Overview
Mark (Sam Neill) sends a private detective to follow his wife (Isabelle Adjani) suspecting her of having an affair, but the horrors are far worse than he imagines after it’s revealed her lover is a strange tentacled creature.
If this synopsis seems strange enough it can’t do justice to a wild, careering story that presents a hyper-real allegory on fidelity and identity. It’s also dense with political and literary allusions – a tale of Dostoevskyian doppelgangers set in the divided city of Berlin. The relentless energy of Zulawski’s prowling camerawork is matched in kineticism by Adjani’s thoroughly demented performance, which earned her a best actress award at Cannes. Completing the film’s bizarre backstory, Possession also found itself ill-fittingly included on the infamous ‘video nasty’ list of outlawed cassettes in the early 1980s. With creature effects by the Oscar-winning creator of E.T, Carlos Rambaldi, Possession is filmmaking at its most frenzied, fraught and furious. Ranked joint 243th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll
Related

Cronos Cronos
Horror 1992 93 mins Director: Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro’s Cannes prize-winning directorial debut offers a unique take on the classic vampire story.

The Balconettes The Balconettes
Comedy 2024 104 mins Director: Noémie Merlant
Co-written with Céline Sciamma, Noémie Merlant’s bold film follows three friends as they dispose of the body of an abuser they’ve accidentally killed.

Let the Right One In Let the Right One In
Horror 2008 115 mins Director: Tomas Alfredson
A twelve-year-old boy befriends a mysterious girl with a dark secret, in Tomas Alfredson’s grownup tale of childhood vampirism.

The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.

Amulet Amulet
Horror 2020 99 mins Director: Romola Garai
Old sins refuse to be forgotten in Romola Garai’s gothic horror and hauntingly atmospheric debut feature.

Red Rooms Red Rooms
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.

Rabid Rabid
Horror 1976 91 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg’s classic outbreak horror introduces us to a young woman (Marilyn Chambers) who hungers for human blood after an experimental plastic surgery goes wrong.

Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.

The Blood on Satan's Claw The Blood on Satan's Claw
Horror 1971 96 mins Director: Piers Haggard
Depraved sexual practices and satanic violence envelop a remote country village in this exciting period horror.

Pontypool Pontypool
Horror 2008 93 mins Director: Bruce McDonald
Don't say it! The wrong word starts turning people into zombies in this lo-fi Canadian horror.

A Dark Song A Dark Song
Drama 2016 100 mins Director: Liam Gavin
Steve Oram and Catherine Walker excel in this occult chamber piece about a grieving mother attempting to contact her deceased child.

Dead of Night (aka Deathdream) Dead of Night (aka Deathdream)
Drama 1978 88 mins Director: Bob Clark
A soldier killed in the Vietnam War returns home on the night of his death in Bob Clark’s deft blend of searing political allegory and wicked grindhouse thrills.

Nosferatu the Vampyre Nosferatu the Vampyre
Horror 1979 107 mins Director: Werner Herzog
English language version of Herzog’s stimulating take on the Dracula story starring Klaus Kinski, with echoes of Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu.

Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.

Sebastian Sebastian
Drama 2024 110 mins Director: Mikko Mäkelä
A young London-based writer begins a double life as a sex worker to research his debut novel, in this gripping psychological drama.

Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love
Drama 2002 95 mins Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Adam Sandler is a beleaguered businessman who finds romance with a mysterious woman, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning offbeat comedy.

An Elephant Sitting Still An Elephant Sitting Still
Drama 2018 234 mins Director: Hu Bo
The troubled lives of four desperate people unfold over the course of a single day, in this melancholy masterpiece about the human condition.

The Outcasts The Outcasts
Fantasy 1982 106 mins Director: Robert Wynne-Simmons
Haunting Irish folk-horror, from the writer of The Blood on Satan’s Claw, about an introverted farm girl suspected of witchcraft.

Memoir of a Snail Memoir of a Snail
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 95 mins Director: Adam Elliot
Nick Cave and Sarah Snook voice an Oscar-nominated stop-motion classic of divided twins, told with adult candour and uncanny warmth.