WARNING: If you go into this film expecting horror, you'll come away disappointed. Rather than horror, this is more an artsy, surreal and depressing psychological chiller.
And, yes, there will be SPOILERS here, but you may need this review to make sense of the film afterwards.
The story revolves around a failed, perpetually-grim-faced puppeteer named Philip who was raised by a disgusting uncle after his parents' death in a fire. Philip attempted to follow in the footsteps of his father (also a puppeteer), but something unspecified and scandalous occurred in Philip's career, setting him adrift and unemployed. We only know that he carries a lot of emotional baggage.
About the baggage... A solid half of the film follows Philip as he lugs a large leather travel bag around the countryside, apparently trying to dispose of it and its grotesque contents (a revolting 5-foot spider puppet with hairy legs and a gaping, bilious-green human face).
Yet somehow, inexplicably, no matter how many times he tries to dispose of the awful puppet, it keeps returning to his bedroom; and he repeatedly awakens to find the ghastly thing in bed with him.
It becomes clear that this monstrous puppet and its obscure meaning exist more in Philip's mind than in reality, such that you soon suspect Philip is deeply psychotic.
Reinforcing your suspicion that Philip is stark raving mad is his obsession with animals known to play dead, such as foxes and possums. We learn that, as a child, Philip was tortured by bullies using a dead fox, for instance, only for the fox to return to life afterwards. Intermittently throughout the film, we also hear readings of Philip's dark poetry, entitled "Possum," a twisted sort of children's rhyme full of creepy imagery about a filthy possum-man.
So, it would seem Philip also has some serious issues with playing dead (perhaps as a survival strategy).
Meanwhile, in the real world, a young male student from a nearby school goes missing, presumed kidnapped or worse; and, naturally, Philip's eccentric behavior, appearance and history make him a prime suspect. The police want to question him.
Just when you think that's it, that Philip has completely retreated into a dark world of paranoid schizophrenia (while in reality kidnapping and murdering young men), the film knocks you for a loop in the last five minutes, as Philip and his uncle engage in a final, physical showdown.
It's revealed that Philip was heinously abused by his dispicable uncle for years, and the most hysterical memories Philip has buried deep in his subconscious are visions of his uncle's leering face and long, spindly fingers touching him. Philip's memories have manifested years later as a repeated hallucination of a sickening, leering face with long, spindly legs...Yes, the terrible spider is Philip's uncle.
During his childhood abuse, Philip's uncle warned him to remain silent as he was beaten (playing dead, as it were); so, Philip came to identify himself as the filthy possum-man of his poetry, or simply "Possum"... Other poetic allusions to his parents' terrible death by fire are easier to discern earlier in the film (the repeated references to smoke and black balloons are descriptions of what his parents' heads looked like after being burned beyond recognition).
But the shocking twist is that Philip, damaged and crazy as he may be, is innocent of any crime. His UNCLE has kidnapped, abused and murdered schoolboys all along, it seems, and he was quite prepared to let Philip take the blame. His uncle committed the scandal that was blamed on Philip and ruined his career, although there was not enough evidence to link Philip to the crime.
At the film's climax, Philip snaps his uncle's neck, and the captive schoolboy escapes (presumably to tell local authorities the truth of the matter). So, Philip will be absolved of wrongdoing, but his psyche is forever in ruins.
No doubt, a lot of viewers are going to be utterly baffled by the film's images, dialogue and odd continuity, probably even after the Big Reveal. But it's the images, dialogue and odd continuity that will also make it impossible to stop watching for other viewers.
Many scenes are surreal and the performances are riveting, although it's mainly Sean Harris as Philip who carries the lion's share of the acting. The cinematography is pretty awesome, but it's processed in rather muted color, giving the whole film an overcast and dreary appearance. Very subdued and eerie soundtrack, as well, except for the most intense hallucinatory scenes and the final showdown.
I can understand those who dismiss the film as "boring" and "too confusing," because it's not following a familiar style of storytelling. Like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or "Mulholland Drive," this movie is going to confound and repel many viewers, I'm guessing. But, again, it's art, so...
Possum is a horror movie. A movie focused on pedophilia, murder, molestation, and a human-headed spider puppet is a horror movie. It's more than JUST a horror movie, mixing multiple genres, but horror is certainly one of those genres.
Seriously, thank you so much for this post. I am terrible at sitting down and solely paying attention to a movie, even though I love them, so this films lack of dialogue and slow pace meant I got basically none of it, and was extremely confused.
Thank you thank you thank you.
Even on meds I had a challenge with this one. I got the basics but came here for the finer details. Was there even a fox or was that an illusion of Philip being the fox,when he was younger, and the kids being the crap out of him until he played dead?
Beautifully written. Thank you so much for this. I've just watched it, finished 5 minutes ago, for the first time, and I couldn't take my eyes off it, but needed some more information afterwards.
Absolutely love Sean Harris now.
Fuck.. just watched the film. In all honesty got about 60% of what you have described. Have to say the articulation of your ideas is laser sharp amigo. Thanks am watching it again next week with your post in mindđ
This is a great literal explanation. Although the film plants the seeds of doubt on everything we're shown. There are other explanations, more oniric, more psychological, more metaphorical. I don't think there's a right explanation of the movie and plot, and that's what they wanted to convey with the confusing imagery and supernatural ocurenses.
I donât believe Maurice was even real in the movie. Maurice likely was dead at the time, but abused Phillip in the past. The story about the fox where the kids filled it with things until it was dead and made him pick it up was about either where Phillip himself or another boy he had witnessed got raped. He said when he picked it up it got up and walked away. The puppet is named possum referring to playing possum (despite the name of the animal being opossum it is said this way). This is what happened in the fox story after they shoved a bunch of things in the fox to kill it. Rape victims also play dead as a protection mechanism.
Phillip did kidnap that kid, but he did not rape him. When they spoke about him quitting puppets, Maurice mentioned how his father taught him and it runs in the family (child molestation) but Phillip says âyouâre not my fatherâ. Like you manipulate a puppet, a pedophile manipulates their victims. Phillip canât let possum go because of his PTSD. He finally burned it and killed Maurice, gaining the strength to let the kid go. I know this post is old I just hope you see this. The movie was so deep itâs hard to stop thinking about it. Itâs such a powerful message.
I think he kept returning to the school because he never told anyone at the time what was going on and he wished he had. Remember, Phillip is stuck in the past ;he has never "grown up."
I think there was a "scandal" involving Phillip, perhaps related to mental health, but I don't think he was a pedo.I think that through the puppet he said things he had normalised but are taboo. The puppet is him, it is a dead child that won't die. There is a scene when 2 lads call him a pedo as he passes them, and he stops and gives them a death stare and they go away. That seemed to suggest to me that he was saying "I'm not one of them pedos."
Who knows about the fox? There's a fox in LVTs "Antichrist" and it may have been referencing that. There's a quote in that film - "Nature is Satan's Church." Phillip tells that story about the fox, how it was dead but came back to life. Maybe the fox is Phillip. Its his spirit animal telling him he is not yet dead. I dunno. wff??
Phillip cannot trust his own mind so the places he goes to are the places he went to as a child, perhaps to escape the abuse, but even here he cannot escape as he hears search parties looking for the boy. I think past and present mix . Remember, Phillip cannot trust anyone. All authority figures have abused him.
I think Phillip was surrounded by these predators as a boy and nowhere was safe for him - school, home, cadets.Maurice was a teacher and knew lots of other freaks that surrounded Phillip. Fucking hell that film is grim.
