“Ava’s Possessions” is written and directed by Jordan Galland. It stars Louisa Krause, Carol Kane, William Sadler, Alysia Reiner, Dan Fogler, Lou Taylor Pucci, Whitney Able, Joel de la Fuente, John Ventimiglia, Deborah Rush, Zachary Booth, and Wass Stevens.
Jordan Galland’s Ava’s Possessions is not a fun film to criticize. It’s a small movie with a mostly winning cast and a fun energy that lends itself to adjectives like “charming.” It also blends and twists genres together in a way that is unusual and admirable.
The film is a comedy-horror-drama hybrid about a young woman (Ava), who is exorcised at the beginning of the film. The plot concerns her attempts to recover from the traumatic experience of her possession. While possessed, she left much wreckage in her wake, going on rampages and committing crimes around New York. After the exorcism, she is sent to a group for those recovering from possessions (the film explicitly draws attention to the parallel between this group and AA. “Possession” appears to be a metaphor for drug addiction). All plot that occurs after this initial set-up is difficult to summarize. I’ll just say that Ava has not seen the last of her demon.
My central issue with Ava’s Possessions is that it all feels so slight. The film washes right over the audience as it plays. There’s no sense of stakes, or character, or any real reason to have a serious investment in the story. This is not aided by the cinematography, which looks cheap and digital, with really obvious, over-the-top lighting which aims for style but ends up just being distracting. The tonal experimentation doesn’t feel overt and purposeful, but happenstance, as if the result of unsure direction. In an effort to bridge the gap between funny, dramatic, and scary, Galland comes up with a film that is none of those things with any consistency. Scenes go by and we are left unsure just what exactly we’re supposed to be feeling. At its best, the film is mildly amusing and perfectly watchable. It all goes down pretty easy. And there’s something sort of winningly innocent about the whole thing (the film is rated R but doesn’t feel like it).
The cast is likable across the board and for the most part makes best of the just okay material. Louisa Krause makes for a likable leading lady and has a fun screen presence. Other standouts include Dan Fogler as JJ Samson, the social worker on Ava’s case, who brings a comedic sensibility to his scenes that would have served the film better if it were more consistently applied, and Wass Stevens as the head of Ava’s recovery program. There’s an earnestness and humanity in his depiction that transcends the material. Also successful, albeit slightly less memorable, are Deborah Rush and Zachary Booth.
Ava’s Possessions is the work of a promising talent. Jordan Galland plays with tone in some interesting ways, and is able to draw appealing performances out of his cast. I hope he continues to mix disparate genres together and creates something truly original and exciting with his next project, whatever that might be.
The film hits theaters March 4.
We screened the film at the New York premiere at Landmark Sunshine. Following the screening, guests headed over to The Mockingbird Bar for tacos and SVEDKA cocktails.
-Anthony Calamunci