Not scary enough!

Based on a true story (aren’t they always?)the film offers the same possessed young girl horror flick without giving the audience anything new. Shame, really, with a title as ‘original’ as The Possession, I expected more.

There’s the odd steal from a countless number of horror movies, but director Ole Bornedal just doesn’t provide the demon-faced shake that is needed to make any scary film successful.

On the plus side is, the story is quite simple to follow. A recently divorced couple, Clyde (Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Segwick) are trying to lead the most normal life for their two daughters, Emily (Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport). Although the children live with their mother, they still get to spend the weekends at their dad’s new place.

On one of their visits to Clyde’s, Emily and Hannah decide to stop off at a yard sale close by. Emily, the younger of the two, is immediately drawn to a mysterious box that is engraved with Hebrew inscriptions.

Upon buying it, she finds it difficult to open. The box occasionally sings and talks to her, but obviously she doesn’t think it strange as she goes about her day, becoming obsessive with it; hugging it to sleep and taking it to school with her and beating anyone up who even touches it.

However, when it is finally opened, Emily begins to act extremely violently and becomes withdrawn. As she becomes more disconnected, Clyde begins to notice changes in her and enlists Rabbi Tzadok to find the origins of the box.

When he finds out that it is, in fact, a demon trapped in his daughter’s body, he and the Rabbi perform an exorcism that may, or may not, go wrong. It’s never really that simple, is it?
Bornedal may think he’s not completely ripping off every other possession movie made over the years, seemingly because the methods used are too weak to wake up or convince the audience that the movie is any good.

The movie proves how good actors can trap themselves in complete rubbish. Morgan is definitely the most engaging of the protagonists as he commits to scenes without overacting or making them cheesy. He portrays his connection with Emily in a heart-warming and realistic father-daughter manner, especially in comparison to his complicated relationship with Hannah.

In addition, the little girl who played Emily is truly talented as she captivated the audience as the innocent vegetarian kid who turns into a creepy and emptied-out body for an evil, meat-eating incarnate. There was never a moment where she scared me but she definitely delivered an excellent balance of fear and confusion, even when she was possessed, which is far more horrifying to watch than many of the film’s desperate jumps.

However, although the actors made it look like they were scared, the audience never quite feels the same way, making it a very thin horror experience. The group of teenagers sitting beside me had the right idea to leave the cinema halfway through.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t have moments where I jumped out of my seat, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen in better films.

I may be biased, as I’m a horror category lover, especially when it comes to the possession sub-genre, but I truly find it hard to recommend this movie.