Movie trailers generally do a pretty good job of letting an audience know what they are in for. There are those rare instances, however, where you watch a trailer and still have no idea what a film is about. That is the exact experience I had with Matthew Holness’ Possum.
The Plot
A disgraced children’s puppeteer is haunted by secrets and his very own puppet, after returning to his childhood home where his stepfather still resides.
My Thoughts
I’ve already mentioned the trailer not really giving me enough information as to how Possum was supposed to play out. That kind of makes sense, but what does it mean when I’ve watched the entire 87 minute feature film and still have no idea what it was about?
Sean Harris (Deliver Us from Evil) plays Philip. As the plot unfolds, it is made a bit more clear that Philip was involved in some sort of missing child case years ago. He is referred to by the locals as “pervert” and soon after returning home, becomes a suspect in another case of child abduction.
That is all pretty straightforward. Possum, as a whole, is not at all straightforward, however. There is tons of nightmarish imagery involving Philip’s eight-legged puppet. A puppet that also has a face resembling that of Philip’s, mind you. Philip very desperately wants to get rid of this nightmare-inducing puppet, but he just can’t seem to make it happen.
The Verdict
Possum is not a movie that is made by accident. Writer and director, Matthew Holness, set out to make a film that is part real and part surreal. He has done just that with his eerie score and terrifying arachnid puppet.
The acting is on point and the overall tone of the film hits its mark. While I didn’t enjoy it all that much, that doesn’t mean that I can’t see a possibility of others out there doing just that. There are very many of you who will find this movie very disturbing and actually quite like it. I am sure of it.
Be sure to pick up your copy of Possum on DVD, available Tuesday, February 12 from Dark Sky Films.
I give it 1.5 missing children out of 5.
