By: debbie lynn elias
Adding some horror to the mix this Labor Day weekend is THE POSSESSION. Based upon the “mythical” Jewish Dybbuk, while the possession of young Emily “Em” Brenek by a Dybbuk is the urban legend basis of the story, it is the father-daughter relationship and a father’s unconditional love for his children and his family that makes this much more than a horror film.
For those not in the know, the Dybbuk is part of Jewish folklore and is believed to be a malevolent disembodied spirit of a dead person that seeks to possess the souls and bodies of the living; the innocent living. When it has consumed one hose, it moves on to the next. The Dybbuk box houses the disembodied spirit. Although writings about the Dybbuk date back to the 16th century, in modern culture, interest was sparked thanks to an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times several years ago wherein the author described purchasing the box on eBay and the subsequent sorrow and tragedy that befell not only himself, but all others who have had possession of the box since. While the Dybbuk has been the subject of some stage plays and even mentioned in the film A Serious Man, it has never been the focus of a film until now.
Recently divorced Clyde and Stephanie Breneck are not handling the situation well and neither are their daughters. Although an equitable time sharing of the girls, the animosity and anger that Stephanie continually vents proves frustrating for all which may explain why Clyde is a bit more relaxed in his parental duties.
With the girls helping him apportion his new house, the trio stops at a yard sale to pick up dishes and knick knacks. But while rummaging through the tables, Em finds something more intriguing – an old wooden box with carvings on it. Given her fascination with the box, of course Clyde let’s her have it. Little does he know though that the box is speaking to Em. A scratchy and raspy old woman speaks to her, placing Em under her spell and making her do strange, inexplicable things. As her behavior gets more irrational and even dangerous, Clyde knows something is wrong while Stephanie and her dentist boyfriend just think Em needs a shrink or an MRI. Determined to find out what’s going on with his little girl, Clyde enlists the help of a professor friend who tells him about the Dybbuk – a dislocated spirit trapped in the box that feeds on the purity and innocence of a living breathing human; that once released from the box, devours its host and then moves on to the next. If he is to be believed, Em – and the whole family – is in serious danger and there’s only one person who can help them.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s performance as Clyde may be just the thing that finally highlights his mad acting skills for the masses and elevate him to leading man status. Taking the imperfections and failings of Clyde as a man and husband, he uses them to deliver an intense, often conflicted and heartbreaking performance for what is one of the best, if not the best, of his career. His emotional strength is undeniable as is the father-daughter bond created with his young co-stars. And ladies, he cuts a mighty fine figure while showing off some impressive basketball skills [Once an “avid player”, Morgan hits 7 straight baskets “with one roll of the camera”.]
Kyra Sedgwick easily steps in as an angry divorced mother in denial while Grant Show adds the perfect bit of arrogance as her new unlikeable dentist boyfriend, Brett.
In a surprise casting move, renowned music superstar Matisyahu makes a stunning feature debut as rabbi-in-training Tzadok. Pivotal to the story and a climactic exorcism scene, a bearded and payoted Matisyahu called on his own personal experiences and faith to achieve the powerful performance we see on screen. “Five years ago on Rosh Hashanah, I was in Israel and I heard this sound coming out as I was walking around. I found myself in a synagogue that was a different part of Hasidim where their style of prayers¡ they would scream. . . I met with the Rabbi afterwards and he told me that a prayer is a war.” So moved by this style of prayer, on his return to New York, Matisyahu embraced it as his own. ” I prayed in this one synagogue where they scream, which for a singer is of course not good. I couldn’t help it. I loved it. That’s what I took with me to that scene. There’s a real war. In the Torah, in the Old Testament it talks about the weapon of the Jews is their mouth. It’s not referring to lawyers [laughs]. The word in Hebrew for a prayer comes from the word “to cut” — the idea that you’re cutting through forces of evil with a sword through the prayers. That was what I took into the scene¡ there’s that moment where I’m screaming and losing myself in it, I felt like I was in Williamsburg [his synagogue], I was in that shul.”
But the real breakout performance comes from Natasha Calis who according to director Bornedal “[W]as the first girl I cast. And I knew in ten minutes that she was the one. I bring these kids into a sort of trance, which makes me capable of finding a straight pipeline to her emotions. I brought Natasha in this trance and told her to behave like Em. I gave her some time to find the character. When she came up again, she had transformed into Em. I started interviewing her saying, ‘Do you know you are hurting your family? Can you explain to me why you’re behaving like this?’ She started crying her eyes out and said, ‘I can’t help it. There’s this person sitting inside of me.’ I asked, ‘Who is that person? Who is he?’ [mimicking Calis] ‘It’¯s not a he ! It’s a she. It’s an old woman.’ That’s the first time anyone ever heard that. Not even the writers! I said, ‘This is an old woman?’ ‘Yeah. An old Polish woman.’ I was just like. ‘Holy shit!’ She actually created that demon! Then we found this rusty, old Polish voice which actually colors the whole movie in my opinion.”