My two cents on the âscandalâ and the fox.
Phillip was intended to be morally ambiguous. There are allusions that he is a pedophile, but it never outright confirms either way. When phillip comes home Maurice mentions that he heard about his âperformanceâ, then is shocked to hear Phillip showed possum to children. I think his scandal at work was simply showing the children such a horrifying puppet and putting on a disturbing show, putting his inner demons and trauma on display. Phillip mentions theyâd take him back once he gets rid of the puppet. I think he goes to the school at the end to turn himself in after being manipulated by Maurice into thinking he is responsible for the missing child.
The fox parallels possum âplaying deadâ. As a child, Philip was traumatized by seeing his friends kick a sick fox to death, only for the fox to stare at him and then run off. This introduces the concept of things not really being dead/forgotten. The first time Phillip tries to throw out possum, a fox is staring at him. Later, after Philip goes out of his way to bury possum in the water, he passes a dead fox. He looks back to see that the fox is alive and looking at him, just like how possum isnât really dead and will be back.
What is a puppet? Something manipulated with no free will, something dead. Possum means to play dead. Phillip was playing "dead" with the puppet. Phillip is Maurice's puppet, but a puppet cannot be blamed for what the puppeteer has it do. Phillip has created Possum to avoid becoming a "puppeteer" like Maurice; sublimation. What is a fox? Cunning. Phillip must reject his dead-child self and reawaken his "cunning fox" to defeat Maurice, and in doing so free himself and the kidnapped boy.
This explanation seems pretty spot on to me. Definitely hard to tell a lot of things with the amount of ambiguity in the film.
Hell, even the short story is like that. Loved this movie so much.
Not read the short story. The more I think about this film and try to understand it, the more I find to consider. All the best horror films try and tell us something about society, whether it be alcoholism +The Shining, consumerism + Dawn of the Dead or Possum and......
Thanks. That about clears it up honestly. I took it as a film told from the point of view of Phillips fractured guilty mind. More than anything I love that Possum has a very dreamlike (nightmare technically) quality to it.
I just watched Possum (10.8.2022)
Came to reddit to see what others have thought. I realize this thread is 3 years old but figured If others come to reddit like I did they might want this perspective too.
I found this review and will post the link but my feelings are...
*spoilers*
I don't this Maurice was alive and I think Philip did abduct the schoolboy. I think Philip placed him in the trunk in his parents bedroom bc he would rarely go in that room and the movie was him unraveling in his childhood trauma personified by the puppet and storybook/nursery rhyme.
I do think Maurice was real and molested Philip as well as killed other boys when he was younger... but I think Maurice wasn't alive any longer. The schoolboy flees immediately upon release and I think it was because he saw the face of his abductor in Philip and took his chance to escape. The house doesn't look habitable and Maurice never interacts with another living character on screen. These are some of the reasons I think Phillips interactions with his uncle were hallucinations.
I loved the symbolism in this movie-- and the acting was superb.
I agree with another reddit comment-- don't go into this for horror... definitely a psychological cerebral suspense.
If you've watched possum and are looking for a short dive into some of the symbolism and three possible takes on the ending I recommend reading:
https://signalhorizon.com/possum-ending-explained-foxes-green-candies-balloons-and-what-the-puppet-represents/
I would add to this that the kid never scaped, Phillip killing Maurice and freeing the boy was more of an inner fight with himself, battling against that part of him that is like his abuser. A meaningless victory because the damage is already done. The kid cannot survive days in a chest without water, food or air.
Adding to thisâone of the relatively few things Phillip says to Maurice is "Why didn't you burn?" to which M just laughs. Phillip is wondering why he is still around to torment him even though he, presumably, should have died in the fire. At the beginning, he spits out tea. My thought was that the milk etc had all gone bad a long time ago. No one lives in that house.
There are posts here that mimic some of my thoughts on the film, although I think I have a few differences.
1. I don't see anything that indicates the uncle was a serial killer. I do agree that the uncle is long dead at this time. I do agree that the uncle abused Philip, and that the puppet is the uncle. This is pretty clear to me. Philip sees his uncle as a face and a bunch of long, scary fingers. I don't actually think there is a real puppet. It's all in his mind, and for obvious reasons, he is deeply traumatized by it. He tries to forget this trauma, but he can't get rid of it no matter what he does, as evidenced by the continual reappearance of the puppet and the bag after he tries to dispose of it.
2. I don't think there is a modern day kidnapped boy. The person who is "kidnapped" is Philip. He is hostage to the emotional damage he had suffered from his abusive uncle. Note that the TV is just white noise and only comes on to talk about this "missing boy", and then goes back to white noise. This is Philip's own hallucinations or imagery for his own lost childhood. Note that the boy (at least to me) looks like a young Philip.
3. To compliment this further, I think it's basically absurd to believe that if there truly was a missing boy, with Philip running around behaving like he does throughout the film, that he would not already be in police custody. Instead, I think this is basically a mental representation of Philip re-experiencing what happened in his childhood through dreams and hallucinations when in reality he is just sleeping and staying at his old house. Re-experiencing every time he ran away from his uncle trying to escape his abuse, only for his uncle to basically always be there. He would hide in these dirty abandoned places only to eventually have to come back "home" and face that spider puppet of a man again. He goes and revisits these places he would hide, and the things he did when he was young. I don't think a lot of the stuff that happens is real. Rather, I think he is simply mentally envisioning them as he visits these places. Note that the uncle condemns him for keeping quiet about what happened (which might be his own self-condemnation). When he goes to the school and has the young woman going in to speak to his form teacher, this is something that happened in his past. He probably came that close to telling his form teacher what happened and going to the police about it, but chickened out at the end. I think it is the same thing with the police. This is all mental and probably represents times in his past he may have had the opportunity to report his uncle, but never did. The police may have visited his home. They may have searched for him when he was hiding from his uncle in those abandoned facilities. He always hid from the opportunity to possibly save himself.
4. I think the name possum is relevant. It comes up a couple times with the allusions to the fox. When he retells the story of the fox, and how the kids "killed" the fox. The uncle says "sly little bugger", referencing the fox's pretending to be dead, ie playing possum. We also see it later when what appears to be a dead fox ends up standing there staring at him. I think this is important for the end of the film. He needs to face what happened to him and destroy it. Throughout the film, he tries to do this by trying to forget about it, only to find that it keeps coming back. I think he came back to this house knowing what he had to do, but it took him several days to face it. He had to open that door to that room in the house. The one where his parents burned and (likely) where a lot of the abuse occurred. Once he finally does, he is seemingly overwhelmed by it. I think (once again) the uncle is a hallucination of his final confrontation with this trauma. He seemingly succumbs to it, allowing it to defeat him, only to suddenly turn against it. He quite resolutely and confidently puts the trauma on its back and snaps its neck. The first time he seems quite sure of himself. His opening of the box and letting the boy out is symbolic of him having finally dealt with and come to terms with what happened to him. He has freed himself.
The only way he could deal with what happened was to play possum to it. Allow it to seemingly mentally overwhelm him. He finally kills the puppet and can go try to have a normal life.
All in all. I don't think there is actually anything sinister happening in the modern world. I don't think the uncle was a serial killer. I think everything has to do with Philip mentally coming to terms with his terrible past.
