a review of 占有者

HOOPTOBER ORIGINS 2.0 NIGHT EIGHTEEN: I put this one in the middle of Brandon Cronenberg's films so far, with INFINITY POOL on top and ANTIVIRAL behind this one, and I don't think that's an unfair assessment of how Cronenberg-fils has developed as a filmmaker who so far has hewn closely to his father's paranoiac universe while building a voice of his own. He absolutely gotten better and more distinct with each film, and this one continues that progression in a pretty satisfying way. I'll admit that I was somewhat surprised to not see Andrea Riseborough for more of the film, but I liked the ambiguity of Christopher Abbott's performance playing her character, playing his character. It does feel like more of a slow burn finally getting to the true climax than I had expected as well, but it feels earned by the previous hour-plus.