Despite the fact that “Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace” only lasted six episodes, it developed a cult following and spawned numerous supernatural and horror anthologies. “Possum,” by “Darkplace” co-creator/star Matthew Holness, is a psychological horror film mostly about madness, in which most terrors (both seen and unseen) could be figments of the protagonist’s deeply withdrawn and troubled imagination.
Matthew Holness wrote and directed “Possum,” which stars Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong. With “Possum,” Holness crosses the line between “underdeveloped” and “minimalist.” It is based on Holness’ short story of the same name, which was published in the horror anthology “The New Uncanny: Tales of Unease,” and is influenced by Sigmund Freud’s uncanny views.
Holness had abandoned the idea of adapting the story in favor of working on a potential horror picture. Holness, a horror fan, stated that he favors horror films that “stick with you” and make the viewer reflect on their experience. Holness was inspired by public service announcement films he saw as a kid for Possum’s visual design. Other influences include German Expressionist films like “Dead of Night” (1945) and “Martin” (1978) by George Romero.
On June 25, 2018, “Possum” made its global premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and on October 12, 2018, it was screened at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. It was later given a limited theatrical release in the United States, with five screenings on November 2, 2018. The film garnered mostly positive reviews, with praise for Harris’ performance as well as the mood, soundtrack, and unsettling imagery.
Can You Spot Him Deep Within? – Possum (2018)
“Possum” starts off rather slow in the first 15 minutes of the film. One can’t figure out much of the storyline beyond the reappearing duffel bag that puppeteer, Philip Connell, keeps trying to dispose of. It starts with Philip taking a train back to his hometown, Marshwood, due to an unknown scandal. He keeps glancing at a teenager sketching in a journal on the same train as him. When Philip approaches and asks, “What were you drawing?” the boy gives him a dirty look and walks away.
Philip returns to the home where he grew up, but he won’t go into one certain room. Yellow and orange balloons are engulfed in black smoke that penetrates through the wallpaper. He tries to get rid of the puppet several times, but it always seems to find its way back to him, hanging on his wall or appearing next to him in bed. He reopens the Possum picture book that he wrote and illustrated as a child.
Possum’s beginnings are depicted in the novel, as well as how it sneaks up on orphaned youngsters and devours them in their beds. Phillip tries to enter the closed-door regularly; Maurice always asks if he intends to go in, and he always says no. During their contacts, Maurice regularly mocks Phillip, bringing up the humiliating circumstances that cost him his job and sadistically insisting that Phillip remember his horrific childhood bullying memories.
The news begins to circulate about a missing local boy named Michael, whom Phillip kept staring at during the train ride home. “Possum” then amps up the angst by casting the protagonist as a problematic man. According to authorities, a man who matches Phillip’s description is a person of interest in his disappearance.
Philip becomes an unappealing character who is nearly impossible to root for, swaddled in a hefty hint that he may be a violent molester responsible for the abduction of a 14-year-old child. As a result, “Possum” extends another arm to isolate itself from audience closeness, preventing the vicarious connection. He returns to his boyhood school, even though the school’s staff discourages him from staying too long and the locals treat him suspiciously.
There are strange, hallucinogenic images in which Philip walks to a quiet woodland, places the bag in an occult nexus of tree trunks, and unzips it, maybe in a delusional and fictitious present. Something dreadful with an alarming number of legs stirs from within. Holness has scouted some fantastically desolate East Anglian locales for this film, giving the scenes a post-apocalyptic feel.
There are abandoned rail lines, deteriorating bridges, and vast flat wetlands. Strangeness is radioactive in these settings. There are also abandoned military structures that protrude from the ground like crashed UFOs. Strange thoughts and hallucinations of Possum coming upon him in bed torment him. At this point, Phillip has tried everything to get rid of Possum, including ditching it in the woods, hurling it off a bridge, smashing and sinking it off a dock, and even burning it.
Then, Maurice recalls being called in by a colleague to teach Phillip’s bullies a lesson one day. While searching for Michael in the newspaper, he mentions that there was a similar incidence of a youngster being assaulted by a masked man back then. This brings back traumatic memories for Philip and Maurice consoles him as he breaks down into tears. As the search for Michael intensifies, Maurice informs Phillip that he will be gone for a while and advises him not to draw attention to himself or bring difficulties back to the house.
Phillip walks into the school and asks to speak with Mr. Grant, his former form teacher. Mr. Grant “knew everything that had happened,” he says to the secretary, and he offered to accompany him to the police station.
The perplexed secretary orders him to wait outside, but Phillip overhears her discussing contacting the cops, so he runs away feeling scared. As he rushes, he is pursued by Possum, who eventually overwhelms him and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up, he comes home to find Maurice gone, but he now has terrifying visions of himself as Possum. The slow-burn madness and all-consuming fear are shown brilliantly in the film.
He walks into the closed room that he had been avoiding so far. It has been extensively burnt down by a house fire. Suddenly, he is stopped by a masked figure in the shadows as he explores the strange things inside the room. The man takes off his mask, revealing himself to be Maurice. He taunts him and makes crude jokes about Phillip’s parents dying in a fire, leaving him orphaned and in his care, only to be beaten and sexually abused throughout his childhood. He questions Phillip who was always aware that Maurice was the masked man who assaulted him back then, yet he never notified anyone.