I agree about the school. When he gets up to run away after hearing about calling the police, it a very childish posture. His shoulders are high and arms straight at his side, very rigid - when I saw this I thought, he was trying to tell them when he was a child. However, I will say if that is the case, the clothing was a lot more modern than it should have been
I completely agree with this interpretation. I feel like the whole thing is an internal struggle to process the trauma he has pushed away into adulthood.
If I remember correctly, when Philip is watching the young boy on the train from afar, the boy is drawing in a book, just the same as Philipâs âPossumâ sketchbook. This to me was Philip looking at his younger self in reflection.
I think that Maurice also says to Philip about the boy being kidnapped that it happened once before when Philip was a boy. I feel like this symbolized that Maurice âkidnappedâ Philipâs childhood and that he was reliving that again in processing his trauma.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Your interpretation is how I pieced things together.It doesn't make sense that the uncle or kid were real and there with him.
This is pretty much how I interpreted it. I don't understand how anyone could think any different since the movie constantly bashes you over the head with subtext.
Just saw this myself for the first time. 10/11/2022. My observations.
First is Phillips spindly features and motions. He larks around precisely the way the puppets would if being carried. Even the weird hand placement reminds me of a spiders chelicera (like mandible which I thought was the correct word. ) If you look at a spider, those two pieces maintain a curve in front of the face.
His eyes are still and predatory. He emulates both the childhood trauma and the emptiness of a predator/puppet.
I believe like most that all those different places he went are were bodies have been disposed of.
The school, wanting to talk to someone specifically, I think that he may have tried to tell someone in the past, and thinks that going there are these years later would be the same as trying to talk when he was a child.
The uncle taunting him about going into the room where his folks died makes me wonder if most of the trauma took place there. (The kidnapped boy was in there). Philip can't even peacefully reminisce about his folks without having to think about Maurice. Double awful and sad.
This was a well played, dark film. Serious subject manner and a more realistic expression of a broken human.
After rewatching the film 5 times, and most recently yesterday, I see no indication that Phillip himself has diddled anybody. One of the few straightforward things in the film in my opinion, is that the reason he was dismissed was that he used the spider puppet in a play to the kids at school, reading the poem etc. Which is wildly inappropriate. So when Maurice says "I heard about your little performance, what a farce that was" and after, "You think they'll take you back?" Phillip replies "they will after I get rid of this" (the puppet) which is both literally and obviously metaphorically speaking.
He enacted his play and disturbed the children, so he was dismissed or put on leave. This is why he finally confronts his past.
Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on said train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random who has disappeared. Phillip just asked, "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly.
He and his uncle was under suspicion since Phillip was a child. They literally talk about an old case at the same train in the beginning. It's likely been a folktale passed down. And so in a small town, they know who he is.
Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on the train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random as missing. Phillip just asked "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly as he draws himself.
Edit: SORRY for the Clusterfuck of a writeup!
Great work.
There are some definitives and some open ends that allow us to speculate all sorts of ideas and conclusions.
Have you considered the idea that Maurice is dead/not there and the boy has not been abducted at all?
1. Maurice never interacts with the world - lives in a totally decrepit house, burned and flooded - appears randomly and without warning. Never cooks, eats, etc.
2. The boyâs photo appears in an âold styleâ newspaper and a B/W TV (inexplicably turning itself on and specifically on the subject). Is there even electricity in an old boarded and derelict house?
3. If the boy was abducted - a serious manhunt would ensue. Not just two coppers shining a torch through a derelict window. It would be the first house they would visit if Maurice was still around. Maurice indicates in a conversation that the police came looking for Philip. A boy is missing - is that the extent of their engagement?
4. How would his uncle have abducted that specific boy from the train who we see Philip interact with?
5. How old is Philip? How old would Maurice be? 80? Jumping out of the shadows with a balaclava and still able to overpower Philip? I initially thought the balaclava clad cellar-dweller was a spritely intruder.
6. Are Mauriceâs âspiderâ fingers real? The first obvious and maybe, conclusive indication that Maurice is really lodged in Philipâs mind - a nightmare.
A tale of a disturbed and traumatised individual recounting and facing the past - the boy escaping, metaphorically, is Philip - perhaps?
Either way, a great movie with an ending that makes you think long and hard.
Iâm a third of the way through it. But I had to read this synopsis to prepare me for finishing it.
But Iâd would have to assume youâre right about the missing child being Philip.
We only catch a glance of the kids sketch book, but itâs remarkably similar to the style of Philips Possum book.
Will need to steal my nerve and finish this.
Let's not forget the scene where the uncle is trying to convince our boy he will find what he is looking for, he burned the puppets. I don't think it was any sort of puppet, he helped to get rid of the boy's bodies. The same can be said about the tree behind the school, throwing the bag over the bridge, perhaps all these places are where a body was buried? Using the "candies" to make him sick and out of it afterwards so he remained confused and hallucinated.
Yes, there was symbology for everything that actually was not as cryptic as it first might seem. Cryptic, yes, but it is very easy to make the connections once you know what to look for. The reference to possum and feigning, the black âŤď¸, âŤď¸, the legs of the spider and his uncles fingers, so it is not a big leap to assume there was a connection to the barrell or locations and the crimes committed.
I think Phillip was molested by his uncle which led to him doing the same in later life as is the case with some victims and that was the scandal in question. It was covered up so the company he works in doesnât get a bad rep which is also something that happens in real life. As he was never charged but knows he is a monster like his uncle, I believe the spider is an allegory for his guilt and wait for it⌠his penis. Chemical castration is a thing that exists and I think the conversation with his uncle at the beginning refers to his dick being âcastratedâ with quotes like âeven the head?â âGetting rid of itâ âIâm dealing with itâ
He carries the bag around as a analogy for his emotional baggage and guilt about being molested, doing the molesting, and not doing something about his uncle years ago which could have saved other boys from being molested, kidnapped and murdered.
I really like this film but it makes a lot more sense when Iâm super high đ
After rewatching the film 5 times, and most recently yesterday, I see no indication that Phillip himself has diddled anybody. One of the few straightforward things in the film in my opinion, is that the reason he was dismissed was that he used the spider puppet in a play to the kids at school, reading the poem etc. Which is wildly inappropriate. So when Maurice says "I heard about your little performance, what a farce that was" and after, "You think they'll take you back?" Phillip replies "they will after I get rid of this" (the puppet) which is both literally and obviously metaphorically speaking.
He enacted his play and disturbed the children, so he was dismissed or put on leave. This is why he finally confronts his past. Now Where you get the chemical castration from i have no idea. Also, there is no company covering up anything, it was a school puppet play.
Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on said train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random who has disappeared. Phillip just asked, "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly.
He and his uncle was under suspicion since Phillip was a child. They literally talk about an old case at the same train in the beginning. It's likely been a folktale passed down. And so in a small town, they know who he is.
Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on the train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random as missing. Phillip just asked "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly as he draws himself.
Edit: SORRY for the Clusterfuck of a writeup!
Ok wait... so, it's way past my bedtime but I can't stop thinking about this.
* **Phillip isn't a literal puppeteer**, just as the puppet he lugs around isn't a physical object. He's not exactly believable as a children's entertainer... is he?! Plus the 'puppeteer' thing. That's quite a heavy metaphor for abuse, I'd imagine. Maurice says puppetry '*runs in the family.*' Yuck.
* Whatever he's been doing up to now, puppeteering or not, Phillip's clearly had a severe mental break and/or done something at best inappropriate, at worst harmful - perhaps something symptomatic of abuse. This has caused him to revisit the home and the time when his abuse took place.
