POSSUM - Review

If someone were to ask me what my favourite type of film is, I would probably say a slow-burn psychological horror and I don’t think I have ever found a film that embodies this more than Matthew Holness’ film ‘Possum’. The film follows Phillip (Sean Harris), a disgraced children’s puppeteer returning to his childhood home to destroy his puppet and face the demons from his past. Holness stated he wanted to create a new take on the horror theme of the puppeteer being ‘taken over’ by their puppet but instead of seeing their descent into madness, we start the film at the point of Phillip’s breakdown. Holness also stated that he had considered making the film a silent horror. Although this is not the case, the title sequence seems to pay homage to classic horror film ‘Nosferatu’ through its use of colour.

Possum succeeds in creating a ‘retro’ tone but without being contrived. Our main character Phillip is stuck psychologically in the 70s so therefore the film needed to look very ‘70s’. Filmed on 35mm, the shots of dreary English countryside are amazing in transporting us back in time. Furthermore, the score has an almost cassette-like fuzziness and sounds like a backing track for a 1970s documentary on British society. However, the score (made by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop) soon transcends into a series of bone-chilling sound collages reminiscent of the 1985 war film ‘Come and See’

The film’s story itself is utterly terrifying. Sean Harris’ performance is heartbreakingly amazing, becoming increasingly more harrowing as the film goes on. Alun Armstrong’s role as Maurice, Phillip’s uncle, is equally as gripping. The film tackles themes of abuse and trauma without being explicit as not much actually happens until the last 20 minutes – this is why I think the film is so amazing. It manages to evoke pure psychological terror in just an hour and half. Despite its short runtime though, the slow burn of the story makes it feel like a film twice as long (in a good way!)

Possum is without a doubt my favourite film I have seen so far this year. It is definitely not a film for everyone though. If you are a fan of slow psychological horror and expressionist cinema you will love it.

Overall rating: 9/10