🌟 🎥MovieChat MovieClub Event: Friday/Saturday Features #61 🍿

This movie is the equivalent of asking yourself if he fell because it was muddy or if it’s muddy because he fell.

Pointless. 🫤

STONER SMOKES A LOT IN THIS MOVIE...STUPID ASSHOLE...SMOKING WILL KILL YOU!

Trivia
Philip (Sean Harris) does not smile once through this film. In fact he wears a frown throughout more than 95% of the movie.

Possum obliquely exploits eight legs to produce an agonising tale on trauma.
"Little Possum, black as sin. Bag is open, growing wider. What's inside it, man or spider? Little boy, don't lose your way. Possum wants to come and play". There are two entities in life, from an ever growing list of rational and irrational fears, that indescribably give me the heebie-jeebies. Spiders, no matter the size, and marionettes with faces painted on. Holness manages to equip both of these traumatising elements (that he also fears) within his psychological horror to provide insight into the fragmented psyche of a mentally broken character. A disgraced children's puppeteer who returns to his childhood house in order to confront his past trauma that has been rapidly manifesting within him.

Trauma, regardless of its severity, is a haunting presence that lingers over one's mind. Forever following your footsteps. A reminder of the evocative hurt that suffocates. Holness utilises, what I can only describe as, a spider marionette with a lifeless head attached to its petrifying body, to symbolise both the protagonist's psychological wounds and a means to escape the tenebrous reality he resides within. Sparse in dialogue yet bathing in excess visual symbolism, Holness manages to provide a deeply-serious character study and merge it with the confinements of an independent budget. Creating a nightmare-fuelled, hair-raising, nerve-wracking story along the way.

To the average viewer, the repetitive scenes of Harris walking around the Norfolk broads in a beige overcoat whilst holding an ominous bag containing said Possum, may come across as tediously dull. Despite these scenes not adding much to the feature's entirety, it indicates the cyclic torment that this emotionally pained individual experiences on a daily basis. Attempting to obliterate Possum, his metaphor for trauma. Undoubtedly the film requires work from the viewer, however that only enhances its ominous presence and engagement.


Harris offers a commanding central performance, with the ability to sink deep into his character's psychosis. His glum face, fatigued eyes and stoic stature represents the agonising prison he has created for himself. It's subdued, yet incredibly powerful. Armstrong provides some dialogue exchanges as the uncle, which frustratingly nullifies the conclusion when considering the visual narrative style that precedes it.

And, inevitably, praise must be given to the conceptual design of Possum. The marionette itself should be destroyed immediately. Hailstone (whom designed it), locked up as well! Not only will it haunt my nightmares for the next few arduous days, as I wake up in the middle of the night hoping it isn't sitting at the end of my bed and looking into my soul before creeping towards me, but categorically forces this feature to be memorable. The dream sequences offer some of the most creepy imagery I've ever seen, especially when Possum's legs slowly move out of the bag, but again, my own fears make me a susceptible subject. This may not have the same prominent effect on you. Regardless, that does not matter.

Possum, at its core, is not a creature feature. Remove the dangly legs of the central marionette and the same ominous feature would still be just as effective. Holness exquisitely creates a subtle British psychological horror by providing an expressionistic visual tale on abuse and trauma, slowly deepening the abyss of torment as we gradually walk further into its character's void. Had the ending been more effective and consistent, this may have been a new classic to come.

OOOOOOOOH, MY BF WAS ON A AD!!!!!! (dwayne johnson!!!!! :) )

Holy shit! Have you seen this guy jump down the stairs!? 😮!
Oh and Shut up with all the questions, you’re NOT his daddy!!

So… it feels like this guy found a creepy puppet and decided to make a film that would entirely gravitate around it. No dialogue, no story, no nothing else?? Nonsense, rubbish! Pure nonsense and rrrrrubish mate!!

Ok I get it. This guy has unaddressed trauma, likely experienced at the hands of this crusty old fuck in the house who continues to retraumatize him by humiliating him with his own memories, making it impossible for our protagonist to develop into a well-adjusted adult. His inability to get rid of the bag is symbolic of his trauma, e.g., "he is carrying around his emotional baggage."

At least that's what I'm getting from this so far.