and her sister's fiancee Roger (Zachary Booth) are all concerned for her and push her into accepting a plea deal that would spare her jail time or commitment in a facility for troubled ex-possessed people as long as she attended a rehabilitation program for the recently exorcised, as possessions are seen as real, common phenomena in this universe. The program is led by Tony (Wass Stevens), a gruff man that insists that Ava take the program seriously as to do otherwise would just raise the likelihood that the demon would return, as repossessions will frequently happen. Participants will ultimately be tested by wearing a necklace that invites the demon back into their body. If they can pull the necklace off and reject the demon, they graduate since this shows that they are strong enough to deter future possessions. At one meeting Ava meets Hazel (Annabelle Dexter-Jones), a fellow ex-possessed person that wants her demon to return since she enjoyed its presence and felt that it was "special" for both of them.
While Ava is trying to piece together her missing 28 days she discovers blood stains on her apartment floor, which implies that she murdered someone. Ava's family is of little help, as Ava gets the distinct impression that they are hiding something from her. Her only clue to the person's identity is an engraved watch that leads her to Ben (Lou Taylor Pucci), who tells her that it belonged to his father. Sure that he is dead as a result of her, Ava lies to Ben about where she gained the watch but ends up reluctantly engaging Ben in a romantic relationship as the film progresses. Lonely and confused as to what exactly caused her to become possessed, Ava agrees to help Hazel's demon return via a ritual, which results in Hazel getting committed. The ritual also leaves a tattoo on her neck, which Tony discovers. He throws her out of the program, as the tattoo makes it so easy for the demon to return that the program would be seen as futile. This also ultimately results in Ava's family choosing to commit her, as they feel that she is too unpredictable to leave on her own. Ava manages to gain one more lead on Ben's father via a prostitute, but the woman is murdered before she can tell Ava anything. Ava is then recaptured and is put in a car with Roger, who is to take her to the asylum. However instead of taking her to the facility Roger instead tries to kiss her and reveals that he murdered the prostitute in order to keep her from telling anyone that he had visited her. She then discovers that while she did kill Ben's father, he was only in the apartment because he was a hitman that Roger had hired to murder her, as Ava had seen Roger with the prostitute and then joined the two of them for a sexual encounter. Roger drives Ava to Tony's now empty classroom, where he forces her to put on the necklace and bring back the demon, as he believes the two of them had a connection and confesses his crimes in front of the facility's security cameras. The necklace is successful in bringing back the demon, however Ava is able to control the demon and use its abilities to capture Roger. She then rips the necklace off, showing that she has complete control.
The film ends with Ava rebuilding her life and working with Tony in the facility office. Before leaving for the day he assures her that the demon would not be able to return, as she is stronger. However she soon begins to sense that the demon is near and accidentally causes some boxes to fall, revealing some old files on former possessed people. She discovers that her mother had also previously been possessed by the same demon, hinting that their bloodline is predisposed to possessions. Ava then recalls finding a tattoo similar to the one she received during the ritual, making her realize that her sister had deliberately sent the demon into her in order to avoid getting possessed herself. Furious, Ava begins screaming and the office door swings open, showing the shadow of Ava's demon.

Tags: murder

Review:
"Ava's Possessions" follows the titular character, a young woman who wakes up one day tied to her bed after an exorcism.
Having wrought havoc on the public during her demonic spree, she is ordered by the court to a "spiritual possessions anonymous" group to reorient herself.
But in making amends with the people she wronged, she uncovers a plot deeper than mere possession.While it may sound like a substandard and silly representation of the possession horror genre, "Ava's Possessions" is really a morbidly funny, mysterious, and amusing post-millennial riff on a subgenre that has been drowned in terrible found-footage films and badly-scripted Z-grade movies.This film presents the aftermath of demonic possession in a contemporary world, albeit a topsy-turvy one in which such things as group therapy for ex-possessees are a real thing, and friends are insouciant to the fact that you've been taken over by a demonic entity.
The performances overall are very good as well, with Louisa Krause as the semi-cynical Ava. Carol Kane also has a cameo as a downtown New York witch/botánica proprietor.Overall, "Ava's Possessions" is an amusing, slightly sardonic, and energetic horror movie.
