Author Topic: Possum (2018 - Matthew Holness) (Read 2352 times)

Ron Superior · « **on:** October 23, 2018, 11:36:44 PM »

Out on Friday. Proper creepy trailer.

https://www.possumfilm.com/trailer-synopsis/

thecuriousorange · « **Reply #1 on:** October 24, 2018, 07:12:15 AM »

Awesome Possum kicks Dr Machino's butt.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth · « **Reply #2 on:** October 24, 2018, 10:36:08 AM »

"I'll have a P please, Matthew."

I was wondering just the other day what Holness was up to. I don't think I've heard of him since Darkplace, which was a frighteningly long time ago. I wouldn't have expected this from him.

jobotic · « **Reply #3 on:** October 24, 2018, 10:48:43 AM »

A Gun For George is great.

This looks good - North Kent marshes?

worldsgreatestsinner · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2018, 12:37:45 PM »

Nowhere near me screening it, but according to the link it'll also be available for home viewing on Friday. Can't wait.

worldsgreatestsinner · « **Reply #5 on:** October 24, 2018, 12:39:29 PM »

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on October 24, 2018, 10:36:08 AM

"I'll have a P please, Matthew."

I was wondering just the other day what Holness was up to. I don't think I've heard of him since Darkplace, which was a frighteningly long time ago. I wouldn't have expected this from him.

He did one of those 10 minute comedy shorts for Sky called Smutch either last Halloween or the one before, he captured a real 70s tv horror atmosphere with the visuals.

Famous Mortimer · « **Reply #6 on:** October 24, 2018, 02:25:04 PM »

Quote from: worldsgreatestsinner on October 24, 2018, 12:39:29 PM

He did one of those 10 minute comedy shorts for Sky called Smutch either last Halloween or the one before, he captured a real 70s tv horror atmosphere with the visuals.

https://vimeo.com/254546593

It's really good!

neveragain · « **Reply #7 on:** October 25, 2018, 12:32:42 AM »

Didn't he also do something called The Snipist with John Hurt reprising his Rabies PIF narration, or did I dream it?

Ballad of Ballard Berkley · « **Reply #8 on:** October 25, 2018, 12:53:57 AM »

Yes, that was a Sky short. Rather good it was too, Holness has an undeniable knack for replicating queasy late 70s/early 80s British gloom.

Everything he's done since Merenghi suggests that he's more interested in creating niche 'hauntology' drama than comedy. That's fine as far as I'm concerned, as Darkplace only ever worked as a live show - I still maintain that it was absolutely hilarious on stage - and as one episode on TV. The joke wore thin after that.

Anyway, quite looking forward to this.

neveragain · « **Reply #9 on:** October 25, 2018, 10:11:39 AM »

Yes I saw it onstage too and much preferred it.

Bazooka · « **Reply #10 on:** October 25, 2018, 10:38:15 AM »

Looking forward to this, yes Gun For George is really good, worth a watch. As far as he know he just writes mainly now, he was in Life's Too Short wasn't he?

Ballad of Ballard Berkley · « **Reply #11 on:** October 25, 2018, 11:02:46 AM »

Yes, and he also turned up in an early episode of Friday Night Dinner. As you say, these days he appears to be more focused on writing and directing.

studpuppet · « **Reply #12 on:** October 26, 2018, 12:11:08 AM »

Also did Angstrom earlier this year with Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris. He was on their Rule Of Three podcast discussing the Monty Python & The Holy Grail album.

worldsgreatestsinner · « **Reply #13 on:** October 26, 2018, 05:27:50 PM »

Absolutely loved this. Superb performances from Harris and Armstrong. Very light on plot though, definitely a film of mood and atmosphere.

ASFTSN · « **Reply #14 on:** October 26, 2018, 11:50:26 PM »

"Man unsuccessfully flytipping a puppet for 90 minutes".

Nah just kidding.

Just watched this. Cold, bleak and unsettling. Like the post above said, light on explicit plot-ambitiously so-but just enough story scattered throughout to make it both horrifying and sad. I was going to go to the Q+A tonight with Holness, sort of glad I didn't because after that ending I think I'd have to ask him if everything was alright.Excellent stuff and I'd love to see another Holness feature length before much longer.

Misspent Boners · « **Reply #15 on:** November 02, 2018, 11:25:12 PM »

Absolutely brilliant. A film that genuinely creeped me out which is rare these days. The eponymous puppet made my skin crawl whenever he was shown; the horrible suggestion that that horrible face might become animated at any moment. Some gorgeously bleak shots and locations. Lead guy was great as well, and the Uncle fella with this big orrible sausage fingers.

Small Man Big Horse · « **Reply #16 on:** November 02, 2018, 11:31:33 PM »

Quote from: worldsgreatestsinner on October 24, 2018, 12:37:45 PM

Nowhere near me screening it, but according to the link it'll also be available for home viewing on Friday. Can't wait.

I had no idea it was available online but you can rent it via googleplay (and various other sites) for £5.99, so I know what I'll be doing tomorrow night.

