Possum (film)

Did You Know?

• The film's score was composed by sound effects and experimental electronic music studio The Radiophonic Workshop, which marked their first soundtrack purposely constructed for a feature film.
• Possum's visual style was inspired by public information films Holness saw in his youth.
• The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 25 June 2018.

Plot

Philip Connell, a former children's puppeteer who fell from grace, has no choice but to go back to the Norfolk house where he grew up. The place is damaged from an old fire and he shares it with his frail uncle Maurice. A spider-like marionette named Possum haunts Philip. Over and over, he tries to get rid of the puppet, but it always finds its way back to him. He discovers a picture book he made as a child. In it, he drew Possum’s beginnings and how it sneaks up on orphaned children while they sleep, intending to eat them. Philip also suffers from strange visions and dreams where Possum creeps toward him in bed. He keeps trying and failing to discard the puppet.

Maurice often needles Philip about the events that ruined his career and makes him relive painful memories of being bullied as a kid. He complains about Philip’s efforts to throw away Possum, pointing out that puppetry is a family tradition. Philip often walks toward a locked room in the house. Each time, Maurice asks if he plans to go inside, and Philip always says no. News reports say a local boy named Michael is missing. Philip met Michael on the train to Norfolk. The authorities are looking for a man who matches Philip’s description. Philip goes back to his old school, but the staff discourage him from staying, and the townspeople treat him with distrust. Maurice tells Philip about a past case where a boy was attacked by someone wearing a mask. When Philip breaks down crying, Maurice tries to comfort him. As the search for Michael intensifies, Maurice says he will be away for a while and warns Philip not to draw any attention or bring trouble to the house.

In a moment of panic, Philip goes into the school and asks to see his former teacher, Mr. Grant. He tells the secretary that Mr. Grant knew everything about what happened and had promised to go to the police with him. The secretary is puzzled and tells him to wait outside. Philip overhears her talking to the headmaster about calling the police, so he runs. While fleeing, he is chased by Possum until the puppet seems to overwhelm him, and he passes out. When he wakes up, he goes home to find Maurice gone. Now Philip is tormented by horrifying visions of turning into Possum himself.

Production

Possum is the first feature film directed by Matthew Holness, an English comedian, author, and director. Before this, Holness was best known for writing, directing, and starring in the cult TV series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and for publishing several short stories. Though his reputation was built on comedy, Holness has said he always loved horror and serious themes, but found it hard to move past his comedic image because of his large fanbase. The film adapts Holness’s own short story, also called Possum, which appeared in the horror anthology The New Uncanny: Tales of Unease alongside works by other writers. That story follows a character who, due to childhood trauma, cannot express himself through words or emotions, so he creates a puppet instead. The story was partly inspired by Sigmund Freud’s theories on the uncanny. Holness explained that the anthology’s publishers asked all contributors to read Freud’s theory of the uncanny, then pick a fear that interested them and write a modern story about it. He chose two fears—doppelgängers and ventriloquists’ dummies—and combined them to avoid being clichéd. After the story was published, Holness forgot about it until he started developing a horror film. When expanding the short story into a movie, he drew on his love of silent films from the 1920s and 1930s, which he found “so brilliantly creepy,” especially their use of body horror and psychological visual storytelling. He wanted to replicate that technique, noting that many modern films ignore it and end up less eerie. Deciding to make a modern silent film, Holness remembered his short story and felt it would suit his goal of using very little dialogue.

Reception

Possum premiered in UK theaters on October 26, 2018, but only in a limited release across seven screens. In its first weekend, the film earned $11,596, followed by $4,075 in its second weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, it had accumulated a total gross of $33,225.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 88% approval rating from 43 reviews, with an average score of 7.70 out of 10. The site’s consensus describes it as “unsettling and absorbing in equal measure, Possum presents a dark character study rich with rewards for fans of chilling genre fare.” On Metacritic, it has a weighted average of 64 out of 100 based on five critics, indicating generally positive reviews. Critics widely praised the atmosphere, cinematography, score, and especially Sean Harris’s performance as the haunted puppeteer Phillip. However, the film’s minimalist story and its “unsatisfying” finale drew some criticism.

Kim Newman of Empire called Harris’s performance “a disturbing, curiously beautiful British horror exercise,” adding a warning: “next time you wake up in the middle of the night, you'll find Possum at the end of the bed.” Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian noted the film is “deadly serious, but carries with it an echo or ghost of how this same material could have been played as ironic black comedy.” Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter described it as “a serious and dark journey into the labyrinths of cruelty and abuse,” commending the acting and production design. Daniel Kurland of Den of Geek hailed it as “the very best kind of psychological thriller that just continues to drill deeper into the same rich territory,” praising Harris, the visuals, and its examination of trauma and abuse. Joseph Marczynski of Vice called it “deeply disturbing” and wrote, “Rich in symbolism but sparse in dialogue, Possum is a haunting and otherworldly exploration of Phillip's psyche as he struggles to shed the trauma of childhood abuse.” Mark Butler of iNews praised the surreal atmosphere, unsettling imagery, soundtrack, and Harris’s performance, calling it “a distinctly non-humorous, deeply unsettling psychological horror that leaves a thoroughly haunting impression.” Dennis Harvey of Variety highlighted the performances of Harris and Armstrong, the atmosphere, soundtrack, and the “striking aesthetic.”

Legacy

Since its release, Possum has been frequently featured on lists of the top horror films of the past five years. Fangoria, a horror film magazine, has also called it one of the best horror movies of the last decade. In 2019, Scott Weinberg of Thrillist placed it on his list of the best horror movies of 2018, drawing favorable comparisons to the work of David Lynch and David Cronenberg. Screen Rant included the film in a list of intense British and Irish horror movies that are often overlooked. Comic Book Resources ranked it seventh on its list of the 25 best horror films from the last five years, describing it as a careful exploration of repressed trauma, shown through a troubled man’s return home and the unsettling object he clings to. Polygon recommended it as part of a list of ten underrated horror movies to watch during Halloween. Collider ranked it third on its list of the ten best British horror movies, calling it one of Britain’s strongest and most powerful modern horror films.