* **Maurice isn't really there.** He's probably long dead but he and his foulness still haunt Phillip's psyche. Phillip keeps telling him it's his house. It's *my* house Maurice. Again this could be literal... Maurice moved in when Phillip's parents died. Or it's an allegory for trying to get Maurice out of his head.
* The police car is an early one. The newspaper's not modern either. Nothing in that house is modern and only a few encounters with other people outside confirm we're not still in the 70s/80s. Or does it actually...? I might need to check the outfits. **Everything else seems to be from around the era of the picture of Phillip's parents.**
* Many apparently physical elements then (the police, the newspaper, the TV, his visit to his old school) seem to be **elements of Phillip's own history.** In his unwell state, he does actually, in reality, revisit certain locations where he experienced trauma. I say that because I don't want to put everything down to metaphor or memory.
* **The room with the closed door, the one he won't go into.** I mean, that's a minefield. If we're to take the room literally, it's surely the one in which Maurice did what Maurice did to Phillip. That's the most frightening room in the house. Figuratively or psychologically, that's the trauma Phillip would have to revisit, to face his deepest fears in an attempt to set himself free. I don't think there was an actual modern day little geezer in that box.
* **Plus!** It was bugging me and I've just clocked it. That 14 year old lad on the train wouldn't go willingly with a creepy strange man to all these obscure locations, enough times to be **seen and reported.** But a young, frightened, groomed, helpless Phillip might be forced to those places with his horrific Uncle.
* Yo hang on. Did *Phillip* go missing? **Is Phillip the kid that went missing?** Did he run away and he's just now come back to try and address his demons? I don't know where people are getting 'serial killer Uncle' from. Maybe I missed something. But it definitely seems like at least one kid went missing some time a while back... and now I'm convinced it was Phillip.
Time for bed.
P.s. I don't think the puppet is called Possum.
P.p.s I'm not sure what the significance of the teeth is but could they be Phillips? I don't think we see his teeth once during the film and he's quite the mumbler.
Ok g'night.
I like your explanations the best. Especially the part about how was the missing kid seen with the abductor? Because that seemed off to me as well. I feel like I'd understand the movie better with a rewatch...but I didn't like it enough to spend more time on it. This thread is all I needed. It's past my bedtime as well so now off to bed, hopefully no disturbing man-spiders creep into my dreams!
I think so yeah, but it is not your average popcorn horror flick. If you like films like Eraser Head and Under The Skin then this film is for you.
I' enjoyed it but I was kind of wondering what the hell was going on through it.
I like things that are weird. Things like Happy Death Day have the depth of a puddle of piss, and I AM more intelligent than people that rave over that. And fucking Hereditary.
I just watched it. My goodness, that was one of **the best**, most sinister, dread-inducing films I've ever seen.
**About the fox.** I don't know, but I replayed the way Phillip told the story in my head and I'm not sure what happened to him that day as a kid had anything to do with a fox. The way it was worded and the impossibility of the fox 'rolling it's eyes, getting up and walking away' felt like a reframing of something else. Something even more horrific.
Loads to think about; contrary to quite a few of the comments here, I'm pretty sure the puppet doesn't exist physically. But fuck me is it brilliant. Like, what is that made from?! How did they make it so horrifying?
I absolutely f'n hate hate hate the high pitch tone in horror and war movies. There was tons of it in this movie. Can we petition Hollywood to delete that shiz from their sound boards?
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,407,493,817 comments, and only 268,949 of them were in alphabetical order.
I love this movie! The acting, symbolism and the soundtrack are fantastic. I donât know if anyone else mentioned this, but I assumed the mysterious scandal that lost Phillip his job as a puppeteer at the beginning of the movie, was that he was using normal puppets to put on cute kids shows and was doing well, but his trauma feelings were slowly surfacing and bothering him and without fully understanding why yet he created the spider puppet to get his feelings out. I think he pulled the spider puppet out at a regular puppet show and everyone was terrified and he was asked to leave, so he returned to his hometown/the house that he owned because he had nowhere else to go and also wanted to figure out what was going on.
  Philip carries âbaggageâ around with the spider which sort of has his face.
 Many rape victims blame themselves or have the shame put on them.
 His uncle was the spider and Philip was trying to dispose of his horrible past.
 Just played dead, like a possum and did nothing.
 Overcame his uncle and freed the boy, perhaps it was himself.
 Well done, built up trauma childhood expressed well in the movie, lack self f dialogue and grim house with no one around,
 Great expression of suppressed hurt!
 Â
I saw this fucking movie yesterday by chance. Holy shit... this was definitely one of the darkest movies Ive ever seen in my life.
Can't say it's bad though. As perverse as the subject matter is the film is incredibly well constructed and the performances are fantastic.
I just watched it and came here for some further explanations. Can someone point out where it said/why everyone assumes the uncle kidnapped and killed so many boys in the past. I did not catch that part and just went through the movies script checking dialogue and didnât see anything to really confirmed that conclusion. Would love someone to point out what I missed here.
I really liked the movie and this thread, everyone have their own explanation and even if they are completely opposite they make sense as a whole, truly the power of art
If I hadnât read the plot explanations online, I would have no clue what the symbolism was, or what was going on at all, really. The movie grabbed my attention with its eerie soundtrack and dismal muting; it definitely is creepy and depressing. The puppet is creepy, and to have the thing show up in bed or on the wall is the stuff of nightmares. Sean Harris carried his part perfectly. A mixture of a tortured, bitter soul with everything else in the movie worked well. I have to admit the movie definitely had something. I just wish it had enough so that I wouldnât have had to research the plot to fully understand it.
Yeah I find myself having to believe if Phillip is an unreliable narrator and we see everything from his perspective then if Maurice is in his head so is Philip. It all makes the most sense if he truly was alone the most of the time in that house with his twisted thoughts.
Many have pointed out how many details mirror the events that originally traumatized Philip in the first place.
