Remember when Luca Guadagnino dared to attempt a remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria a few years back? The end result had some bravado moments—Tilda Swinton in multiple roles crossed with intense body horror is never a bad thing—but it never really justified its existence. There’s no reason to offer a do-over of Suspiria when a person could very easily watch Suspiria, a stone-cold masterpiece, instead.
We revisit this uncomfortable moment in cinematic history because those same feelings are rising with the Possession remake, which we’ve already wailed about on this very website. Today’s news that a release date has been set (June 11, 2027, according to Variety) makes us want to run into an empty subway station and have a psychotic breakdown.
And we’re even fans of the talent involved, much like we are of Guadagnino and Swinton. Parker Finn, who made Smile and then leveled up with Smile 2, is directing, and Margaret Qualley (whose performance in The Substance feels especially relevant) stars alongside Callum Turner, star of Apple TV’s upcoming Neuromancer series.
But Possession, maybe even more than Suspiria, is a movie so attached to its setting and context that it just feels impossible to recreate. The 1981 film was directed and co-written by Andrzej Zulawski, who took inspiration from his own painful divorce to explore the fracturing relationship of Mark (Sam Neill) and Anna (Isabelle Adjani). He’s a clandestine agent who becomes obsessed with her infidelity, which involves partners both human and… not.
The unsettling, paranoid, fear-the-worst vibes are only enhanced by the specter of the Cold War; the couple lives in West Berlin in a dismal apartment with a view of the Berlin Wall, which is almost as divisive as the wall that’s sprung up between husband and wife. And the performances are top-notch. Adjani rightfully gets recognized for her raw, terrifying unraveling, but Neill’s really the focal character as he realizes he’s caught in a downward spiral he helped create.
We don’t know much about the Possession remake so far, but those 1980s West Berlin vibes aren’t around anymore to blanket Mark and Anna’s twin descents into madness. But the cast does include some intriguing supporting players, including Diego Calva, Madeline Brewer, Emory Cohen, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, and Paul Dano.
We’ll get to see what Finn brings to the table when Possession (sigh) hits theaters June 11, 2027. In the meantime… you can very easily watch the original Possession instead.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
