Possession

Plot synopsis:
A newly separated couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) live in different homes. After Clyde picks up their two children, Emily "Em" (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport), for the weekend, they stop at a yard sale where Em becomes intrigued by an old wooden box that has Hebrew letters engraved on it. Clyde buys the box for Em, and they later find that there seems no way to open it. That night, Em hears whispering coming from the box. She is able to open it, and finds a tooth, a dead moth, a wooden figurine, and a ring, which she begins to wear. Em becomes solitary, and her behavior becomes increasingly sinister; she stabs her father in the hand with a fork during breakfast. That night, the house, especially Em's bedroom, becomes infested with moths.
At school, Em violently attacks a classmate when he takes her box, resulting in a meeting with Clyde, Stephanie, the principal and the teacher. Em's teacher recommends that she spend time away from the box, so it is left in the classroom. That night, curious about the mysterious noises from the box, the teacher tries to open it, but a malevolent force, the dybbuk, murders her by violently throwing her out a window. Em tells Clyde about an invisible hag who lives in her box who says that Em is "special". Alarmed by her behavior, Clyde attempts to dispose of the box. During their next weekend at Clyde's, Emily gets progressively more upset with the disappearance of the box. She begins yelling at Clyde in the hall with Hannah watching in the back. The dybbuk seems to slap Em across the face. She begins yelling, asking why he's hitting her, from Hannah's perspective it looks like her father actually does. Em flees the house, recovers the box and the dybbuk begins conversing with her in a strange language.
Clyde takes the box to a university professor who tells him that it is a dybbuk box that dates back to the 1920s; it was used to contain a dybbuk, a dislocated spirit as powerful as a devil. Clyde enters Em's room and reads Psalm 91; a dark but invisible force throws the Tanakh across the room. Clyde then travels to a Hasidic community in Brooklyn and learns from a Jewish priest named Tzadok (Matisyahu) that the possession has three main stages; in the third stage, the dybbuk latches onto its human host, becoming one entity with it. The only way to defeat the dybbuk is to lock it back inside the box via a forced ritual. Upon further examination on the box, Tzadok learns that the dybbuk's name is "Abyzou", or the "Taker of Children".
Em has a seizure and is taken to the hospital for an MRI. During the procedure, Stephanie and Hannah are horrified when they see the dybbuk's face in the MRI scans next to Em's heart. Clyde and Tzadok join the family at the hospital and attempt to conduct an exorcism. Where Em is taken to a room that has a tub full of water and a stretcher to keep Em stable during the exorcism. During the exorcism, the possessed Em attacks Tzadok. Clyde grabs Em from him, and Em runs out of the room. Clyde follows her out and finally finds her in the morgue where the lights are off. As he nears her, she starts to attack him. Clyde survives the attack, but the dybbuk is passed from Em to him. Tzadok performs a successful exorcism; Abyzou emerges from Clyde and crawls back into the box. The family is reunited, with Clyde and Stephanie's love rekindled. Tzadok drives away with the box in Clyde's vehicle. The car is hit by a truck, killing him. The box lands safely from the wreckage, and Abyzou's whispering is heard from it, the same Polish rhyme heard at the beginning of the film.

Tags: murder

Review:
this time around, I was most disappointed, expecting from the DVD sleeve promotion and the very title of the film, a demonic horror thriller.
No such thing.Another love triangle involving a young woman and two brothers, this is a soppy sentimental love story but I can see where people are coming from in thinking the husband Ryan has possessed the soul of his brother as a result of the accident.
they could have fed off the recent film 'Brothers' which had a war topic to the story and although not great, delivered the goods.
this film doesn't.There is no real drama or horror in this movie and the ending is macabre to say the least.
The acting is below standard even from the leading lady and the script is poor, the story told with so slow a pace it was excruciating.Checking IMDb, there are quite a few films by the same title and it was difficult at first to identify the correct film on which to post the review.There have been some very sensible and to the point comments by previous commentators about this movie.
This film is about a woman whose husband and her brother in law were injured in a serious car crash.
The alternate ending made me love it.If you go into this film under the misapprehension of the marketing - which is, that this film is another "Grudge" or whatever the company tried to push - then you may be disappointed; it is less supernatural and altogether more human..