Maurice overpowers Phillip, begins beating and assaulting him, as he is sobbing and reliving the traumatic memories of his childhood that have caused mental regression. Then, Phillip hears a whimper from a locked chest in the corner. This seems to unlock something inside him causing him to fight Maurice back and fracture his neck. When Phillip unlocks the chest, a horrified Michael scrambles to get out.
Holness ends the movie abruptly, with Phillip sitting outside his house with Possum’s head in his lap, gazing blankly ahead. The ending leaves one with a rather uncomfortable and chilly feeling.
Creepy Puppets and Spiders Of Possum Explained
“Look at Possum, there he lies.
Children, meet his lifeless eyes.
See his nasty legs and tongue.
When he wakens, watch him run.”
The ominous Possum is a terrible creature that lives in Philip’s head, partly as the nursery rhymes that he has jotted down in that well-known horror staple, the child’s obsessive scrapbook of strange writings and drawings. Possum may have drawn inspiration from “The Babadook”, but that is just speculation.
In the area of literary horror, the anthology’s format is standard. The majority of anthologies have a common theme. However, “Possum” is unique in that it takes a new approach: it takes a theoretical idea – the eerie – and invites authors to use it as a starting point for their stories. It’s unclear whether the doll has supernatural properties or is simply a product of Philip’s imagination and misery.
It could be a form of his repressed childhood memories and trauma. The film manages to be sad, disgusting, and overdone in its suffering while keeping a delicate balance between horror and comedy.
The uncanny is well known through Sigmund Freud’s 1919 piece “Das Unheimliche,” which literally translates as “the unhomely.” This article deeply impacted various cultures and fields including art theory, literature, architecture, and robotics; all of them have adopted the concept of the eerie as a result. Freud goes on to discuss the roots of the uncanny in psychoanalytic terms in his essay. We all have various “old beliefs” as infants and children that we have since suppressed.
As a result, according to Freud, the uncanny “is in reality nothing new or alien, but something familiar and old-established in the mind that has only become detached from it via the process of suppression.” We acquire a feeling of the uncanny whenever anything happens in our life that seems to corroborate our old, rejected views.” This is the traditional interpretation of horror as the repressions return.
Most modern theoretical approaches to the eerie, on the other hand, abandon this psychoanalytic understanding in favor of a broader approach. Regardless of whether or not one believes in Freud’s theories, this film is a truly frightening and intriguing horror picture. Hearing the movie “Possum” discussed opens up some interesting psychological possibilities.
Phillip spends the majority of the film trying to get rid of the puppet he keeps in a leather bag. The spider always comes back to him, no matter what he does, just like his guilt and shame. This is because no matter how hard he tries, he will never be able to escape his history. As a child, he witnessed his uncle assaulting him in the form of a spider.
He tells his uncle that he’ll kill it, but what he really means is that he’ll murder him, which he accomplishes at the end of the movie. His uncle abused the little boy with his fingers, and possibly wore a mask when he kidnapped and killed boys years ago. Spiders are frequently associated with creepy, frightening creatures, which is why Phillip imagined his uncle, and then himself, as a spider.
Phillip’s point of view is linked with that of the fox and the puppet. Because he believes himself as both alive and dead, the puppet never disappears or is destroyed, and random foxes keep reappearing. Phillip tells a disturbing story of a gang of friends kicking a sick fox for fun, and when Phillip thinks they’ve killed him, the fox gets up and flees.
It’s possible that the fox died, which is exactly what Phillip wanted would happen. It would imply that all of the children murdered by his uncle would be resurrected. It was a coping strategy that allowed him to digest all that had happened to him and all of the other kids over the years. If you believe Phillip kidnapped the boy, you may be witnessing the beginnings of a psychotic mind.
“Possum” is a harrowing look into the vacuum left by a childhood that was so dark that neither light nor goodness could shine through. In “Possum”, it’s all about the perspective. Depending on your beliefs, the symbol-heavy story offers a vivid picture of both victim and abuser. Phillip’s half-mud-caked appearance early in the film could be the result of him kidnapping a child or a visual depiction of his guilt and innocence. It is entirely up to the audience to decide. Beauty is in ambiguity, and how you interpret it is influenced by your view on life.
Why should you watch Possum?
The uncanny is a sensation that can be felt in real life or while viewing or reading literature, films, or art, among other things. It generates a sense of discomfort and unease, which is directly linked to horror and dread.
Holness combines two phobias: fear of dolls and fear of doubles with this film. Philip, the protagonist of the short story, built the puppet as a double of himself out of roadkill. Possum’s disturbingly eerie appearance is undeniable. On the one hand, it’s familiar (a mask, a face, a doll), but on the other, it’s weird, unfamiliar, and potentially dangerous. Is it still alive? Is it possible?
“Possum’s” peculiarities make it an experience that may vary from person to person. It is unique, with unsettling pictures and thoughts that will offend some palates while pleasing others. Despite its deceptively basic premise and small length, “Possum” will almost surely necessitate a second viewing to understand the complexities hidden inside the initially ambiguous story. “Possum” isn’t the type of enticing encounter that will persuade you to return too quickly after your first visit, regardless of how much it appeals to one’s taste.
Fans of traditional horror will undoubtedly be bored by the lack of action, but more adventurous viewers may end up giving this small but unique project its own cult following. Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong do a fantastic job of rendering Philip eerily cryptic and Uncle Maurice disgustingly filthy.