KennyMonster · « **Reply #17 on:** November 03, 2018, 10:14:48 AM »

I think Holness' contribution to the book where comedians write short horror stories (Dead Funny or Dead Funny Encore) was called Possum.
It was the only story that I didn't understand what the hell he was going on about.

olliebean · « **Reply #18 on:** November 03, 2018, 09:55:02 PM »

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 02, 2018, 11:31:33 PM

I had no idea it was available online but you can rent it via googleplay (and various other sites) for £5.99, so I know what I'll be doing tomorrow night.

The state of Sky though. £9.99 for an SD rental, when it's £5.99 for HD everywhere else.

Sebastian Cobb · « **Reply #19 on:** November 03, 2018, 10:54:59 PM »

Quote from: olliebean on November 03, 2018, 09:55:02 PM

The state of Sky though. £9.99 for an SD rental, when it's £5.99 for HD everywhere else.

I'm trying to be moral these days, but if I pipe a film into justwatch.com (search engine that tells you where you can legally buy/stream/rent films) and it's got exclusivity on sky/nowtv I just torrent it because fuck sky and murdoch.

Small Man Big Horse · « **Reply #20 on:** November 03, 2018, 11:22:57 PM »

Yeesh that was grim as fuck, genuinely feel like I need to take a shower now after spending so much time in a dark and dirty environment. I enjoyed it a lot though, even if it's a film I will never, ever watch again.

SteveDave · « **Reply #21 on:** November 05, 2018, 09:29:43 AM »

Quote from: KennyMonster on November 03, 2018, 10:14:48 AM

I think Holness' contribution to the book where comedians write short horror stories (Dead Funny or Dead Funny Encore) was called Possum.
It was the only story that I didn't understand what the hell he was going on about.

Same. It's so densely written for something where not a lot happens. Like that Morrissey autobiography.

I watched the first 20 minutes of this on Saturday and then fell asleep when we started watching He's Out There instead.

zomgmouse · « **Reply #22 on:** December 04, 2018, 11:36:20 PM »

Watched this last week. It reminded me a little of The Babadook but instead of being about depression it's about sexual abuse. And also depression. Definitely more of an atmosphere film, but boy what an atmosphere.

Here's some words copied from my letterboxd review:

Feverish nightmare blending into grim reality. Possum is dished out in such a trance-like depressive intensity that the ending knocks you stiff, punching you with the horrors it tickles at throughout. The perennial droop of Sean Harris' face ties the humanity of this film together, which only serves to augment the cruelty of the way he almost seems to merge with his haunting puppet over the course of the film. The puppet's symbolism, by the way, is evident - unexorcisable, unrepressable trauma - but the niggling terror and bleakness in which it is delivered give it a true edge.

I simultaneously did and did not want a hug after seeing this. Highly distressing - and very, very good.

gout_pony · « **Reply #23 on:** December 05, 2018, 06:49:54 PM »

I shamefully tried to press a self-printed (bound w/ laminated cover) of my horror stories onto Holness after the Q&A and he (probably quite rightly!) wasn't having any of it!

gout_pony · « **Reply #24 on:** December 05, 2018, 06:51:34 PM »

Quote from: zomgmouse on December 04, 2018, 11:36:20 PM

Watched this last week. It reminded me a little of The Babadook but instead of being about depression it's about sexual abuse. And also depression.

This miiight need a spoiler warning... that final confrontation really left me feeling hollowing out and pummelled. It was pretty brutalising.

zomgmouse · « **Reply #25 on:** December 06, 2018, 12:30:32 AM »

Quote from: gout_pony on December 05, 2018, 06:51:34 PM

This miiight need a spoiler warning... that final confrontation really left me feeling hollowing out and pummelled. It was pretty brutalising.

Yeah true... I kind of knew what it was about going in and forgot that that wasn't exactly signposted early on.

Moribunderast · « **Reply #26 on:** December 26, 2018, 12:29:14 PM »

Just watched this. Definitely not a Christmas movie.

Fucking hell. Incredibly bleak and grimy and yuck but really, really good. Genuinely creepy and sinister, unsettling and sad. Probably the best horror film I've seen this year. I felt like it was pretty clear where it was all headed for most of the film but the steady deathmarch there was hypnotic and engrossing. That puppet was fucked and if I ever see anything like it I'll never stop running away.

Really hope this is the first of several feature-lengths from Holness - this was seriously impressive.

Fambo Number Mive · « **Reply #27 on:** December 28, 2018, 11:45:09 AM »

I really want to see this. It's on Amazon Prime on Jan 20th. Is it on the cinema?

worldsgreatestsinner · « **Reply #28 on:** December 29, 2018, 12:42:15 AM »

It had a really limited release a couple of months ago.

Noodle Lizard · « **Reply #29 on:** March 31, 2019, 03:19:19 PM »

Wee bit late to the party, but I just saw this and liked it. Nicely understated for the most part, Holness’s influences show in taste without being derivative. I do think they ratcheted up the musical stings a little too much towards the end, but not for lack of effect. One or two jumps legitimately gave me a full-body adrenaline shot, which is incredibly rare for me.

Great debut, would like to see more from him.

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Author Topic: Possum (2018 - Matthew Holness) (Read 2352 times)