Possession is one of the best films in actress Sarah Michelle Gellar's filmography...something which does not represent too much flattery.As I have mentioned in other occasions, I was a huge fan of the TV series Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and I think that Gellar brought a brilliant performance in there.However, most of the films Gellar has been involved in are bad, and she was absolutely wasted in many of them.However, Possession kept me entertained, despite the facts that is not very memorable and that it feels a bit bland.The story from Possession is not very original; nevertheless, I liked the performances, the atmosphere and the methodic path the screenplay takes until leading to the "tense" ending, which is not very tense by itself, but which seems so thanks to the solid works from Gellar and Lee Pace.In conclusion, I think Possession deserves a moderate recommendation, mainly because of the performances, Joel Bergvall's and Simon Sanquist's efficient direction, and the screenplay, which does not offer too many new things, but at least is well structured.In other words, Possession is competent, but it lacks of something special to make it memorable..
Based on the trailer and the tags for the movie I expected a little bit of a horror/thriller from the movie, instead I got a slow moving tense love story.
Acting in it was good, nothing outstanding as it only was composed of three actors for the majority and of those two that showed any depth.Regardless of what I expected though, the movie was very slow in a lot of areas and then the theatrical version (and from what I read the alternate version is much better) provides an ending that was jumbled and developed poorly for the viewer.
They seemed to just toss out this ending without thought to turn it into a somewhat creepy idea of "possession" that I found to be quite bland.Overall if you watch a lot of movies and need something to watch, check it out, its not horrendous.
He's nice, so there's absolutely no real sense of danger or dramatic tension (my second fault with the film).If you're a Buffy/Sarah fan like me, you'll probably agree that she's the best bit.
It's not as bad as most remakes of South Asian movies but as a stand alone it's not very good either.
Jess's hope of her husband's recovery conflicted with her confusion in seeing her brother-in-law act familiar is well displayed.
I haven't seen the Original Asian movie this is based on, but I am pretty sure, that I would like that more than the Remake I have seen.
And this movie won't bring her career back.It's a nice little psycho thriller, that tries to stay ambiguous, but you might know where this is going, without me or anyone else telling you about it.
There's better thrillers out there, but you could pick a worse movie.
also if you like thriller movies in general (with a touch of supernatural thrown in for good measure).
Jess (Sarah Michelle Gellar) finds her perfect married life turned upside-down when both her husband Ryan (Michael Landes) and his bad-boy brother Roman (Lee Pace) are sent into comas following a head-on car collision.
Will Jess believe that her husband's spirit has somehow passed into the body of his brother, or will she call bulls**t?It doesn't surprise me at all to find that Possession is a remake of an Asian film: it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, it moves like molasses, and the messy plot sure takes some swallowing.
Personally, I felt more than a tad cheated: I watched the film with the expectation of a spooky chiller, but what I got was a psychological thriller-cum-romance instead.
And a pretty poor one at that!Edit *** I've just watched Addicted, the Korean film on which this was based; it is also a very slow-moving film, but a much more worthwhile effort overall—classy and subtle, where Possession is just clumsy ***.
This movie was very uneven I think I would have to see the Japanese version or read the book in order to appreciate it better or at least understand what happened at the end of it.
I like Sarah Michelle Gellar but this was not one of her best work..
Sarah was very good in the movie.
I expected it to be better, but it wasn't and I only really watched it because Sarah Michelle Gellar was in it.
I expected this movie to be a lot better than it actually was and I think that's probably due to the fact that Sarah Michelle Gellar was in it and I love pretty much everything that she is in, but this movie was just terrible.
The only reason I've given the movie a 3 out of 10 is due to the fact that Sarah Michelle Gellar was in it and I think that's the only reason I actually even bothered to finish the movie..
The lawyer Jessica (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is married with her affectionate husband Ryan (Michael Landes) and they lodge Ryan's brother Roman (Lee Pace) in their home.
When Ryan and Roman have a weird car accident, they are hospitalized in coma with no expectation to survive.
Further, Roman recollects moments of confidence between Jess and her husband, raising doubts if he is possessed by the soul of Ryan in the emotionally feeble Jess.
The story of a man possessed by the spirit of his brother could be an excellent horror, thriller, drama or even story of repressed desire.
