Possession
Directed by Andrzej ŻuławskiA young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.
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Possession Ratings & Reviews
- rg9400November 1, 2024I struggled mightily with this movie. Everything about it is meant to be unpleasant and grating, which by itself is not necessarily a negative. But the plot is incredibly obtuse, and while I do think you can mine meaning from it, I also think it's just weird for the sake of being weird. I struggle with these surreal vibes movies that tend to be more abstract, and it was no different with this one. The movie doesn't present a clear, intentional message. I found the actual surface level plot to be laughable, with characters making crazy decisions every minute, including an insane ending. Honestly, I would argue it is almost incoherent, a lot of noise and violent imagery with very little substance to it. The movie equivalent of nails scratching alongside chalk. I understand there is an audience for these types of movies, and if this type of surreal horror that is driven mostly by style and vibes appeals to you, then it might be right up your alley. For me, it elicited a strong negative reaction.
- Tom MajskiDecember 15, 2025How do you even put down your thoughts after the first viewing of something like this? I can imagine watching this multiple times in the future and expanding on my thoughts - which is aways a sign of something special. This surreal divorce drama is epic ib artistic vision if opaque at points. Adjani and Neill both outdo themselves in terms of performance. Its quite funny watching this after In the Mouth of Madness and The Shining as it has a lot of the best of both. Stellar performances wrapped around a whole pile of visual metaphor. I really don't want to spoil this for anyone so im going to limit further discussion about the story. It us worth mentioning, however, how beautiful the visuals are. Probably the bluest movie you'll ever see and really great for it. I can't say much else, there are things to process, pick at and dwell on before watching again. And again and again.
- RickFebruary 16, 2025I had a hard time getting into this film. The acting felt so over the top that every character came across as a caricature. I think the goal was to immerse the viewer in the pain and uneasiness of a crumbling marriage, but to me, it just felt obnoxious. None of the characters’ decisions made sense, and the ending was completely absurd.
- Greg WinstonNovember 2, 2025A list of the best horror movies from the last 100 years selected Possession for 1981. Over Evil Dead and American Werewolf… I don’t know how to articulate what I watched or how I feel about it, but it’s not the best horror movie from 1981. And I’m just confused.
- Daniel GustavssonOctober 6, 2025I wanted to like this but it really isn't a very good movie. The acting is intense, yes, but it can also come off as forced and over the top in a few scenes, which really distracts from the serious tone and subject matter. The movie also seldom makes any particular sense, and ends very oddly. I do like abstract movies generally but much of this movie just seemed pretty random to me.
- D3LTA L4MBDAOctober 20, 2025Have fun and watch the guy from Jurassic Park get crazy with some lady that likes to scream a lot. It was an entertaining watch but definitely contrived and confusing.
- sopulaJuly 8, 2025god help us distressing, incredible, unique
- JIMFL1XMarch 20, 2025WTF did I just watch.
- ElliSeptember 15, 2025It is a messy movie with no real red thread at all. But I do really like the acting from the the two main characters, it had me uneasy and on the edge thoughtout the movie. Don't think I can recommend it however, it felt more like just weird for the sake of weird than being a good movie.
Possession Trivia
Possession was released on May 27, 1981.
Possession was directed by Andrzej Żuławski.
Possession has a runtime of 2h 4m.
Possession was produced by Marie-Laure Reyre.
The key characters in Possession are Anna / Helen (Isabelle Adjani), Mark (Sam Neill), Margit Gluckmeister (Margit Carstensen).
Possession is rated Not Rated.
Possession is a Horror, Drama film.
Possession has an audience rating of 7.6 out of 10.