On watching Calis, there is no question that Bornedal made the right choice with casting. She is spellbinding, immersing herself into the character, both as Em and as the demon. “It was pretty intense both emotionally and physically and for me it was just really fun. I mean, I got to scream and I got to use my voice a few times. It was fun experimenting what level I could take Em to. She’s such a complex character and I really played two characters. I played an 11 year old girl and I played the 11 year old girl getting devoured by this demon inside of her. . . But it was just really fun, all of the scenes especially the exorcism scenes because they were the craziest and the most fun.”
As Morgan tells it, the key to his involvement was the casting of Calis. “The script was awesome and I knew it could work, but the only way it could work is if we had this amazing actor playing Em. And I remember talking to Ole being like, ‘I don’t know, man. I mean, how are you going to find this person? I don’t know that she’s out there.'” Luckily, Bornedal had the audition tape of Natasha Calis which he forwarded to both Morgan and Sedgwick. “Ole sent me this thing that he was talking about, this DVD and I watched it and I picked the phone and I was like, ‘Yea that’s it, she’s it! You hire her and I’m in the movie!'”
And can we just stop a moment and say, “Whoa!” with the casting of Madison Davenport as Hannah. Going hand in hand with the casting of Calis, not only do you swear these two girls are sisters based on their appearance, but their onscreen relationship is the epitome of big sister-little sister sibling rivalry and love. Then toss Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the mix with the girls and there is not a moment that you don’t accept this familial unit and the father-daughter dynamic.
Written by the husband and wife team of Stiles White and Juliet Snowden and directed by Ole Bornedal, THE POSSESSION steers clear of cliche and slasher/hacker/blood & guts, engrossing us instead with emotionally kinetic performances by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Natasha Calis (in an unnerving breakout performance that will put her on the map) rooted in character and relationship. Important to Snowden was “really exploring the relationships. For us we wanted to explore what this box was going do to this family. What happens when families get divorced and what happens to the kids who get stuck in between.” The horror emanates from the relationships. Expounding on Snowden, Stiles White is quick to point out, “We thought this [Dybbuk box] was an interesting object but who are the people we should hand this object to that begins this phenomena. We thought the recent divorce would be a cool family dynamic to put this box at the center of. We like stories where families are tested by some kind of phenomena. We wanted our characters to go through an investigation what that mystery was.”
So intent on Bornedal at keeping THE POSSESSION cliche-free, especially during the climactic exorcism scene that he gave a “pep talk” to his actors. According to Sedgwick, “[Ole] took us all aside beforehand and said something like, “When we go and cross the road, the exorcism road, we’re going to try and it’s going to be cliches all over the sidewalk and they’re going to try and jump on us and we have to say ‘No’ . . . He was using cliches like, he characterized it like a little demon animal. . .And we sort of poo-pooed it at the time and said like, ‘Yea, we’re actors. Hey, we know what we’re doing,’ but it did kind of call us to do something better and to bring our best self.” Borndeal’s viewpoint clearly hit home, especially with Morgan, for as when shooting the exorcism scene, “[I]t was just kind of me and Kyra and Matis carrying [Natasha] in and putting her on the table and then it would be a cut, it would be a camera adjustment. We went in and we put her on the table and [someone]would say cut, but Ole had disappeared. Which isn’t true. He was there, but [the scene] went on for like seven minutes and the raw emotion everyone’s performance… I don’t think any of us quite knew where it was coming from. I remember looking at Kyra when Ole finally did cut the thing and we were both like, ‘What the f**k just happened?’ It was a complete out of body experience. It shut down our whole crew. Everyone was in tears. It was crazy. . .It just doesn’t happen where you have that kind of out of body experience.”
Thanks to masterful editing by Eric L. Beason and slick, polished, yet tonally denatured cinematography by Dan Laustsen, we are treated to edge of your seat surprises, with fear freezing you to the screen. Laustsen’s lens captures the fear in Calis’ eyes which filters down from the screen into the audience, prompting audible gasps and notable jumps. Similarly, the demonic torture of the human body looks and feels real thanks not only to the human performance but the intimate intensity of the camera. Adding just the right touch is a chilling and haunting score by Anton Sanko the mere notes of which, sound like terror.
There’s a new face of evil in town. It’s time to get possessed with THE POSSESSION.
Clyde – Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Em – Natasha Calis
Stephanie – Kyra Sedgwick
Tzadok – Matisyahu
Hannah – Madison Davenport
Brett – Grant Show
Directed by Ole Bornedal. Written by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White.