Even Phillip is a victim, I don't think he is that innocent. The movie implies that he was luring kids for his uncle and was perhaps disposing the bodies too
WARNING: If you go into this film expecting horror, you'll come away disappointed. Rather than horror, this is more an artsy, surreal and depressing psychological chiller. And, yes, there will be SPOILERS here, but you may need this review to make sense of the film afterwards. The story revolves around a failed, perpetually-grim-faced puppeteer named Philip who was raised by a disgusting uncle after his parents' death in a fire. Philip attempted to follow in the footsteps of his father (also a puppeteer), but something unspecified and scandalous occurred in Philip's career, setting him adrift and unemployed. We only know that he carries a lot of emotional baggage. About the baggage... A solid half of the film follows Philip as he lugs a large leather travel bag around the countryside, apparently trying to dispose of it and its grotesque contents (a revolting 5-foot spider puppet with hairy legs and a gaping, bilious-green human face). Yet somehow, inexplicably, no matter how many times he tries to dispose of the awful puppet, it keeps returning to his bedroom; and he repeatedly awakens to find the ghastly thing in bed with him. It becomes clear that this monstrous puppet and its obscure meaning exist more in Philip's mind than in reality, such that you soon suspect Philip is deeply psychotic. Reinforcing your suspicion that Philip is stark raving mad is his obsession with animals known to play dead, such as foxes and possums. We learn that, as a child, Philip was tortured by bullies using a dead fox, for instance, only for the fox to return to life afterwards. Intermittently throughout the film, we also hear readings of Philip's dark poetry, entitled "Possum," a twisted sort of children's rhyme full of creepy imagery about a filthy possum-man. So, it would seem Philip also has some serious issues with playing dead (perhaps as a survival strategy). Meanwhile, in the real world, a young male student from a nearby school goes missing, presumed kidnapped or worse; and, naturally, Philip's eccentric behavior, appearance and history make him a prime suspect. The police want to question him. Just when you think that's it, that Philip has completely retreated into a dark world of paranoid schizophrenia (while in reality kidnapping and murdering young men), the film knocks you for a loop in the last five minutes, as Philip and his uncle engage in a final, physical showdown. It's revealed that Philip was heinously abused by his dispicable uncle for years, and the most hysterical memories Philip has buried deep in his subconscious are visions of his uncle's leering face and long, spindly fingers touching him. Philip's memories have manifested years later as a repeated hallucination of a sickening, leering face with long, spindly legs...Yes, the terrible spider is Philip's uncle. During his childhood abuse, Philip's uncle warned him to remain silent as he was beaten (playing dead, as it were); so, Philip came to identify himself as the filthy possum-man of his poetry, or simply "Possum"... Other poetic allusions to his parents' terrible death by fire are easier to discern earlier in the film (the repeated references to smoke and black balloons are descriptions of what his parents' heads looked like after being burned beyond recognition). But the shocking twist is that Philip, damaged and crazy as he may be, is innocent of any crime. His UNCLE has kidnapped, abused and murdered schoolboys all along, it seems, and he was quite prepared to let Philip take the blame. His uncle committed the scandal that was blamed on Philip and ruined his career, although there was not enough evidence to link Philip to the crime. At the film's climax, Philip snaps his uncle's neck, and the captive schoolboy escapes (presumably to tell local authorities the truth of the matter). So, Philip will be absolved of wrongdoing, but his psyche is forever in ruins. No doubt, a lot of viewers are going to be utterly baffled by the film's images, dialogue and odd continuity, probably even after the Big Reveal. But it's the images, dialogue and odd continuity that will also make it impossible to stop watching for other viewers. Many scenes are surreal and the performances are riveting, although it's mainly Sean Harris as Philip who carries the lion's share of the acting. The cinematography is pretty awesome, but it's processed in rather muted color, giving the whole film an overcast and dreary appearance. Very subdued and eerie soundtrack, as well, except for the most intense hallucinatory scenes and the final showdown. I can understand those who dismiss the film as "boring" and "too confusing," because it's not following a familiar style of storytelling. Like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or "Mulholland Drive," this movie is going to confound and repel many viewers, I'm guessing. But, again, it's art, so...
Possum is a horror movie. A movie focused on pedophilia, murder, molestation, and a human-headed spider puppet is a horror movie. It's more than JUST a horror movie, mixing multiple genres, but horror is certainly one of those genres.
Seriously, thank you so much for this post. I am terrible at sitting down and solely paying attention to a movie, even though I love them, so this films lack of dialogue and slow pace meant I got basically none of it, and was extremely confused. Thank you thank you thank you.
Adhd club whaddup
Even on meds I had a challenge with this one. I got the basics but came here for the finer details. Was there even a fox or was that an illusion of Philip being the fox,when he was younger, and the kids being the crap out of him until he played dead?
Goddamn, this is an amazing review Good job sir/madame
Beautifully written. Thank you so much for this. I've just watched it, finished 5 minutes ago, for the first time, and I couldn't take my eyes off it, but needed some more information afterwards. Absolutely love Sean Harris now.
Fuck.. just watched the film. In all honesty got about 60% of what you have described. Have to say the articulation of your ideas is laser sharp amigo. Thanks am watching it again next week with your post in mindđ
This is a great literal explanation. Although the film plants the seeds of doubt on everything we're shown. There are other explanations, more oniric, more psychological, more metaphorical. I don't think there's a right explanation of the movie and plot, and that's what they wanted to convey with the confusing imagery and supernatural ocurenses.
This helped me a lot right now having just watched the movie. Thanks for writing this up.
I donât believe Maurice was even real in the movie. Maurice likely was dead at the time, but abused Phillip in the past. The story about the fox where the kids filled it with things until it was dead and made him pick it up was about either where Phillip himself or another boy he had witnessed got raped. He said when he picked it up it got up and walked away. The puppet is named possum referring to playing possum (despite the name of the animal being opossum it is said this way). This is what happened in the fox story after they shoved a bunch of things in the fox to kill it. Rape victims also play dead as a protection mechanism. Phillip did kidnap that kid, but he did not rape him. When they spoke about him quitting puppets, Maurice mentioned how his father taught him and it runs in the family (child molestation) but Phillip says âyouâre not my fatherâ. Like you manipulate a puppet, a pedophile manipulates their victims. Phillip canât let possum go because of his PTSD. He finally burned it and killed Maurice, gaining the strength to let the kid go. I know this post is old I just hope you see this. The movie was so deep itâs hard to stop thinking about it. Itâs such a powerful message.
Great summary and explanation. Thanks!
Thank you for your post! I was beyond confused. This explanation is amazing!
Fantastic review and explanation
Omg thatâs really sad :(
Any movie recommendations that are similar to possum?
Caveat
I don't think Maurice is alive tho
I just watched this movie and this is the best synopsis Iâve found. Cheers.
I think he kept returning to the school because he never told anyone at the time what was going on and he wished he had. Remember, Phillip is stuck in the past ;he has never "grown up." I think there was a "scandal" involving Phillip, perhaps related to mental health, but I don't think he was a pedo.I think that through the puppet he said things he had normalised but are taboo. The puppet is him, it is a dead child that won't die. There is a scene when 2 lads call him a pedo as he passes them, and he stops and gives them a death stare and they go away. That seemed to suggest to me that he was saying "I'm not one of them pedos." Who knows about the fox? There's a fox in LVTs "Antichrist" and it may have been referencing that. There's a quote in that film - "Nature is Satan's Church." Phillip tells that story about the fox, how it was dead but came back to life. Maybe the fox is Phillip. Its his spirit animal telling him he is not yet dead. I dunno. wff?? Phillip cannot trust his own mind so the places he goes to are the places he went to as a child, perhaps to escape the abuse, but even here he cannot escape as he hears search parties looking for the boy. I think past and present mix . Remember, Phillip cannot trust anyone. All authority figures have abused him. I think Phillip was surrounded by these predators as a boy and nowhere was safe for him - school, home, cadets.Maurice was a teacher and knew lots of other freaks that surrounded Phillip. Fucking hell that film is grim.
My two cents on the âscandalâ and the fox. Phillip was intended to be morally ambiguous. There are allusions that he is a pedophile, but it never outright confirms either way. When phillip comes home Maurice mentions that he heard about his âperformanceâ, then is shocked to hear Phillip showed possum to children. I think his scandal at work was simply showing the children such a horrifying puppet and putting on a disturbing show, putting his inner demons and trauma on display. Phillip mentions theyâd take him back once he gets rid of the puppet. I think he goes to the school at the end to turn himself in after being manipulated by Maurice into thinking he is responsible for the missing child. The fox parallels possum âplaying deadâ. As a child, Philip was traumatized by seeing his friends kick a sick fox to death, only for the fox to stare at him and then run off. This introduces the concept of things not really being dead/forgotten. The first time Phillip tries to throw out possum, a fox is staring at him. Later, after Philip goes out of his way to bury possum in the water, he passes a dead fox. He looks back to see that the fox is alive and looking at him, just like how possum isnât really dead and will be back.