Unfortunately despite of the lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar, the plot is not well developed and has many flaws, like for example the fate of Casey or what would happen with Jessica after killing Roman.
When you see the title "Possession" and the poster, you would really think this was a supernatural thriller, as I did.
However, as you watch it, you would realize that this was actually a love story -- deep, conflicted and twisted.Sarah Michelle Gellar plays young lawyer Jess who is married to an ideally sweet husband Ryan (played by Michael Landes).
Ryan has an ex-con brother Roman (played by Lee Pace) who free-loads off the couple and creeps Jess out.
Jess is thus caught in an unusual dilemma between repulsion and hope, between hate and love.While the story is actually quite interesting on paper, the execution was also very uncomfortable to watch on screen since the love triangle involves brothers.
In particular, Lee Pace does a good job as bad Roman being like good Ryan.I have a problem with how the movie was resolved, which was quite hackneyed and predictable.
With further reading, I learned that this film was actually a remake of a Korean film "Addicted" and that the ending was totally different.
According to releases, the DVD also contains an "alternative" ending" that follows the spirit of the original Korean movie.
Despite the good looking production values, "Possession" is really another take on a romance novel spiced up with some supernatural and thriller elements which both come straight off the assembly line.
Ditsy beauty Sarah Michelle Gellar (playing Jessica) has the perfect marriage with Ryan (Michael Landes), but what she really wants is to have sex with bad boy Roman (Lee Pace).
And you guessed it: Ryan conveniently stays in a coma, but bad boy Roman emerges from the coma and claims to be Jessica's husband.
Now all Jessica had to really do was to point out the obvious to Roman: he does not look like Jessica's husband Ryan at all.
But if that happened, then Jessica would never have the opportunity to have sex with Roman and the rest of the film would have been unnecessary.
So Jessica convinces herself that Roman is possessed by the spirit of Ryan and has the best sex ever.
Jessica re-establishes herself unconvincingly as the good girl who would never dream of having sex with a bad boy by telling Roman that she only slept with him because she thought he was someone else.
Yeah sure!So if you are interested in romance novels with bad boys in them, you may like this film.
But if you want a film which is not straight off the assembly line and has multi-layered, intelligent, and evolving characters who do and say interesting things in exciting situations, then give "Possession" a pass..
First, the fact that Jess was even remotely fooled by Roman's pretending to have woken from his coma with a paranormal body-switch as his brother Ryan is preposterous.
Does anyone believe that Roman would really be able to fake the subtle nuances and chemistry that existed between Ryan and Jess?
In order to completely transform himself from a cold, hard, woman-beating criminal bad-ass to the totally sensitive woman-whipped romantic that Ryan was, he would have to be the greatest actor in the world.And to top it off, he's able to concoct and execute this plan immediately after waking up from his coma, realizing that his brother is still in one, all in the less than one hour time frame it took for the doctors to call Jess in to the hospital.
Considering that it turns out that Roman was just faking it, those scenes made absolutely no sense.I give it three out of ten just because some of the technical aspects of the movie, the lighting, overall coloring and feel, and soundtrack were at least professionally done.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was pretty good at least during the part when she was rejecting Roman and his ridiculous plot..
Canadian-lensed remake of what I assume was originally an Asian thriller, about a woman whose loving husband and brutish brother in law end up in comas after a car accident.
It's certainly suspenseful part of the way, but it is too easy to guess the ending based on various clues thrown at us during the story This is Gellar's film all the way, with able support from Lee Pace as the brother in law.
Dissatisfying film, better alternate ending....
However, I do agree with the reviewer above who says that the US DVD version's alternate ending works better.
I can't remember the time when I've seen a movie with such a markedly different alternate ending where where the alternate was so much better than the released film.
A lawyer, Jess(Sarah Michelle Gellar) faces a crisis of bizarre proportions when her beloved husband, Ryan(Michael Landes) suffers a serious car crash thanks to his barbaric ex-con brother, Roman(Lee Pace) who was speeding at excessive speeds passing motorists during a foggy morning whilst in the midst of a temper tantrum(as is established at the opening, this guy was quite an unfriendly, rude, hostile, ill-tempered fellow, whose mere presence repulsed her).
Something quite surreal might've taken place, a possible "soul transference" where Ryan has taken "possession" over his brother's body!
At first, Jess avoids Roman despite his knowledge of specific events only her and Ryan would know and had shared.
But, as she notices little quirks and behavioral patterns Ryan made now being exhibited by Roman, Jess ponders the real possibility that her husband has returned to her!
I think Sarah Michele Gellar really handles the part as well as can be expected.
I think Gellar fans will find her performance acceptable, even if they find the film a bit of an odd duck.
One development that really made me feel uncomfortable(..besides the eventual love making between Jess and Roman, while Ryan's body lie unconscious in a hospital)was the pregnancy, which is why I brought out the point regarding how awkward the movie was as an experience..
Em (Natasha Calis) the younger, more adorable, and better actor of his two daughters buys a box at a yard sale and the next thing you know the movie transforms itself into a mediocre Jewish exorcism film.The highlight for me was the MRI scene.
I would like to see Natasha Calis get smacked around er ah star in more horror films.
These 2 people are Oscar nominated directors for their short film Victor and made one of my favourite movies with Den Osynlige.
I haven't seen Victor (yet) but this is the only other film of theirs that I know I can see.The plot of this movie is that Ryan and Roman are brothers.
Ryan seems to have everything a wife named Jess (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who loves him dearly and aside from kids their lives could not be more perfect.
Once Roman wakes up he has delusions that he is Ryan and has his memories.
or did their bodies really get swapped somehow?The biggest problem with this movie is that Jess seems to believe that Roman is Ryan pretty quickly.
To her, her husband being in her brother-in-law's body (or so she thinks) doesn't even seem like a big problem once they form a relationship.
It is actually pretty awkward to watch when you look at some of those scenes.The concept for this movie is actually pretty good.
I know it is a remake of a South Korean film called "Addicted" and from what I have heard it does explore the topic a little better so i am going to watch that.
I wanted to see Tuva Novotny in other things and she doesn't really show her acting ability (if you really want to see her play someone troubled - look at Den Osynlige, it might be hard to find but it's worth it) but you can't have everything, Sarah Michalle Gellar does a good job even if the writing is very sketchy in terms of pacing and Lee Pace does do a good job at basically being a scumbag one minute and the next being a man trying to convince his brother's wife that he is her husband.So is this worth a look?
I mean yes, there are problems like why she didn't suspect the twist to happen (it actually wasn't that hard to work out) and that she believes Roman is Ryan almost with the drop of a hat but this movie does get you questioning a bit and the concept is actually pretty good.
If this movie had a better ending and a different title, I would have given it 9 stars.
We were left hanging.It was "almost" a great movie, but the directors missed the mark with the ending and the title.
The title was completely wrong for this movie.
Possession is a name for a horror movie.
The photo on the DVD cover looks like it belongs with a completely different movie and bore no semblance to this film.
To make the problem worse, there are already a half dozen other movies with the same name "Possession." This movie should have been called something like "Reflection," "Inner Spirit," "Echo," "Transference," "Rebirth" or "(a rose) by any other name"...
It was hard enough just finding the right entry on IMDb.The directors' filming styles did not fit the movie.
They used choppy flashes of horrific images and sudden loud banging noises to instill fear in the audience like you would with a horror movie or thriller.
That might be OK with a movie like "The Ring" or "Darkness" but it was out of place on this film...
This movie had 2 terrible directors who took an excellent story, good screenplay and superbly talented actors and treated it like 2 high school kids pretending to be directors in their garage.
If not for the directors, this could have been a fantastic 9 star movie.It really was a good movie throughout until the last scene when we were left dangling with no ending.
For this kind of a movie, a happy ending would have been nice...
Apparently, these directors have a problem with "closures" and endings in his movies.
They turned a winning movie into a dud.I had been hoping for some redeeming alternate scenes after the directors left us hanging without any ending...
They are apparently clueless as to how to appropriately end this kind of movie.A love story like this should have had an ending with a glimmer of positive hope...
If they had wanted to end the movie properly, Ryan would have stayed awake after that last episode.
That's how you end a movie like this.
It is a good movie and good story, as long as you understand the disappointment waiting for you with the "lack of ending" and you understand this movie is nothing like the title implies.