Possum is a 2018 British psychological horror film written and directed by Matthew Holness in his feature film debut, starring Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong. It centres on a disgraced children's puppeteer who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront trauma he suffered there.
Possum is an adaptation of Holness' short story of the same name, published in the horror anthology The New Uncanny: Tales of Unease, and partially inspired by the theories on the uncanny by Sigmund Freud. Holness soon forgot about the idea of adapting the story until he had begun working on developing a possible horror film. As a fan of the horror genre, Holness stated he much preferred horror films that resonate with the audience and force them to reflect on the experience afterward. Possums visual style was inspired by public information films Holness saw in his youth. Other inspirations include Dead of Night (1945), George A. Romero's Martin (1978), and German Expressionist films. Filming began in Norfolk, with additional filming taking place in Great Yarmouth and Suffolk. The film's score was composed by sound effects and experimental electronic music studio The Radiophonic Workshop, which marked their first soundtrack purposely constructed for a feature film.
Possum premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 25 June 2018, and later screened in the United States at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on 12 October 2018. It was later given a limited theatrical release in the United States, opening in five theatres on 2 November 2018; finishing its limited theatrical run with a gross of $33,271. Later, it was given a home media release. In addition to garnering multiple awards and nominations, it was generally praised by critics for Harris' performance, the film's atmosphere, score, and unsettling imagery, though the story prompted some criticism.
Plot Philip Connell, a disgraced children's puppeteer, is forced to return to his childhood home in Norfolk. The home, in disrepair due to a past fire, is shared by his decrepit uncle Maurice.
Philip is haunted by a spider-like marionette called "Possum." Throughout his time in Norfolk, he repeatedly attempts to dispose of the puppet, but it inexplicably returns to him each time. Philip recovers a picture book he made as a young boy. The book depicts Possum's origins and how it creeps upon unsuspecting, orphaned children, intent on devouring them in their beds. He is also plagued by strange visions and dreams of Possum creeping up on him in bed. Philip continues trying - and failing - to dispose of Possum.
During their interactions, Maurice frequently torments Philip by mentioning the circumstances that cost him his job and forcing Philip to recount traumatic experiences of childhood bullying. He laments Philip's attempts to dispose of Possum, reminding him that puppetry runs in their family. Philip frequently approaches a closed room in the house. Each time, Maurice asks if he plans to go in, to which he always replies no.
News reports mention a missing local boy, Michael, whom Philip encountered on the train ride to Norfolk. Authorities indicate that a man fitting Philip's description is a person of interest. Philip revisits his childhood school, though he is discouraged from lingering by the school's staff and treated with suspicion by the local residents. Maurice remarks to Philip that there was once a similar case of a boy being assaulted by a masked man. When Philip breaks down in tears, Maurice comforts him. As the search continues to mount, Maurice informs Philip that he will be spending some time away and warns Philip to not bring attention to himself, or trouble back to the house.
In a period of distress, Philip enters the school and requests to speak to his old form teacher, Mr. Grant. He tells the secretary that Mr. Grant "knew all about what had happened" and promised to go to the police with him. The confused secretary has him wait outside, but Philip overhears her speaking with the headmaster about calling the police and he flees. As he runs, Philip finds himself chased by Possum, until he is seemingly overwhelmed by it, and passes out. Awakening, he returns home to find Maurice gone, but now has horrifying visions of becoming Possum himself.
Philip enters the closed room, which is revealed to be badly charred from the fire. As he examines the items within, he is attacked by a masked man, who reveals himself to be Maurice. He lewdly taunts Philip about the deaths of his parents, which left him orphaned and in Maurice's care. He muses about how Philip always knew Maurice was the masked man who physically and sexually abused him throughout his childhood, but still never told anyone.
Maurice gleefully beats and molests a sobbing and mentally-regressed Philip. Suddenly, Philip hears a whimper from a locked chest in the corner. He overpowers Maurice and breaks his neck. Philip unlocks the chest, releasing a terrified Michael who scrambles away.
Sitting outside his house, Philip stares blankly ahead, with Possum's severed head in his lap.
