Why The POSSUM Movie Is SO Disturbing

I review, breakdown and explain the movie Possum. I discuss the 2018 film and elaborate on why it is the most disturbing, scary horror movie that has ever been made. I react to Philip, Maurice, the puppet, the sweets, the ending and if it was real or a hallucination.

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Music: LEMMiNO - Moon

#Possum #PossumMovie #PossumReview

[BrainPilot]

I'm extremely glad that I stumbled across this gem of a movie! What did you think of it? Comment your thoughts below!

[kiipuru]

The boy could have been a hallucination. When we see the boy on the train he is drawing in the same black notebook Phillip snatched from Maurice a little later in the movie. That was his notebook he had his poems and drawings in. The tv reports about the boy that cut in and out of static could be further hallucinations. The boy locked in the chest is Phillip and when Phillip killed Maurice and freed the boy, he was freeing himself.
I would like to believe that Phillip was innocent 😭

[kevb]

As someone who suffers with Complex PTSD this is my personal interpretation of the film.

Philip was orphaned as a child and Maurice moved in and subsequently abused Philip. This took place in the room he was frightened of and after Maurice would give him a sweet from the Jar.

When we see Philip at the beginning of the film he's returning home, I believe he's doing this in an attempt to deal with his past. I don't feel that Maurice was dead all along, as that would detract too much from the ending confrontation.

The bag was symbolic of his mind and of the weight of Philip's trauma, something he literally carries with him most of the time. Emotional baggage if you will.

The puppet was the dark thoughts and feelings associated with that trauma, hidden from sight in the bag (his mind) and creeping out to haunt him, like distorted flashbacks from him childhood. The 8 legs were representative of Maurice's fingers and the face being Philips own because he can't face himself. He may feel the abuse was his own fault or that he allowed it to happen. Throughout the movie he tries over and over to rid himself of the trauma but it keeps coming back.

As for the missing boy, I believe that with the arrival of Philip, Maurice can't help himself and starts abusing again, seeing as Philip is now a grown man and likely not his "type" anymore. He also knows that Philip is frightened to go into the room where Maurice conducts said abuse and is probably doing it out of not only fulfilling his sick fantasies but probably to taunt Philip as well. I believe Philip suspects Maurice but is too frightened to act.

I see the ending as Philip finally confronting his childhood fears by entering the room. He kills his abuser and frees the missing boy, releasing him from the confines of the box, as if releasing his own child self from the confines of his trauma.

The last shots of Philip outside are deliberately not sunshine and rainbows. Even with the events at the end of the film, it will take years for Philip to truly overcome his past. But at last he's on the right path and seems to be free from Possum for the time being.

[powerbelly]

Aww. When he called the teacher ‘sir’. Felt so sorry for him. Like his mental state was frozen from the childhood trauma.

[Noruego]

It’s so interesting that the puppet has eight spider legs, and Maurice talks about his “long fingers” (he only moves 8 of them) right before spanking Philip.

[koalabear]

I have a completely different take. Phillip’s parents died in a fire and so when he was young he lived with Maurice who abused him as well as other little boys. Phillip was always bullied and could never stand up for himself. Maurice let him live because he was so submissive. He would give him a candy likely after abusing him to make him feel better.

When Maurice kidnapped another boy Phillip knew but could never bring himself to face Maurice because he was too much of a coward. Even as an adult and Maurice an old feeble man.

The guilt of not going to the police to save the boy began to eat him up inside. This was what the puppet was. Several times he almost goes into the room to free the boy.

We are led to believe the puppet represents the guilt he holds for kidnapping and killing the school boy but it’s actually the guilt of not being able to stand up for himself. Like a possum instead of fighting back he rather just “play dead”. And finally it eats away at him until he finally decides to ask a teacher for help but realizes hes now suspect. So in the end he faced Maurice himself and freed the boy. I think its ment to show the power an abuser can have on the abused.

Also when he holds the puppet up by his face you can see the noses are identical and the face of the puppet is probably a mold of his own face. They have the same facial structure.

