The Possession | Movie review

The use of a few Yiddish words can’t dispel the sense of familiarity from this demonic-possession spiel, in which the daughter (Natasha Calis) of recently divorced parents (Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan) starts attracting moths and cheating on her vegetarianism after opening a box procured at a yard sale. Once it’s determined that the chest contained a dybbuk (or evil spirit), the movie brings on a rebbe’s son (Hasidic rapper Matisyahu) to conduct an exorcism—something the film suggests he’s able to perform on instinct. Do they teach this in yeshiva? The Possession manages a handful of good jolts but feels somewhat truncated, especially in the last act; an ordinary seder takes longer to complete.