"Possessed by Evil": When Help is Worse than a Curse

      The film tells the story of two farmer brothers, Pedro and Jimmy. One day they find a torn corpse in the woods, and soon it becomes clear that their neighbor Uriel has been sick for almost a year. Not in the sense of "he has a fever," but in the sense that "something is brewing inside him, and that something will soon hatch." The brothers, guided by the best intentions, decide to help — to take the infected one far away from people. And everything goes according to plan, only this plan is written by an optimistic Satanist who believes that hell can get even worse.

      Runya, known for his short film "Possessed by Evil" from 2017, has expanded the story to a full-length feature here, but he hasn't lost the main thing — the feeling that the heroes are not just fighting evil, but actively spreading it like a flu virus in an office during an epidemic. Every action they take, driven by fear or despair, only worsens the situation. They try to save — in the end, they kill. They try to hide — they find even more corpses. The film is built on total hopelessness, and this is not the kind of hopelessness where the hero walks into the sunset with a sad face at the end. No, here everything is much "meatier."

      Anatomy of Decay: Why Computer Graphics Take a Backseat Here

      Visually, "Possessed by Evil" is a celebration for those who miss practical effects. There is hardly any computer graphics here, but there is so much blood, dirt, and bodily fluids that the film could be sold as a textbook for future pathologists. The scene where the heroes try to get rid of a child — okay, I won't spoil it, but believe me, after it, you'll be suspiciously glancing at playgrounds for a long time. Runya is not afraid to show dismemberment up close, and this is not a cheap trick for shock value, but part of his artistic method: evil here is not a metaphor; it literally decays before your eyes.

      Critics, by the way, have appreciated it. The film has a 96% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes — an almost indecent number for a horror film. At the Sitges festival, it even won the main prize, which is a rare occurrence for Latin American cinema. The audience, however, is divided: some admire its uncompromising nature, while others criticize it for excessive brutality and darkness. But, in my opinion, this is precisely the point. Runya did not make a film for family viewing. He made a film for those who are tired of beautiful demons in expensive costumes.

      When the ending reminds you that you were watching an Argentine horror

      The most disappointing thing about the film is probably its ending. Without spoilers, it seems the creators decided that the viewer has already suffered enough, and they can just take and... well, you'll understand. I won't say it's bad, but after two hours of such dense, sticky horror, you want a more coherent resolution, not the feeling that you've just been thrown out of the cinema with the words "you're the fool."

      And yet "Possessed by Evil" is that rare case where horror does not try to please you. It does not flirt, does not wink, does not make allowances for "well, you understand, it's a movie." It simply grabs you by the scruff and plunges your face into the dirt, blood, and despair. And after it, you want to take a shower. A long, very long shower. And perhaps rewatch something light, like "The Ring" or "The Grudge." Because after the Argentine bleakness, even Sadako seems cute.

      Rating 3.5/5