Friday One Sheet: POSSESSOR

This disturbing key art for Brandon Cronenberg's latest film, Possessor, comes in 'industrial warning yellow.' It is a striking improvement from the orange-red teaser poster. Something about this shade of yellow, which is typically reserved for easy-viewing 'Sundance-hit' indie films, with a horribly disfigured or masked woman gasping in distress just undermines the colour conventions of movie posters.

On a meta-level, that is what horror does, meaning the best of the genre subverts expectations and amplifies pre-existing anxieties. When you can do it right down to the Key Art level, that is brilliant.

Couple that with the blurring of both 'television scan lines' and 'wrapped in cellophane' aesthetic and we have full on nightmare fuel. From those who have seen the film, it is on par with the experience of viewing it. (As good key art should offer tone, as well as simply just information such as credits and release date.)

Placing all the text together at the top - we cannot ignore the UNCUT, however, I am not aware that the final film had any conflict from Telefilm Canada, WellgoUSA, or any government censor boards of actually threating CUTS, so lets just call that 'marketing.'  That's what we're here to discuss in this column anyway. Marketing.

Squeezing the credit block in tight typesetting so as to offset the CUT and the LOSE CONTROL tagline, it leaves the central, disturbing image uncluttered. I wish more posters had the austerity and the design chops to do so. Kudos NEON, and Legion Creative Group (who also did the wonderfully mediated poster for She Dies Tomorrow.)

My only lament is that Cineplex multiplex lobbies are scary places for many at the moment with the COVID-19, such that this YELLOW WARNING might not be seen, or have the impact that it would in contrast to a normal movie-going fall season. I am enjoying the hell out of sharing it with you here in this space though.