[Thispotatolikekpop]

I don't think there is really any clear answer for the movie. On one hand, it implies that Philip did kidnap Michael, but on the other hand, they try to make Philip as suspicious as possible for the Maurice twist, telling us not to judge so quickly. And its done on purpose, the movie doesn't want us to trust any character, sympathize with Philip of course, but never view him as a good person, and i think that's really clear when we never find out why Philip was fired from his job, its implied that he did something bad, but we never get to know.

[TheSuperQuail]

You summed up exactly how I felt after watching Possum for the first time. I felt it was a 10/10 film that I never wanted to see again. I'm glad that I did decide to watch it again because it might have been even more effective second time around. Your theory as to what really happens during the ending has made the film even more disturbing for me - I never considered that it was merely wishful thinking, maybe because I couldn't bear to.

[codiumyt]

That movie looks really disturbing! I can definitely see why it is getting so much attention. It looks like a horror movie with an interesting story line.

[SaintMeeksDontevERgetup]

Its one of the few horror movies that somehow taps into the 3rd base of horror
Terror
Only few horror movies can make you question the purpose of existence itself, one such other movie was The Thing
Phillip makes you wonder if a person as broken as him really has any reason to continue in life
Only when the protagonist's the most powerless against his/her enemies, are horror movies as good as this made

[btling]

The ending surprised me so much omg, I felt so bad for doubting Philip espeically during the scene near the end when Maurice climbed on top of him... I visibly grimaced. Although I agree with you when it comes to him probably imagining the whole thing, and he may have actually been the one to kidnap the kid because it doesn't quite make sense for the uncle to have when it showed no scenes of him around the boy, so why he coincidentally chose the same boy that Phillip took an enterest to in the beginning of the movie is odd.

The actor of Philip really put his heart into this movie, his reactions were so realistic and really has an effect on the watcher (me especially) throughtout the movie. His performance was merely outstanding! Would I ever watch the movie again? No. But if someone were to asking for an unsettling movie reccomendation then this would be on top of the list.

[mswann]

I think midsommar and hereditary are on a different level of horror- this one strikes me similar to antichrist, babadook, the voices, or even the lighthouse. Something where there is silence, a visual entity for shock value, but truly the horror lies in the mental state of the main characters. Someone mentioned either the shining or human centipede as comparisons for "most disturbing". I feel its safe to say neither of those are on the same shelf of horror sub-genres. Possom seems to fit snuggly between total shock and playing on audience morality and kevels of disgust (like HC) and psychological torment/having to recount the main characters past to develop an understanding of how deranged and scary they actually are to themself or those around them.

[hauntedhighlands]

Norfolk was the perfect setting for this film, there's something unexplainably weird about the place

[minamogwai]

My take on this movie was that Phillip moved back home because Maurice died. He kidnapped the boy and him trying to get rid of the puppetand blacking out was guilt after abusing the boy. The puppet isnt real, its just a manifestation of Phillip. In the UK we call pedos "spiders" sometimes. Also the puppet literally has his face. Phillip is a pedofile and is struggling with the guilt because he was abused.

[fahrmboy]

Powerful film and good analysis. It wasn't until watching this video and hearing the characters names spoken together that I noticed the darkly comedic irony of Phillip and Morris (Maurice?) smoking cigarettes amongst the charred remnants of a burned house.

[shavedparmesanprosciuttoan]

I was blown away by this film. The two lead actors were absolutely phenomenal

[cultundergroundmoviesmusic]

Memories of Eraserhead. The puppet Has The same nose as Philip . This movie is hellish brilliant and sticks with you.

[webseries]

How this got picked as 'like Midsommar" I'll never know.

[MangaSenpai]

This actually has to be one of my all time favorate horror movies

[sandorkoppanyi]

Definitely an original movie, but could be heavily influenced by Eraserhead. Watching this breakdown made me think of it but I’m glad I randomly decided to watch Possum. I had no idea what to expect but it was wild haha