It is not profound by any means, but it is a self-aware rewriting of the conventional possession film that came to be defined in the wake of "The Exorcist." It's a playful twisting of conventions, is nicely shot, and considerably well-acted.
Ava awakens to find a priest at her bedside; unbeknownst to her, she's been possessed by Naphula, a demon from hell, for the past month, but the priest has successfully exorcised the demon and she's herself again.
Unfortunately, the demon caused a great deal of injury, mayhem and property damage and, well, legally somebody has to pay for that and since it was all carried out by Ava's body, guess who's going to jail?
Of course Ava does so, but it turns out that her possession was rather more than she, or almost anybody else, could have suspected....This is a very funny horror spoof that is yet totally true to its internal logic; in a New York City (and, presumably, world) where demon possessions are real and well-known, what happens to the victim once the demon has been done away with?
Louisa Krause as Ava and Wass Stevens as Tony, the SPA leader, are both very engaging and believable, and the behaviour of some of the other once-possessed people is pretty hilarious too, especially Whitney Able as Jillian, who longs to be possessed by her demon once again.
All the exorcism/possession movies end, after the exorcism - whether it went right or wrong, there's not much we get after that.
There have been sequels to exorcism movies of course and they show a sort of aftermath, but this is an "original", without any background as to what happened before.Well until you watch the movie and it backtracks at certain points so we do see what has occurred.
Ava's Possessions starts where other movies end: a stoic priest is able to expel the demon Naphula, and the main character Ava is free from its perverse influence.
However, it's not that easy to return to normality, because Ava and her family will have to face the practical and psychological consequences of possession.
Director and screenwriter Jordan Galland establishes a realistic situation, combining subtle humor with a provocative mystery which impulses the story and assigns a motivation to the leading character.
However, that mystery isn't the main point of the film; the most important thing is discovering how Ava's terrifying experience altered her perception of the world and brought her new qualities which will be useful for her to investigate her activities during that "lost month": who she met, why such many people hate her and where a mysterious clock showing up at her apartment came from.
At the same time, we follow the process of "therapy", who works as a support group at first sight: the surviving victims sharing stories, receiving counseling on their re- integration to societies and forming friendships with people who went through the same situation; oh, and they also invoke the demons who possessed them, in order to get trained to expel them without the need of ecclesiastical intervention.
As for the cast, Louisa Krause displays a perfect balance of internal strength and cynical apathy in her role; and I would also like to mention the solid performances from Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Carol Kane, Whitney Able and the great William Sadler.
In conclusion, I liked Ava's Possessions very much, and it deserves an enthusiastic recommendation mainly because of its creative premise combining humor, drama and interesting characters, proving that there still are new things to explore into the satanic possession sub-genre.
Who would have imagined that the most interesting aspects of a possession wouldn't be the screams and contortions, but the human problems coming after the exorcism?.
Instead of focusing on her possession, this movie asks the question, what is life like AFTER your demon has been exorcised?
This puts the viewer in the shoes of Ava, who also has no memories of her possession and therefore, no idea of the damage she wrought.
There is also a lot of dark comedy here, with the rehab for the once possessed and Ava dealing with the things she did (beat up people, slept with strangers etc)Sadly, the movie loses focus and gets convoluted, with too many players on the board.
They also have sub-plots like a girl who wants her demon back and a serial killer on the loose, that just didn't do anything but confuse the main plot.
If they had left this stuff on the back burner, Ava's Possessions would've been a much stronger film.
Points for originality and the acting is pretty decent, but unfortunately they tried to do too much and it ended up taking away from the main story and weakening the entire flick..
a pretty original idea but the film is bogged down but unnecessary sub plots.
Ava's possessions is a fairly original take on a tired sub genre.
instead of being a straight forward exorcism film it answers the question of what it is like after the demon has been exorcised.
some may look at the demonic possession as a metaphor for addiction because of obvious similarities in the context of the films story.
the film feels the need to add sub plots that are really not essential for the success of the movie.
for instance the sub plot involving her friend wanting to get in touch with her own demon seems very out of place for the story they were originally trying to tell.
the lighting was also very good, a lot of glowing blues and greens that add a nice touch.overall I would say Ava's possessions really was just average.
could have been much better if the writers chose to not bog the film down with unnecessary sub plots and utilized the full potential of the original and fresh take on the exorcism genre.
Normally, a possession movie ends with the victim baths in sunlight or in some cases wanders into the dark.
