If this movie had a better ending and a different title, I would have given it 9 stars. The actors were superb! The story was excellent! The directors were terrible. This is not a horror movie. It was a love story with a supernatural twist, a Hitchcock style mystery with a powerful, exciting climax and then... CRASH! No Ending! We were left hanging.
It was "almost" a great movie, but the directors missed the mark with the ending and the title. The title was completely wrong for this movie. Possession is a name for a horror movie. Apparently, these directors do not understand that a "Possession" is perceived as an act of violence by a malevolent entity. It is an overpowering by something evil. This storyline wasn't a possession, it was more of a "rebirth," "transference," "joining" or "awakening" that the movie was trying to imply with the switch. It was centered on the spirit of a loving spouse reaching out to his wife through his brother. Possession implies malevolence... which is why the audience felt deceived by the directors. When you mislead the expectations of an audience, you are going to get bad reviews and ratings.
The DVD cover was as misleading as the title. The photo on the DVD cover looks like it belongs with a completely different movie and bore no semblance to this film. To make the problem worse, there are already a half dozen other movies with the same name "Possession." This movie should have been called something like "Reflection," "Inner Spirit," "Echo," "Transference," "Rebirth" or "(a rose) by any other name"... (you get the idea). There are dozens of better titles they could have used. This title will also work against the DVD sales and rental revenues. Most people will assume they've already seen it by the name without double-checking like I did. It was hard enough just finding the right entry on IMDb.
The directors' filming styles did not fit the movie. They used choppy flashes of horrific images and sudden loud banging noises to instill fear in the audience like you would with a horror movie or thriller. That might be OK with a movie like "The Ring" or "Darkness" but it was out of place on this film... especially on the opening credits. It gave the audience the perception that the movie would be nonstop killings and violence. This movie had 2 terrible directors who took an excellent story, good screenplay and superbly talented actors and treated it like 2 high school kids pretending to be directors in their garage. If not for the directors, this could have been a fantastic 9 star movie.
It really was a good movie throughout until the last scene when we were left dangling with no ending. Leaving a movie hanging, is a very bad way to leave a movie or treat an audience. Very poor judgment on the directors' parts. For this kind of a movie, a happy ending would have been nice... but this movie literally had no ending at all.
The movie also did not close out the issue of the missing girlfriend. Yes, there was a memory flash of what he had done, but that was not a closure... (the alternate scene didn't count), but someone needed to find her. Apparently, these directors have a problem with "closures" and endings in his movies. Something to be wary of on their future endeavors. I don't think they should be directing this genre of movie. They don't quite know how all the pieces should fit together. They obviously do not understand US audiences or how to properly direct a film.. They turned a winning movie into a dud.
I had been hoping for some redeeming alternate scenes after the directors left us hanging without any ending... but I was not pleased with any of the alternate scenes at all. They would not have added any enhancement to the movie and would have ruined the movie if they had used them. The alternate scenes created an irreversible finality situation... leading up to an alternate ending which was even worse than the regular ending. The directors couldn't even get the alternate ending right. They are apparently clueless as to how to appropriately end this kind of movie.
A love story like this should have had an ending with a glimmer of positive hope... more of a glimmer than the one they left us with. This movie genre is more in the category of the film "Ghost". (Just for the directors' info, the patient bursting awake and then returning to deep coma is contradictory and unlikely). If they had wanted to end the movie properly, Ryan would have stayed awake after that last episode. The wife would have had a miscarriage, but the doctor should have wheeled her into Ryan's room where his eyes were open and they exchange meaningful, loving expressions and touch hands where we would know everything was going to be all right. That's how you end a movie like this. I'd recut, retitle & re-release this movie. Shame on the directors for spoiling what could have been a really great movie.
I still recommend watching it. It is a good movie and good story, as long as you understand the disappointment waiting for you with the "lack of ending" and you understand this movie is nothing like the title implies.
It was "almost" a great movie, but the directors missed the mark with the ending and the title. The title was completely wrong for this movie. Possession is a name for a horror movie. Apparently, these directors do not understand that a "Possession" is perceived as an act of violence by a malevolent entity. It is an overpowering by something evil. This storyline wasn't a possession, it was more of a "rebirth," "transference," "joining" or "awakening" that the movie was trying to imply with the switch. It was centered on the spirit of a loving spouse reaching out to his wife through his brother. Possession implies malevolence... which is why the audience felt deceived by the directors. When you mislead the expectations of an audience, you are going to get bad reviews and ratings.
The DVD cover was as misleading as the title. The photo on the DVD cover looks like it belongs with a completely different movie and bore no semblance to this film. To make the problem worse, there are already a half dozen other movies with the same name "Possession." This movie should have been called something like "Reflection," "Inner Spirit," "Echo," "Transference," "Rebirth" or "(a rose) by any other name"... (you get the idea). There are dozens of better titles they could have used. This title will also work against the DVD sales and rental revenues. Most people will assume they've already seen it by the name without double-checking like I did. It was hard enough just finding the right entry on IMDb.
The directors' filming styles did not fit the movie. They used choppy flashes of horrific images and sudden loud banging noises to instill fear in the audience like you would with a horror movie or thriller. That might be OK with a movie like "The Ring" or "Darkness" but it was out of place on this film... especially on the opening credits. It gave the audience the perception that the movie would be nonstop killings and violence. This movie had 2 terrible directors who took an excellent story, good screenplay and superbly talented actors and treated it like 2 high school kids pretending to be directors in their garage. If not for the directors, this could have been a fantastic 9 star movie.
It really was a good movie throughout until the last scene when we were left dangling with no ending. Leaving a movie hanging, is a very bad way to leave a movie or treat an audience. Very poor judgment on the directors' parts. For this kind of a movie, a happy ending would have been nice... but this movie literally had no ending at all.
The movie also did not close out the issue of the missing girlfriend. Yes, there was a memory flash of what he had done, but that was not a closure... (the alternate scene didn't count), but someone needed to find her. Apparently, these directors have a problem with "closures" and endings in his movies. Something to be wary of on their future endeavors. I don't think they should be directing this genre of movie. They don't quite know how all the pieces should fit together. They obviously do not understand US audiences or how to properly direct a film.. They turned a winning movie into a dud.
I had been hoping for some redeeming alternate scenes after the directors left us hanging without any ending... but I was not pleased with any of the alternate scenes at all. They would not have added any enhancement to the movie and would have ruined the movie if they had used them. The alternate scenes created an irreversible finality situation... leading up to an alternate ending which was even worse than the regular ending. The directors couldn't even get the alternate ending right. They are apparently clueless as to how to appropriately end this kind of movie.
A love story like this should have had an ending with a glimmer of positive hope... more of a glimmer than the one they left us with. This movie genre is more in the category of the film "Ghost". (Just for the directors' info, the patient bursting awake and then returning to deep coma is contradictory and unlikely). If they had wanted to end the movie properly, Ryan would have stayed awake after that last episode. The wife would have had a miscarriage, but the doctor should have wheeled her into Ryan's room where his eyes were open and they exchange meaningful, loving expressions and touch hands where we would know everything was going to be all right. That's how you end a movie like this. I'd recut, retitle & re-release this movie. Shame on the directors for spoiling what could have been a really great movie.
I still recommend watching it. It is a good movie and good story, as long as you understand the disappointment waiting for you with the "lack of ending" and you understand this movie is nothing like the title implies.