Cast Sean Harris as Philip Connell, a disgraced and mentally unstable children's puppeteer haunted by the traumatic abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his uncle Alun Armstrong as Maurice, Phillip's abusive uncle who raised Phillip after the death of his parents Charlie Eales as Michael, a young boy who goes missing Simon Bubb as Mr. Evans Andy Blithe as Michael's Father Ryan Enever as Michael's Uncle
Production Concept and development
Possum marks the feature film debut of English comedian, author, and director Matthew Holness. Holness had previously worked on the cult television series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, which he wrote, directed, and starred in as the title character, as well as the publication of several short stories. Although normally associated with comedies, Holness admitted he had always been a fan of the horror genre and works with serious themes, but stressed that it had been difficult to break from his reputation for comedies due to the large following.
The film is an adaptation of Holness' own short story of the same name, which was published in the horror anthology The New Uncanny: Tales of Unease, and featured the publications of other writers. The story centered on a character unable to verbally and emotionally express himself due to childhood trauma, choosing instead to do so by creating a puppet. The basis for the story was partially drawn from theories on the uncanny by Sigmund Freud. According to Holness, The New Uncannys publishers had all the writers read Freud's theory of the uncanny. The publishers then told the writers to choose a fear that intrigued them, and write a story in modern language. Holness ended up choosing two, a fear of doppelgängers and a fear of ventriloquists' dummies, combining the two fears to avoid being clichéd. After the story's publication, Holness soon forgot about the idea until he had begun working on developing a possible horror film. Expanding the short story into a film narrative, Holness drew upon his love of 1920s and '30s silent films, which he found to be "so brilliantly creepy", with the primary use of psychologically affecting body horror visual narratives. He wanted to replicate this same filmmaking technique, lamenting that many modern films overlooked them and ended up being less creepy. Opting to make "a modern silent film", Holness was then reminded of the original short story, which he felt would fit perfectly with his idea to express as little dialogue as possible.
The film's visual style was inspired by public information films that Holness had seen during his youth. These films, which were intended to shock youth out of making bad decisions, often depicted children being kidnapped, maimed, and/or killed. The films deeply disturbed Holness, who later recalled, "They were put on between children's programming during the day; you'd see these horrific, terrifying films – you got the impression that the adult world was a very tribal place. Of course, now we know several of those films are fronted by real-life monsters." Further inspiration for the film came from silent films such as F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922). Holness also listed films such as George A. Romero's Martin (1978), and Dead of Night (1945) as inspirations for the film. When the film was originally announced, Holness stated in an interview with Screen Daily, "The film draws on the dark nightmares of silent German expressionist horror, British classics such as The Innocents (1961) and Don't Look Now (1973), as well as the claustrophobic suburban gothic of Pete Walker's Frightmare (1974).
Pre-production
In June 2016 Holness announced the film's development. On 3 November 2016 it was officially announced that Holness was writing and directing the film. In an interview with PopMatters, Holness stated that writing the film's script involved extending the narrative from his original short story: "Short stories are different because they can be very short, they can be just about one scene, one place, one sole thing happening. Certainly with Possum I knew I needed to extend the narrative a bit, to widen it in order for it to be a film in which nothing much on the face of it happens. It needed a bigger sense of climax and confrontation than the original story had, even though the essentials of the short story are in the film." As a fan of the horror genre, Holness stated that he much preferred horror films that "linger with you", forcing the audience to reflect upon the experience afterwards. It was originally decided that intertitles would be used to voice the main character's thoughts throughout the film, with Holness drawing inspiration from the narration of silent films. The idea was later abandoned during the editing process, as Holness felt it slowed down the pacing of the film, instead opting for voice-over narration as he felt the audience could better understand the meaning behind such narration.
Developing the characters in the film, Holness stated that he wanted to "get into the heads of the characters", describing the film as "a very bleak and understated character piece." Holness stressed the importance of making the film 'through Philip's perspective of the world', ensuring that the character remained morally ambiguous. The role of Phillip was originally written with the intention of having John Amplas, who had starred in George Romero's Martin, in the lead role. The role instead went to Sean Harris, who had responded strongly to the idea of starring in the film after reading the script. Initially, Holness had been concerned whether the actor would be able to go to such an emotionally dark place: "the great thing about Sean is that he immerses himself in his characters and is able to go to those places and come back with something that's very affecting and truthful." Holness worked very closely with Harris on developing the character of Phillip, as Holness later recalled "We did a lot of prep work together, discussing Phillip and where he'd come from and what he'd been through, and Sean wasn't really interested in the horror side of it so much as he was getting to the truth of this character and expressing what he'd gone through for the audience." Alun Armstrong was also cast as Phillip's uncle Maurice, after originally turning it down due to scheduling conflicts for another project he was shooting in the United States.
Creature design