10 Awesome Horror Movies With No Sympathetic Characters
3. Possum (2018)
When former puppeteer Philip (Sean Harris) returns to his Norfolk childhood home to stay with his uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong), he attempts to rid himself of the terrifying titular puppet that's come to symbolise his life-long trauma. However, no matter how hard he tries, the spidery puppet always finds its way back.
Everything about Matt Holness's experimental horror Possum is caked in a grimy surrealism. The wallpaper in the decrepit home is peeling off, which makes the place feel like it's rotting from the inside whereas twisted branches in the fields jut out like spider legs. Even the soundscape is atonal and dreamlike.
It should come as no surprise then that the small cast of characters we encounter are as unpleasant as the setting, the worst of which is Maurice. More than a bitter old man, Maurice is the root of Philip's trauma, being responsible for years of sexual and mental abuse. Moreover, he's continued to assault young boys in the local area.
Don't be fooled into thinking Philip's meek demeaner makes him entirely innocent. From the spattering of facts that we learn about him, we can only imagine what deplorable actions he committed to earn him the description of a "disgraced" puppeteer.