Attachment review.
Attachment gives us a bit of a different spin on the religious horror movie. It’s still a possession movie…but one more focused on the effects of demon possession on loved ones. If you’ve already surmised that this makes it less scary and fun than other possession movies…well…read the review anyway.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Attachment
Directed by Gabriel Bier Gislason
Written by Gabriel Bier Gislason
Starring David Dencik, