10 Future Cult Classic Movies You Need To See

5. Possum

The directorial debut born from the strange mind of Matthew Holness (creator of the even stranger cult TV series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), Possum is a desperately bleak and skin-crawling psychological horror that revolves around disgraced children’s puppeteer Philip (Sean Harris), who returns to his childhood home to live with his malicious uncle (Alun Armstrong) in an effort to confront his traumatic childhood and to destroying the titular puppet. Tragically, though, Philip is unable to escape his past or the puppet as he’s further drawn deeper into his internal suffering.

Based on Holness’ own short story of the same name, Possum is more of a mood piece than your typical cult horror. Tapping deep into themes of trauma, Holness’ haunting vision is carried through tremendous performances from both Harris and Armstrong (who never interacted outside of their scenes together to keep their onscreen relationship as authentic as possible) and unnerving imagery made all the better thanks to a score by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

A self-proclaimed horror fan himself, Holness has praised his adoration for films that “linger with you”, and Possum is a film that will do just that.