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

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
Drama 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.

Sleep Sleep
Horror 2023 94 mins Director: Jason Yu
A recently married couple find their lives turning upside down as a result of the husband’s nocturnal behaviour.

Starve Acre Starve Acre
Horror 2023 98 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
Dark and sinister forces invade a couple’s home in this wildly eerie British folk horror, with unflinching performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
Horror 1962 87 mins Director: Riccardo Freda
A widowed doctor has gruesome plans for his new wife in this lush, Hitchcockian Italian gothic horror.

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.

The Universal Theory The Universal Theory
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Timm Kröger
Amid an awesome Alpine backdrop, a gifted physicist enters a mind-bending web of murder and mystery. The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock pervade this visually breathtaking cold war mystery-thriller.

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.

I Am Love I Am Love
Drama 2009 114 mins Director: Luca Guadagnino
Tilda Swinton and Luca Guadagnino’s sumptuous, operatic vision of an aristocratic family disrupted by unstoppable forces of passion.

Hannah Takes the Stairs Hannah Takes the Stairs
Comedy 2006 84 mins Director: Joe Swanberg
Greta Gerwig plays the carefree intern who finds herself at the centre of a love triangle with two co-workers, in this charming 'mumblecore' rom-com.

Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Romance 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of a 2024 Sundance audience award

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
Drama 2023 110 mins Director: Elene Naveriani
A fiercely independent woman’s tranquillity is disturbed by an unexpected affair, in this wry, tender and understated drama from Georgia.