_Possum_ may be the slowest of slow-burn movies ever made. Nothing really happens until the third act, and I mean **deep** into the third act... like the last five to ten minutes. The movie feels like a nightmare. It's cold, dirty, dark, and painfully slow.
Now, that's not to say the movie is boring. It builds tension the entire time. We follow Philip, who has a permanent frown on his face, and looks like he has never had sufficient sleep in his entire life, as he travels back to his boyhood home. There we meet Maurice - if poor self care could be in carnal form, it would be Maurice. Philip has nothing with him, but a bag containing a grotesque puppet. Repeatedly, Philip tries to dispose of the spider-like puppet, but it keeps returning (smells like _Babadook_ in here). The metaphor seemed all too clear to me early on, but the reveal at the end was still sickening.
_Possum_ deals with heavy subject matter, but has a paper-thin plot, so I will need to address spoilers to make sense of the overall tone.
[spoiler]Okay, so Maurice is Philip's uncle, as well as a pedophile/child murderer. The symbolism of the spider legs are made clear when Maurice mounts Philip, and removes his gloves to reveal his fingers - which I swear looked abnormally long, but I think that was my imagination. I really thought there was going to be rape when Maurice took off Philip's pants, and it feels wrong to describe my mood as disappointed when it didn't go there. Okay, the point of horror is to be a platform for topics that are hard to deal with - I realize some horror movies are meant to be like a visual rollercoaster, just for fun, but there is still an unconscious fear of death being managed. _Possum_ deals with child molestation. It's disgusting, but it happens. If we can't talk about it in movies, how the hell are we going to talk about it in life? I commend the director for making this, but ultimately I think the movie doesn't go as far as it needed to.[/spoiler]
My main problem with _Possum_ is the problem I always have with art films: they want to shove in loads of imagery, but never fully explain any of it (e.g., the balloons, and candy). Therefore, I think the arthouse crowd will enjoy this film more than most horror fans.
I liked this movie. I am impressed with how it captured the revolting feel of the environment as a reflection of the story. It's a tough subject to handle, and while I think it did a great job, it just seemed to fall short.

Pretty nightmare fuel. Slow but creates an unsettling atmosphere.

Also please give it a backdrop on letterboxd.

There was not much to NOT like about this movie…except the ending. As a photographer (hobbyist), I was captivated by the cinematography and the topography throughout the film, wishing I had the opportunity to explore and photograph many of the locations used in the movie. It should be noted this is NOT your traditional "horror" movie, although most sites will dump it under that vague generalization. This, however, is much more of a psychological mind-bending excursion into the depths of a man's mind, discovering just how dark and deeply twisted we become as a result of our upbringing and childhood traumas. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the film was put together, and in addition to the cinematography, the musical score was spot on. My biggest disappointment, sadly, was the abrupt conclusion; much was left unsaid, unrealized, undetermined, and frankly unknown about what had just transpired in the previous 80 minutes. Had I not read some critics' reviews, I probably would have been left scratching my head, wondering what I had just seen. But aside from failing to tie things up CLEARLY - for the average viewer - the movie just sort of leaves you sitting there staring at the screen wondering _"What just happened?"_ For those who are looking for something captivating - something beyond the normal regurgitated slasher/gore stuff that prevails today - this is a welcome respite. I honestly can't say enough good about the overall mood and cinematic feel of the movie; I (personally speaking) was just a bit disappointed in the way they wrapped it up. I would still recommend it, however, for fans of dark, brooding films that suck you in and refuse to release you until they're done.