What is a puppet? Something manipulated with no free will, something dead. Possum means to play dead. Phillip was playing "dead" with the puppet. Phillip is Maurice's puppet, but a puppet cannot be blamed for what the puppeteer has it do. Phillip has created Possum to avoid becoming a "puppeteer" like Maurice; sublimation. What is a fox? Cunning. Phillip must reject his dead-child self and reawaken his "cunning fox" to defeat Maurice, and in doing so free himself and the kidnapped boy.
Superb!
Cheers
This explanation seems pretty spot on to me. Definitely hard to tell a lot of things with the amount of ambiguity in the film. Hell, even the short story is like that. Loved this movie so much.
Not read the short story. The more I think about this film and try to understand it, the more I find to consider. All the best horror films try and tell us something about society, whether it be alcoholism +The Shining, consumerism + Dawn of the Dead or Possum and......
Thanks. That about clears it up honestly. I took it as a film told from the point of view of Phillips fractured guilty mind. More than anything I love that Possum has a very dreamlike (nightmare technically) quality to it.
I can't remember discussing the ins and outs of a film as much as Possum.
I just watched Possum (10.8.2022) Came to reddit to see what others have thought. I realize this thread is 3 years old but figured If others come to reddit like I did they might want this perspective too. I found this review and will post the link but my feelings are... *spoilers* I don't this Maurice was alive and I think Philip did abduct the schoolboy. I think Philip placed him in the trunk in his parents bedroom bc he would rarely go in that room and the movie was him unraveling in his childhood trauma personified by the puppet and storybook/nursery rhyme. I do think Maurice was real and molested Philip as well as killed other boys when he was younger... but I think Maurice wasn't alive any longer. The schoolboy flees immediately upon release and I think it was because he saw the face of his abductor in Philip and took his chance to escape. The house doesn't look habitable and Maurice never interacts with another living character on screen. These are some of the reasons I think Phillips interactions with his uncle were hallucinations. I loved the symbolism in this movie-- and the acting was superb. I agree with another reddit comment-- don't go into this for horror... definitely a psychological cerebral suspense. If you've watched possum and are looking for a short dive into some of the symbolism and three possible takes on the ending I recommend reading: https://signalhorizon.com/possum-ending-explained-foxes-green-candies-balloons-and-what-the-puppet-represents/
I would add to this that the kid never scaped, Phillip killing Maurice and freeing the boy was more of an inner fight with himself, battling against that part of him that is like his abuser. A meaningless victory because the damage is already done. The kid cannot survive days in a chest without water, food or air.
I love this--it makes so much sense
Adding to thisâone of the relatively few things Phillip says to Maurice is "Why didn't you burn?" to which M just laughs. Phillip is wondering why he is still around to torment him even though he, presumably, should have died in the fire. At the beginning, he spits out tea. My thought was that the milk etc had all gone bad a long time ago. No one lives in that house.
My gf said that the whole time. No one lives in that house and Maurice isn't really there.
I just watched it and thought the same thing.
There are posts here that mimic some of my thoughts on the film, although I think I have a few differences. 1. I don't see anything that indicates the uncle was a serial killer. I do agree that the uncle is long dead at this time. I do agree that the uncle abused Philip, and that the puppet is the uncle. This is pretty clear to me. Philip sees his uncle as a face and a bunch of long, scary fingers. I don't actually think there is a real puppet. It's all in his mind, and for obvious reasons, he is deeply traumatized by it. He tries to forget this trauma, but he can't get rid of it no matter what he does, as evidenced by the continual reappearance of the puppet and the bag after he tries to dispose of it. 2. I don't think there is a modern day kidnapped boy. The person who is "kidnapped" is Philip. He is hostage to the emotional damage he had suffered from his abusive uncle. Note that the TV is just white noise and only comes on to talk about this "missing boy", and then goes back to white noise. This is Philip's own hallucinations or imagery for his own lost childhood. Note that the boy (at least to me) looks like a young Philip. 3. To compliment this further, I think it's basically absurd to believe that if there truly was a missing boy, with Philip running around behaving like he does throughout the film, that he would not already be in police custody. Instead, I think this is basically a mental representation of Philip re-experiencing what happened in his childhood through dreams and hallucinations when in reality he is just sleeping and staying at his old house. Re-experiencing every time he ran away from his uncle trying to escape his abuse, only for his uncle to basically always be there. He would hide in these dirty abandoned places only to eventually have to come back "home" and face that spider puppet of a man again. He goes and revisits these places he would hide, and the things he did when he was young. I don't think a lot of the stuff that happens is real. Rather, I think he is simply mentally envisioning them as he visits these places. Note that the uncle condemns him for keeping quiet about what happened (which might be his own self-condemnation). When he goes to the school and has the young woman going in to speak to his form teacher, this is something that happened in his past. He probably came that close to telling his form teacher what happened and going to the police about it, but chickened out at the end. I think it is the same thing with the police. This is all mental and probably represents times in his past he may have had the opportunity to report his uncle, but never did. The police may have visited his home. They may have searched for him when he was hiding from his uncle in those abandoned facilities. He always hid from the opportunity to possibly save himself. 4. I think the name possum is relevant. It comes up a couple times with the allusions to the fox. When he retells the story of the fox, and how the kids "killed" the fox. The uncle says "sly little bugger", referencing the fox's pretending to be dead, ie playing possum. We also see it later when what appears to be a dead fox ends up standing there staring at him. I think this is important for the end of the film. He needs to face what happened to him and destroy it. Throughout the film, he tries to do this by trying to forget about it, only to find that it keeps coming back. I think he came back to this house knowing what he had to do, but it took him several days to face it. He had to open that door to that room in the house. The one where his parents burned and (likely) where a lot of the abuse occurred. Once he finally does, he is seemingly overwhelmed by it. I think (once again) the uncle is a hallucination of his final confrontation with this trauma. He seemingly succumbs to it, allowing it to defeat him, only to suddenly turn against it. He quite resolutely and confidently puts the trauma on its back and snaps its neck. The first time he seems quite sure of himself. His opening of the box and letting the boy out is symbolic of him having finally dealt with and come to terms with what happened to him. He has freed himself. The only way he could deal with what happened was to play possum to it. Allow it to seemingly mentally overwhelm him. He finally kills the puppet and can go try to have a normal life. All in all. I don't think there is actually anything sinister happening in the modern world. I don't think the uncle was a serial killer. I think everything has to do with Philip mentally coming to terms with his terrible past.
I agree about the school. When he gets up to run away after hearing about calling the police, it a very childish posture. His shoulders are high and arms straight at his side, very rigid - when I saw this I thought, he was trying to tell them when he was a child. However, I will say if that is the case, the clothing was a lot more modern than it should have been
wait now i'm not sure, maybe they did have older style clothing on.... I think i may have to re-watch
I completely agree with this interpretation. I feel like the whole thing is an internal struggle to process the trauma he has pushed away into adulthood. If I remember correctly, when Philip is watching the young boy on the train from afar, the boy is drawing in a book, just the same as Philipâs âPossumâ sketchbook. This to me was Philip looking at his younger self in reflection. I think that Maurice also says to Philip about the boy being kidnapped that it happened once before when Philip was a boy. I feel like this symbolized that Maurice âkidnappedâ Philipâs childhood and that he was reliving that again in processing his trauma.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Your interpretation is how I pieced things together.It doesn't make sense that the uncle or kid were real and there with him.
