The Possession (2012)
Danish director Ole Bornedal, he of the excellent Night Watch (1997), tries his hand at the supernatural in this tale of a girl from a fractured family who falls under the possession of a dybbuck (a malicious spirit from Jewish mythology).
Two very good leads in Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick and a different twist on possession keep this film away from the ordinary. Certainly it falls into the traps all possession films do post Exorcist but this has enough realism - the film seems as much about divorce in the first half as it does good old fashioned scares - and chills to make it stand out from the pack.
The only thing that made it lose marks for me was the finale. Not that it was bad particularly, it was the heavy use of strobe lighting. I'm not one who suffers from flash induced epilepsy but still found it difficult to watch. Even with my eyes closed the darkened room was still flashing wildly, so stay away if it affects you.
On the whole a pretty decent effort.
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