louisa

christopher walken looks a little like james spader… or is that just me? i really loved how this film drifts so seamlessly between a murder mystery, political thriller, supernatural horror, and one of the most devastating love stories, rather than confining itself to a single plot-line or genre. this film is genuinely heartbreaking. johnny wakes up to find the life he knew has vanished: the woman he loved has moved on, he’s isolated and doesn’t want to leave the house, his health deteriorates and he’s reduced to a curiosity in the eyes of his town. it’s a wonderfully melancholic meditation on grief, lost time, and loneliness. the most devastating scene i think was when he saw sarah with her new husband and broke down in tears, hugging his student. and the ending was so cool - how he sacrifices him for the greater good of the community..  this is, so far out of what i’ve seen, one of cronenberg’s least grotesque films, but still unmistakably his. the body may not be mutating, but the mind certainly is. above all, i love the moral message: if you knew you could prevent unimaginable suffering, how far would you be willing to go?

that mask scene. wow. i wasn’t sure how i’d feel about brandon cronenberg’s work. there’s always the unavoidable question of nepotism since his father is david cronenberg - the king of body horror - but if *possessor* tells me anything, it’s that talent isn’t inherited automatically, but certainly can be nurtured. whatever brandon cronenberg learnt growing up around the world of his father, he puts it to remarkable use here. what fascinated me most was its corporate horror. the workers standing in uniform rows, the identical apartment blocks, and colin’s soul-draining job of teaching an algorithm to recognise objects all create a world where humanity has already begun dissolving into machinery. it’s a cold, monotonous life, where all you are is reduced to functionality, making the film’s central premise feel disturbingly plausible. and then there’s that premise itself. it’s one of the most original science-fiction concepts i’ve seen, and the surreal transitions between vos and colin’s minds are extraordinary. as their identities begin to bleed into one another, the film abandons any stable sense of self, leaving you unsure who is really in control. by the end, it almost doesn’t matter. when vos murders her own family to complete the mission and calmly returns to work, the final trace of her humanity has evaporated. she’s become exactly what the corporation designed her to be. but that mask scene. genuinely one of the most terrifying moments of horror i’ve seen in a long time. it’s body horror at its most psychologically devastating - a representation of the unbearable instability of the self. i’m totally intrigued about his other films now and will definitely get around to them.