In "Ava's Possessions" it's just the beginning as the priest commences the procedure along with opening credit.
There's quite the idea here, comically displays the aftereffect of the unfortunate event, but it becomes too busy with overload of subplots, colors and eventually too plodding for its own good.It begins right after the exorcism, a young girl must face the consequences of her actions, even though she is not responsible for them.
This is a good quirky premise, it even includes actual collateral of damage to property as well as a couple of comical antics.Mystery or horror aspect is not entirely prevalent as it dabbles more on world affairs.
Nevertheless, it doesn't peak more than a few shock value.The use of satire is sometimes decent, but it tries to make connection from possession to real life problems.
Acting from the cast is not bad, but there are too many characters to distribute the focus evenly.It's a nice twist on the genre, the mix of thriller and occasional satire might work as well, but it tries to fit too much into overwhelming and messy presentation..
A girl recovering from demonic possession is forced into therapy, but flashbacks make her doubt the origin of her troubles.What if we did a coming to terms story, but instead of drug addiction it's ...
AVA'S POSSESSION doesn't really take off like a movie should.
I realise I'm supposed to suspend disbelief a bit more than usual due to the genre, but the alternate world, where possession is relatively common, wasn't as fleshed out as I thought it should be.That aside, it is funny in parts, and watchable in a very predictable and cliched way.
Beginning where most, if not all, exorcism-related horror movies end, "Ava's Possessions" travels the path less taken, chronicling its titular character's recovery from a brutal bout with a demon name Naphula.
If nothing else, this film is quite unlike anything you've ever seen before.With a style that owes considerably to Nicholas Winding Refn's retro-noir "Drive," "Ava's Possessions" works with a brilliant color palette, numerous cockeyed and crazy angles and a moody, atmospheric score by Sean Lennon.
As far as little-seen horror films you stumble upon in Netflix's library in the middle of the night, you'd be hard-pressed to find something this colorful and unique.Where the film stumbles is in its overly complicated story.
While watching Louisa Krause find her way post-exorcism is compelling, we are constantly tripping over side characters who insist on telling us their story, too.
After all, the film is essentially a metaphor for recovering from drug addiction, and that ambitious angle is never quite fully capitalized upon in favor of characters who, quite frankly, aren't really all that interesting.
Sure, we are treated to veterans like Carol Kane and William Sadler, both of whom are solid in their roles, but comedic actors like Dan Fogler and Deborah Rush ("Strangers With Candy," represent!) are given so little to do with their talents, its a wonder they were even cast in the first place.Flaws aside, "Ava's Possessions" is still a nicely made, fresh and enjoyable take on a tired genre.
It's really a disappointment when the end of a decent and likely unique and new look at post-Exorcist horror has a tacked on ending in the tradition of most clichéd horror B movies.
With a great use of a musical track for a horror movie, this if it can be called a sedate but refined version of Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Devil's Carnival (2012) presents the occult in a fresh and humanistic way.
The well developed psychological, horror thriller avoids the by now over-used blatantly scary scenes and instead uses a more Hitchcock-directed approach.Unlike some reviews and descriptions, there is very little comedy in this mostly dramatic rendition of a contemporary horror movie.
The main character and later the group leader are both somewhat repulsive at first so that the movie begins on an off-putting manner.
this should have been a pretty great dark/quirky cult movie, along the lines of Repo Man and After Hours and others like it.
It's like someone with some influence felt this could be a horror trope parody, and someone else kept wanting it to be a lightly-creepy noir-ish thriller of the Lynchian variety, and yet someone else kept trying to keep things on track towards the kind of breathless, no-holds-barred screwball wackiness that should have been but never actually came to be.Anyway, it's kind of a mess as it is, and it sure seems that could have been avoided..
It sets a world where this kind of things seem normal and that feels nice, like getting something annoying out of the way.
Overall, it´s a sexy and funny horror mystery, cool enough to be worth the time..
Ava (Louisa Krause) plays her part extremely well, both as a demon and a regular woman.
I'd recommend this movie if you like possession movies.
This amateurish mess of a movie tries to be a horror/comedy but falls flat.
When the lead character attended a meeting of 'Spirit Possessions Anonymous' I thought this may be similar to 'Scary Movie', 'Naked Gun' and other satirical comedies, but no such luck.
