The Possession :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews - Ensign

movie reviewsReviews Great Movies Answer Man People Commentary Festivals Oscars Glossary One-Minute Reviews Letters Roger Ebert's Journal Scanners StoreNews Sports Business Entertainment Classifieds ColumnistssearchTHE POSSESSION (PG-13)Ebert: Users: You: Rate this movie right nowGO Search poweredby YAHOO!registerYou are not logged in.Log in »Subscribe to weeklynewsletter »times & ticketsFandangoSearch movieshowtimes and buytickets.about usAbout the site »Site FAQs »Contact us »Email the MovieAnswer Man »on sale nowBuy now »Buy now »Buy now »The PossessionBY ROGER EBERT / August 29, 2012"The Possession" is aserious horror film aboutsupernatural possessionthat depends on more thanloud noises to scare us.Like "The Exorcist," the bestfilm in the genre, it isinspired by some degree ofPrinter-friendly »E-mail this to a friend »religious scholarship and creates believable characters in a realworld. That religions take demonic possessions seriously makesthem more fun for us, the unpossessed.The possession of the title is an actual object, a dark wood box,ingeniously locked shut. It has a carved inscription in Hebrewinforming the finder that the box entraps a dybbuk, an evil spirit thatwill cleave to the soul of anyone unlucky enough to release it.Dybbuks are a familiar element in Jewish folklore.After a startling opening sequence in "The Possession," the box turnsup in what is actually a likely place, a yard sale. It's purchased by ayoung girl named Emily (Natasha Calis), who lives with her sister,Hannah (Madison Davenport), and their father, Clyde (Jeffrey DeanMorgan), after his divorce from the girls' mother, Stephanie (KyraSedgwick).All of this unfolds as a plausible narrative and doesn't depend on ayoung girl's hysteria or tragedy between her parents (that comeslater). It is just as it's billed: A dybbuk box, inspired in fact by anactual box described in a well-known article published in the LosAngeles Times. Whether the real box caused the phenomena ondisplay in the film I somehow doubt, but I don't want to open it inorder to find out.The father and two girls have just moved into a new suburban house,one of those places with fresh paint and empty rooms; its very sterilitymakes a contrast with the Old World gloom of a dybbuk. Afteropening the box, Emily begins to act strangely, becomes fiercelypossessive about the box, disturbs her father and teachers, andinspires her mother to suspect and mistrust her ex-husband. KyraSedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan play the couple with firm realismand without showy histrionics. One of the scariest things about "ThePossession" is that the characters are all real before Emily begins tochange.The film, directed by Ole Bornedal, makes the contents of the boxmacabre without going nuts with special effects. There's also a smallin theatersArbitrageBelovedone-minute movie reviewsstill playingAbraham Lincoln: Vampire HunterAlpsThe Amazing Spider-ManArbitrageThe AwakeningThe BabymakersBeasts of the Southern WildBel AmiBelovedBill W.The Bourne LegacyBraveA Burning Hot SummerThe CampaignCeleste and Jesse ForeverChicken with PlumsComplianceCosmopolisThe Curators of Dixon SchoolDark HorseThe Dark Knight RisesThe Day He ArrivesThe Do-Deca-PentathlonElenaFarewell, My QueenFor a Good Time Call...Goodbye First LoveHit and RunHope SpringsIce Age: Continental DriftThe Invisible WarKiller JoeKumareLast RideLawlessLittle White LiesMagic MikeNatural SelectionNeil Young JourneysNobody Else But YouThe Odd Life of Timothy GreenOslo, August 31People Like Usmore current releases »

Buy now »Buy now »Buy now »macabre without going nuts with special effects. There's also a smallcontainer holding a curious mechanical insectoid object, various otherobscure artifacts, and somehow most frightening of all — moths, lotsof moths. Moths in a box sealed for centuries are far more sinisterthan CGI dragons and suchlike.In a fascinating second act, Clyde consults a Jewish professor at theschool where he coaches basketball, learns the translation of thewords carved on the box and seeks help from a community of HasidicJews in Brooklyn. A group of old men in a synagogue fearfully putsdistance between themselves and the box. But the rabbi's youngerson, Tzadok (Matisyahu), believes it's his duty to help when a life is indanger, and this leads to a frightening attempt at exorcism.Matisyahu makes a sympathetic exorcist. I looked him up. He billshimself as the Hasidic Reggae Superstar. Apparently in real life hehas some problems with dybbuks. But he's effective here, as anearnest young man who sings along with his iPod but has alsoabsorbed much theological lore from his father.The scene where he goes mano a mano with the dybbuk will remindlots of people of Max von Sydow's face to face with a demon in "TheExorcist." Comparisons can be made with Linda Blair's suffering inthat film, and Natasha Calis' tortured performance here. Fair enough."The Exorcist" has influenced a lot of films, and this is one of thebetter ones.The PossessionPremium RushThe Queen of VersaillesQwertyRed Hook SummerRed LightsRobot and FrankRuby SparksSacrificeSamsaraSavagesSearching for Sugar ManSeeking a Friend for the End of the WorldA Simple LifeSleepless NightSleepwalk with MeSparkleStep Up RevolutionTake This WaltzTedTo Rome with LoveTotal RecallTrishna2 Days in New YorkUnforgiveableEl VeladorThe WatchWhy Stop NowThe Woman in the FifthThe Wordsmore current releases »Rabbit TV - As Seen On TVAccess Over 2000 TV Stations on Yourwww.rabbittv.comon dvdnew on dvdBuy now»Watch Full Movies OnlineFull Length Movies. 100% Free.video-buzz.com/Free-Moviescoming on dvdmore new on dvd »Government Grants CanadaReceive Up To $200,000 in Free Grants Fortaxcreditforum.com/great movies on dvdmore coming on dvd »Buy now»Cancel Cable ForeverStop paying way more than you need to forhttp://www.playontv.commore great movies on dvd »Ads by Yahoo!Buy now»© copyright 2012, rogerebert.comPrivacy Policy Terms of Use Submission Guidelines