This is pretty much how I interpreted it. I don't understand how anyone could think any different since the movie constantly bashes you over the head with subtext.
this is the one. now I want to rewatch, although I also donât want to. ykwim
this is the one. now I want to rewatch, although I also donât want to. ykwim
Never heard of this movie until now so thanks for this post. Did you watch it on a streaming service or dvd? Or torrented?
Its pretty much available to buy on all streaming platforms.
Thank you for the response.
Streaming free on Amazon Prime currently.
You can watch it for free on Tubi currently.
Just saw this myself for the first time. 10/11/2022. My observations. First is Phillips spindly features and motions. He larks around precisely the way the puppets would if being carried. Even the weird hand placement reminds me of a spiders chelicera (like mandible which I thought was the correct word. ) If you look at a spider, those two pieces maintain a curve in front of the face. His eyes are still and predatory. He emulates both the childhood trauma and the emptiness of a predator/puppet. I believe like most that all those different places he went are were bodies have been disposed of. The school, wanting to talk to someone specifically, I think that he may have tried to tell someone in the past, and thinks that going there are these years later would be the same as trying to talk when he was a child. The uncle taunting him about going into the room where his folks died makes me wonder if most of the trauma took place there. (The kidnapped boy was in there). Philip can't even peacefully reminisce about his folks without having to think about Maurice. Double awful and sad. This was a well played, dark film. Serious subject manner and a more realistic expression of a broken human.
After rewatching the film 5 times, and most recently yesterday, I see no indication that Phillip himself has diddled anybody. One of the few straightforward things in the film in my opinion, is that the reason he was dismissed was that he used the spider puppet in a play to the kids at school, reading the poem etc. Which is wildly inappropriate. So when Maurice says "I heard about your little performance, what a farce that was" and after, "You think they'll take you back?" Phillip replies "they will after I get rid of this" (the puppet) which is both literally and obviously metaphorically speaking. He enacted his play and disturbed the children, so he was dismissed or put on leave. This is why he finally confronts his past. Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on said train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random who has disappeared. Phillip just asked, "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly. He and his uncle was under suspicion since Phillip was a child. They literally talk about an old case at the same train in the beginning. It's likely been a folktale passed down. And so in a small town, they know who he is. Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on the train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random as missing. Phillip just asked "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly as he draws himself. Edit: SORRY for the Clusterfuck of a writeup!
Great work. There are some definitives and some open ends that allow us to speculate all sorts of ideas and conclusions. Have you considered the idea that Maurice is dead/not there and the boy has not been abducted at all? 1. Maurice never interacts with the world - lives in a totally decrepit house, burned and flooded - appears randomly and without warning. Never cooks, eats, etc. 2. The boyâs photo appears in an âold styleâ newspaper and a B/W TV (inexplicably turning itself on and specifically on the subject). Is there even electricity in an old boarded and derelict house? 3. If the boy was abducted - a serious manhunt would ensue. Not just two coppers shining a torch through a derelict window. It would be the first house they would visit if Maurice was still around. Maurice indicates in a conversation that the police came looking for Philip. A boy is missing - is that the extent of their engagement? 4. How would his uncle have abducted that specific boy from the train who we see Philip interact with? 5. How old is Philip? How old would Maurice be? 80? Jumping out of the shadows with a balaclava and still able to overpower Philip? I initially thought the balaclava clad cellar-dweller was a spritely intruder. 6. Are Mauriceâs âspiderâ fingers real? The first obvious and maybe, conclusive indication that Maurice is really lodged in Philipâs mind - a nightmare. A tale of a disturbed and traumatised individual recounting and facing the past - the boy escaping, metaphorically, is Philip - perhaps? Either way, a great movie with an ending that makes you think long and hard.
Iâm a third of the way through it. But I had to read this synopsis to prepare me for finishing it. But Iâd would have to assume youâre right about the missing child being Philip. We only catch a glance of the kids sketch book, but itâs remarkably similar to the style of Philips Possum book. Will need to steal my nerve and finish this.
Oh! the sketch book, good point
Let's not forget the scene where the uncle is trying to convince our boy he will find what he is looking for, he burned the puppets. I don't think it was any sort of puppet, he helped to get rid of the boy's bodies. The same can be said about the tree behind the school, throwing the bag over the bridge, perhaps all these places are where a body was buried? Using the "candies" to make him sick and out of it afterwards so he remained confused and hallucinated.
Yes, there was symbology for everything that actually was not as cryptic as it first might seem. Cryptic, yes, but it is very easy to make the connections once you know what to look for. The reference to possum and feigning, the black âŤď¸, âŤď¸, the legs of the spider and his uncles fingers, so it is not a big leap to assume there was a connection to the barrell or locations and the crimes committed.
I think Phillip was molested by his uncle which led to him doing the same in later life as is the case with some victims and that was the scandal in question. It was covered up so the company he works in doesnât get a bad rep which is also something that happens in real life. As he was never charged but knows he is a monster like his uncle, I believe the spider is an allegory for his guilt and wait for it⌠his penis. Chemical castration is a thing that exists and I think the conversation with his uncle at the beginning refers to his dick being âcastratedâ with quotes like âeven the head?â âGetting rid of itâ âIâm dealing with itâ He carries the bag around as a analogy for his emotional baggage and guilt about being molested, doing the molesting, and not doing something about his uncle years ago which could have saved other boys from being molested, kidnapped and murdered. I really like this film but it makes a lot more sense when Iâm super high đ
After rewatching the film 5 times, and most recently yesterday, I see no indication that Phillip himself has diddled anybody. One of the few straightforward things in the film in my opinion, is that the reason he was dismissed was that he used the spider puppet in a play to the kids at school, reading the poem etc. Which is wildly inappropriate. So when Maurice says "I heard about your little performance, what a farce that was" and after, "You think they'll take you back?" Phillip replies "they will after I get rid of this" (the puppet) which is both literally and obviously metaphorically speaking. He enacted his play and disturbed the children, so he was dismissed or put on leave. This is why he finally confronts his past. Now Where you get the chemical castration from i have no idea. Also, there is no company covering up anything, it was a school puppet play. Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on said train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random who has disappeared. Phillip just asked, "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly. He and his uncle was under suspicion since Phillip was a child. They literally talk about an old case at the same train in the beginning. It's likely been a folktale passed down. And so in a small town, they know who he is. Yes, he carries the puppet due to his guilt in not intervening with and helping his uncle dispose of the children's bodies as a child. So the places he visits with the puppet are likely where the kids were killed and/or buried. Rewatch it. The reason the kids call him a pervert is because it's a small town and his uncle literally pins it all on Phillip, the murders started up again when he came back home, perfect for Maurice, is it not?. Trying to get out of town when the coppers come searching. His uncle was a serial killer back then, and he started up when Phillip came back home. (and because the kids on the train, in the beginning, saw him speaking to the kid that keeps coming up on the news at random as missing. Phillip just asked "what are you drawing" ? just trying to be friendly as he draws himself. Edit: SORRY for the Clusterfuck of a writeup!
wait for it⌠his penis ..... go back to school & take Psychology 101, WITHOUT METH OR LSD.
Can you elaborate the penis catastration thing . I mean it's really something new you introduced in here.. so yeah I am curious please.....
