REVIEW OF THE POSSESSION

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About The Movie:

The story revolves around a family in the first year of a divorce. A father (Morgan) gets his kids every weekend from their overprotective mother. The mother is dating some douche dentist. Things come to a head when the father takes his two young daughters to a yard sale to buy some supplies for his new home. The youngest daughter Em (Calis) becomes intrigued by an old box with strange carvings on it. You see this box is no ordinary box it’s what’s called a Dybbuk box which is from ancient Jewish faith. Its purpose is to seal malevolent spirits or demons. I should mention at this point that the story is based on “true” events.

What Is Good About The Movie:

The acting in this movie is pretty decent, you have every roll competently played and I was suitably impressed with young Natasha Calis who handled a demanding roll quite well. Child actors can be very hit or miss and a lot of the scares come from her ( and special effects). Jeffrey Dean Morgan was fantastic as a father trying to do right by his kids through any means necessary. Even Grant Show as the well meaning but annoying “new boyfriend” plays his character well. He comes off as a bit of a wiener but believable. He also gets one of the best scenes in the movie that would be a nightmare to any dentist. The only person I had a problem with was Kyra Sedgwick’s character of the mother. She flailed a lot and was just unpleasant to me. Moments that required her to emote were way over the top and came off as more funny than dramatic. Everyone else does fine.

What Is Bad About The Movie:

My problems with this film start at the plot. It’s about as paint-by-numbers as you can get. I’m not going to knock an entire sub-genre of horror for sticking to formulas but this movie felt entirely too safe for me: A family moving or otherwise changing from the norm? Check Is there a slow possession where one person believes but nobody else does? Check. Bugs? Check. Random, occult professor? Check. Exorcism scene? Check. The end…or is it? Double check. It comes of as predictable which is a shame because it really is well put together otherwise. The special effects and the lore behind the box are great and as I mentioned before it’s acted well for the most part.

 If you’re a fan of this genre of horror and are looking to get your ghost on; I would say check it out but for everyone one else you might wanna just Netflix this when it comes out.

Overall Grade: B