I hadn't heard about the 2022 Norwegian horror movie "Forbannelsen" (aka "Possession") before stumbling upon it here late in 2022. And of course I had to watch it, since it was horror movie that I hadn't already seen, and given my fascination and life-long romance with the horror genre, of course I watched it.
Now, first of all, the English title is way off, because "Forbannelsen" does not mean "Possession", it means "Cursed". And that translated title would make way more sense, since the movie wasn't exactly about any kind of possession.
The storyline in "Forbannelsen", as written by writer and director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, was quite good as it was a historical era-based story with supernatural elements thrown into the formula. And it definitely worked well because the movie proved to be rather enjoyable. I really enjoyed the atmosphere that the was all the way throughout the course of the 104 minutes that the movie ran for.
It should be said that there is a lot of sub-plots to the storyline, and there is a lot that could be explored and delved further into, and director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken was good at sort of putting a lot of layers to the movie, while sticking to the focal essence of the storyline.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Forbannelsen", but they had a great cast ensemble, because there were some good performances being put on here, from both adult and child performers alike. Much can be said about the main character Lauritz, but actor Jan Sælid really carried the movie quite well with his performance.
Visually then "Forbannelsen" was good. Now, this isn't a movie that makes use of an abudance of special effects of a myriad of bedazzling CGI effects. But the movie's atmosphere, the wardrobes, sets, props, etc. Really came nicely together to bring the movie to life on the screen.
I was genuinely entertained by "Forbannelsen" and it is a movie that I definitely think it quite well-worth watching. It is not a traditional horror movie with an abundance of jump scares and tricks to make the audience feel spooked, but instead it is an atmospheric and seeding horror that slowly, but surely, crawls in under the skin.
And while the movie definitely was watchable, I doubt that I will ever return to watch it a second time, simply because it didn't feel like there was enough contents to the storyline to support more than a single viewing.
My rating of "Forbannelsen" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.
