Possession: A Film that Freaks Out So We Don't Have To
Gabriel Hart reviews Possession, starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neil, Directed by Andrzej Zulawski 1981
Infidelity.
Nothing prepares you for it.
It crashes in with inherent black magic. Beyond the emotional toll, there is the paralyzing shock bleeding into pangs of nausea, initiating an extended physical effect on you, its plaything. Reality warps into a frightening, paranoid funhouse mirror where it proves difficult to trust even your longest-standing loved ones, as things are no longer what they seem. But its real insidiousness unveils itself here: where if it befalls you in multiple spells, every time will feel like the first time all over again.
Conversely, nothing prepared me for the first time I saw what is now my favorite film, Possession by Polish renegade auteur Andrzej Zulawski. I was neck-deep in the throes of being cheated on by a woman a decade my junior, and lucky me – I got to be her lesson in the consequences of lying, of manipulatin…
Infidelity.
Nothing prepares you for it.
It crashes in with inherent black magic. Beyond the emotional toll, there is the paralyzing shock bleeding into pangs of nausea, initiating an extended physical effect on you, its plaything. Reality warps into a frightening, paranoid funhouse mirror where it proves difficult to trust even your longest-standing loved ones, as things are no longer what they seem. But its real insidiousness unveils itself here: where if it befalls you in multiple spells, every time will feel like the first time all over again.
Conversely, nothing prepared me for the first time I saw what is now my favorite film, Possession by Polish renegade auteur Andrzej Zulawski. I was neck-deep in the throes of being cheated on by a woman a decade my junior, and lucky me – I got to be her lesson in the consequences of lying, of manipulatin…
