10 More Great Horror Movies That Are Ugly On Purpose

The British have something of a monopoly on the dark and dreary, particularly when presenting everyday life on the lower rungs of society's greasy ladder - think Trainspotting, Fish Tank, This Is England - but add an overbearing element of psychological horror to a terrifyingly real depiction of trauma, and something like Possum is born; something you can't wait to put back in its box.

Returning to his rundown childhood home in Norfolk, disgraced puppeteer Philip (Sean Harris) settles in for several of the most harrowing experiences of his life. Living in the company of his abusive uncle, Philip becomes unhinged and, with nothing more socially meaningful than the company of his horrendous, spider-legged puppet Possum, he begins to experience flashbacks, hallucinations, and an all-round sense of distress that finds its way into every frame of film.

Director Matthew Holness and his sets, effects, and costumes teams did their darnedest to make absolutely every element of Possum's mise en scene grubby and worn, marking the miseries of Philip's cold reality with an aesthetic that would make Trainspotting cry.