“40 Years Later, ‘Possession’ Is Recut, Restored, and Ready for Its Horror Audience”

If you’ve seen anything out of Possession, but haven’t seen all of Possession yourself, then you’ve probably seen its signature scene, where Isabelle Adjani makes like a madwoman and writhes while secreting whatever substance you can imagine. Hopefully, you’ve seen the material bookending that sequence, but if not, there’s ample opportunity to see the film now, 40 years after Andrzej Zulawski directed it.

I did some deep research and reporting for the film’s new restoration, communicating with one of the restorers all the way in Paris, plus one of its most prominent scholars and proponents; I dug into the “why” of Possession‘s failure in 1983, what drove its eventual reevaluation, what went into its restoration, and why the movie matters today. Good stuff.

You can read the full feature over at Paste Magazine.