Jordan Galland's "Ava's Possessions" stood out in the Fantasia International Film Festival schedule to me for being a movie about the aftermath of a possession.
When I originally heard about a little movie called "Tonight, We Stay Indoors" by no-budget filmmaker Joseph Larsen, I was intrigued in similar ways.
Yet "Ava's Possessions" seemed to take a completely different route with its aftermath story.
"Ava's Possessions" mixes crime mysteries and comedy with its horror themes, making it something that doesn't require you to be completely on edge.Ava wakes up as her normal self, with a priest telling her that she has been possessed by a demon.
Because crimes were committed during her possession, Ava has to take responsibility for them.
She can either go to jail and serve the time, or she can go to meetings with the Spirit Possession Anonymous group.
When things are starting to look up, Ava is told to get in contact with all the people she wronged during her possession, and she slowly finds evidence of something horrible having taken place."Ava's Possessions" feels like if you treat possession like going on a bender, and the movie takes place the day after when trying to remember where you were, what you did and who you slept with.
The movie is rather basic and you can quickly tell what the filmmaker was going for.
For a movie with such a great premise, it felt like the movie became less and less original the longer it went on.Don't let the above statement scare you from watching the movie though, it is still a very fun movie.
It's still relatively fresh and unique, with plenty of fun horror movie clichés having been skewed to fit the mold.
"Ava's Possessions" is not a horror movie, but I'd absolutely regard it as a movie made for horror movie fans.
It's a perfect movie to watch when you want a horror comedy but have realized that the majority of them are the same.I appreciated that "Ava's Possessions" never blossomed into full horror, and was always much more a mystery/crime comedy than anything else.
The possession scenes themselves were pretty much what you expect but they are treated well within the "lore" of the movie.
Overall a pleasant watch that's worth keeping in mind when you want an easier movie..
Ava (Louisa Krause) has a possession issue of which she is cured in the first scene.
Her immediate response is "How long was I out?" and "Did anyone call in sick for me?" Facing multiple criminal offenses, Ava opts to go into "Spirit Possession Anonymous" where she meets Hazel who liked being possessed and wants to embrace her demon.The film is a light demonic possession as compared to "Repossessed." There are a number of good scenes and lines, but it tapers off.
I thought the idea was so unique, and I personally don't know of any other movies that show what happens to a person after the spirit they are possessed by is exorcised.
I think a lot more character development could have been done here, and seeing how the different people were coping was very interesting, and in some cases, humorous.
Although this is a horror movie, to my it was more of a mystery.
Ava's family wants her to leave it all alone, and just get better, but she wants to find out why a demon possessed her.
But I would say to definitely give this one a watch.Major Spoilers Ahead.There are various ways that you can get possessed.
They put forward the idea that it might be genetic, and another way is for someone other than yourself, to do a ritual and burn an object from your childhood that meant a lot to you.Ava has a creepy bear go missing before she's possessed, and she keeps having waking dreams of the burnt bear talking to her, trying to give her information.
They seemed to get along well, and there was never any motive given at to why she would want her sister possessed/out of the picture.Then Ava stumbles across a file towards the end of the movie, that pertains to her mom, hinting towards the genetic aspect.
If this was the case, was Ava's sister possessed at one time too.
For me if they just stuck more to the world that a demon possession could offer would have been much much better.Instead of the unnecesary art gallery guy that ends up out of the story, have her having conversations with her demon.Instead of a serial killer subplot, have her discover or visit the cult that adores the demon that possessed her and show how they would treat her as a chosen one or messiah or something.There were many many interesting situations to explore but goes with subplots that don't have anything to do with the act of being possesed.Those just made feel the movie too long.
What does make this film a worth while watch is the performance from the main actress, coupled with the interesting, if not predictable, story.It's nothing bad on the film's part, and looking at the aftermath of a possession is certainly a new and interesting angle.
Instead the low budget aspects seem to add to the film's overall charm.Glad I watched it as it was quite enjoyable.
I really liked this movie.
I may be biased because I adore film noir, but I was impressed with this movie's plot.
It was more of a mystery than a horror film, but it was certainly a thriller.
I totally recommend Ava's Possessions because it had a twist AND a freaking cool cliffhanger.
Like open a new tab and stream this movie, watch it, then tell everyone you know.