Appalling thoughts

Gerardo 2022-10-16 07:27:30

(Some spoilers)

In the near future. There is a mysterious killer company. They have the black technology to sneak into the consciousness of others: by locking the target, a certain'employee' can sneak into the consciousness of the other person. At the same time, he can control each other's every move, so as to'kill with a knife', and then let the infiltrator's consciousness commit suicide, without knowing it. But because sneaking into the consciousness of others will also cause certain brain damage and confusion to the sneaker, so after each task, the'employee' has to perform a series of identification procedures.

Tasya (Andrea Riseborough played by Andrea Riseborough) is the star'employee' of this company. She has a husband and young children. But because of'work', there is less gathering and more separation. Husband is unemployed and depends on his wife to support his family. Husband still racks his brains for the doctoral dissertation at home every day, consciously not seeing his talents.

One day, Tasya received a mission-to assassinate the CEO of a large high-tech company. The best entry point is Colin (Christopher Abbott), the boyfriend who is recognized as relying on the CEO's daughter to eat soft meals. In order to be with his girlfriend, this man hesitated to work as a small employee in his girlfriend's father's company, and lived a very miserable life. After Tasya sneaked into Colin's consciousness, she wanted to create the illusion that her boyfriend was dissatisfied with the future father-in-law and quarreled with each other to achieve her goal. But this time the mission went wrong, and Tasya was caught off guard...

"Possessor (2020)" is the second work of the director-Brandon Cronenberg. This king is the son of the famous director-David Cronenberg. David Cronenberg, the Canadian director, is known for his horror and grotesque works. His films often have violent and bloody scenes, but in the open-minded plot and shocking pictures, he can give the audience reflection. Subject is the darling of major film festivals and awards.

The son-Brandon Cronenberg-under his father's aura, has gained a lot of resources in the industry. The first work "Antiviral (2012)" won the premiere of the Cannes Film Festival. But also because of his father's reputation, his works are often criticized and compared with his father.

"The Occupier" is no exception. Consciousness/Dream Invasion, and the confusion between reality and illusion reversed, this subject matter has been enjoyed by his father and other directors. It can only be said that "The Occupier" has some maverick plot designs, but it still hasn't been born blue.

The movie still has its own interesting aspects, and there are many violent plots that make movie fans talked about/ criticized. Perhaps the director understands Less is more, and there are some things that you don’t need to say, let the audience analyze it yourself: Is Tasya tired of her husband and family? Is she personally violent? Obviously it is possible to deal with the opponent with one shot, so why bother physically torturing the target before killing (there are many bloody and violent scenes in the movie: amputated limbs, sharp weapons pierced the flesh, blood overflowing, etc., etc., I advise audiences with fragile hearts not to Look)?

In the end, the film arranged for Tasya to lose control of Colin's consciousness, so that the other party could see her own consciousness, and found her family to kidnap him. The ending is an unavoidable tragedy: Tasya's husband and son, and Colin are all spared, wailing. And Tasya was spared because he remotely controlled Colin's consciousness. Was this seemingly unexpected incident arranged by Tasya consciously or unconsciously? Can you kill your tired family members with the help of a knife? !

The film cleverly did not answer the above questions, but left it to the audience to analyze. But a discerning person should be able to clearly see the intention of the director: After the incident, Tasya was still able to calmly carry out the post-task identification process, without any guilt, making people shudder!

The film relies on excellent makeup techniques, and uses practical effects instead of computer special effects as much as possible. It can be seen that the intentions and success in this regard are worthy of appreciation. But compared to his father, the director failed to raise any issues worthy of detail in the film: big companies blatantly steal data and infringe on public privacy? None of these seem to be of interest to the director, and the character descriptions are too thin. On the contrary, they describe the violent and bloody scenes in detail, which seems to be a bit superior! Advocating violence? "The heart of Sima Zhao is known to all passers-by"!

But among the many blockbusters that are becoming more formulaic, this'small' movie is still worth watching.

7/10

PS: Here is also another work of his father: "Sensual Game eXistenZ (1999)". Friends who are interested can find it.

View more about Possessor reviews

Extended Reading

Possessor quotes

  • Colin Tate: Just think, one day your wife is cleaning the cat litter and she gets a worm in her, and that worm ends up in her brain. The next thing that happens is she gets an idea in there, too. And it's hard to say whether that idea is really hers or it's just the worm. And it makes her do certain things. Predator things. Eventually, you realize that she isn't the same person anymore. She's not the person that she used to be. It's gotta make you wonder, whether you're really married to her... or married to the worm.

  • Tasya Vos: Pull me out.