Poster for Possession
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Year
1981
Country
France
Runtime
124 min
Director
Andrzej Żuławski
Updated
9 Aug 2026
Obscurity
known (19/100)
Also known as
The Night the Screaming Stops

Possession

On the nasties list by pure bureaucratic accident. An actual masterpiece about divorce.

Zulawski's film ended up on the video nasty list by pure bureaucratic accident, because it is a European art film about a marriage collapsing, not a horror quickie. Then again, there is a creature, and Isabelle Adjani has a breakdown in a subway that is one of the most physically committed pieces of acting ever filmed.

It is about divorce the way a nightmare is about your day: everything heightened past breaking, nothing quite literal. Adjani won at Cannes for it and reportedly took years to recover.

Difficult, upsetting, and unlike anything else here.

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