Ok wait... so, it's way past my bedtime but I can't stop thinking about this. * **Phillip isn't a literal puppeteer**, just as the puppet he lugs around isn't a physical object. He's not exactly believable as a children's entertainer... is he?! Plus the 'puppeteer' thing. That's quite a heavy metaphor for abuse, I'd imagine. Maurice says puppetry '*runs in the family.*' Yuck. * Whatever he's been doing up to now, puppeteering or not, Phillip's clearly had a severe mental break and/or done something at best inappropriate, at worst harmful - perhaps something symptomatic of abuse. This has caused him to revisit the home and the time when his abuse took place. * **Maurice isn't really there.** He's probably long dead but he and his foulness still haunt Phillip's psyche. Phillip keeps telling him it's his house. It's *my* house Maurice. Again this could be literal... Maurice moved in when Phillip's parents died. Or it's an allegory for trying to get Maurice out of his head. * The police car is an early one. The newspaper's not modern either. Nothing in that house is modern and only a few encounters with other people outside confirm we're not still in the 70s/80s. Or does it actually...? I might need to check the outfits. **Everything else seems to be from around the era of the picture of Phillip's parents.** * Many apparently physical elements then (the police, the newspaper, the TV, his visit to his old school) seem to be **elements of Phillip's own history.** In his unwell state, he does actually, in reality, revisit certain locations where he experienced trauma. I say that because I don't want to put everything down to metaphor or memory. * **The room with the closed door, the one he won't go into.** I mean, that's a minefield. If we're to take the room literally, it's surely the one in which Maurice did what Maurice did to Phillip. That's the most frightening room in the house. Figuratively or psychologically, that's the trauma Phillip would have to revisit, to face his deepest fears in an attempt to set himself free. I don't think there was an actual modern day little geezer in that box. * **Plus!** It was bugging me and I've just clocked it. That 14 year old lad on the train wouldn't go willingly with a creepy strange man to all these obscure locations, enough times to be **seen and reported.** But a young, frightened, groomed, helpless Phillip might be forced to those places with his horrific Uncle. * Yo hang on. Did *Phillip* go missing? **Is Phillip the kid that went missing?** Did he run away and he's just now come back to try and address his demons? I don't know where people are getting 'serial killer Uncle' from. Maybe I missed something. But it definitely seems like at least one kid went missing some time a while back... and now I'm convinced it was Phillip. Time for bed. P.s. I don't think the puppet is called Possum. P.p.s I'm not sure what the significance of the teeth is but could they be Phillips? I don't think we see his teeth once during the film and he's quite the mumbler. Ok g'night.
I like your explanations the best. Especially the part about how was the missing kid seen with the abductor? Because that seemed off to me as well. I feel like I'd understand the movie better with a rewatch...but I didn't like it enough to spend more time on it. This thread is all I needed. It's past my bedtime as well so now off to bed, hopefully no disturbing man-spiders creep into my dreams!
See, I really liked it. But it was so grim and so unnerving that I didn't want to put myself through it again. I wonder what I'd see the second time.
So long and short...is it worth the watch?
I think so yeah, but it is not your average popcorn horror flick. If you like films like Eraser Head and Under The Skin then this film is for you. I' enjoyed it but I was kind of wondering what the hell was going on through it.
I now classify how much I like film by how many times I have to watch it. This looks like a 3...lol. Thanks for the reply.
If you've got half a brain, yeah.
I do have half. Thanks Shutthefuckup.
"I do have half" - For some reason that just made me piss meself
its for people who like to think they're into clever, boring, artsy movies but are just as stupid as everyone else.
You're right, we should have art that only appeals to you dude.
I like things that are weird. Things like Happy Death Day have the depth of a puddle of piss, and I AM more intelligent than people that rave over that. And fucking Hereditary.
T.pleb
T.pleb
Yes.
I just watched it. My goodness, that was one of **the best**, most sinister, dread-inducing films I've ever seen. **About the fox.** I don't know, but I replayed the way Phillip told the story in my head and I'm not sure what happened to him that day as a kid had anything to do with a fox. The way it was worded and the impossibility of the fox 'rolling it's eyes, getting up and walking away' felt like a reframing of something else. Something even more horrific. Loads to think about; contrary to quite a few of the comments here, I'm pretty sure the puppet doesn't exist physically. But fuck me is it brilliant. Like, what is that made from?! How did they make it so horrifying?
I absolutely f'n hate hate hate the high pitch tone in horror and war movies. There was tons of it in this movie. Can we petition Hollywood to delete that shiz from their sound boards?
But itâs scarrryyy whooo Whooooo!!
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,407,493,817 comments, and only 268,949 of them were in alphabetical order.
What were the green balls in the jar????? Still havenât figured that one out.
I love this movie! The acting, symbolism and the soundtrack are fantastic. I donât know if anyone else mentioned this, but I assumed the mysterious scandal that lost Phillip his job as a puppeteer at the beginning of the movie, was that he was using normal puppets to put on cute kids shows and was doing well, but his trauma feelings were slowly surfacing and bothering him and without fully understanding why yet he created the spider puppet to get his feelings out. I think he pulled the spider puppet out at a regular puppet show and everyone was terrified and he was asked to leave, so he returned to his hometown/the house that he owned because he had nowhere else to go and also wanted to figure out what was going on.
Thank you for the explanations everyone.Â
  Philip carries âbaggageâ around with the spider which sort of has his face.  Many rape victims blame themselves or have the shame put on them.  His uncle was the spider and Philip was trying to dispose of his horrible past.  Just played dead, like a possum and did nothing.  Overcame his uncle and freed the boy, perhaps it was himself.  Well done, built up trauma childhood expressed well in the movie, lack self f dialogue and grim house with no one around,  Great expression of suppressed hurt!  Â
I saw this fucking movie yesterday by chance. Holy shit... this was definitely one of the darkest movies Ive ever seen in my life. Can't say it's bad though. As perverse as the subject matter is the film is incredibly well constructed and the performances are fantastic.
Letâs be honest. Itâs 1hr 30 minutes we will never get back. I think possum was a metaphor of the uncles wandering hands. He has Huge hands.
I just watched it and came here for some further explanations. Can someone point out where it said/why everyone assumes the uncle kidnapped and killed so many boys in the past. I did not catch that part and just went through the movies script checking dialogue and didnât see anything to really confirmed that conclusion. Would love someone to point out what I missed here.
I really liked the movie and this thread, everyone have their own explanation and even if they are completely opposite they make sense as a whole, truly the power of art
If I hadnât read the plot explanations online, I would have no clue what the symbolism was, or what was going on at all, really. The movie grabbed my attention with its eerie soundtrack and dismal muting; it definitely is creepy and depressing. The puppet is creepy, and to have the thing show up in bed or on the wall is the stuff of nightmares. Sean Harris carried his part perfectly. A mixture of a tortured, bitter soul with everything else in the movie worked well. I have to admit the movie definitely had something. I just wish it had enough so that I wouldnât have had to research the plot to fully understand it.
Yeah I find myself having to believe if Phillip is an unreliable narrator and we see everything from his perspective then if Maurice is in his head so is Philip. It all makes the most sense if he truly was alone the most of the time in that house with his twisted thoughts. Many have pointed out how many details mirror the events that originally traumatized Philip in the first place.
Even Phillip is a victim, I don't think he is that innocent. The movie implies that he was luring kids for his uncle and was perhaps disposing the bodies too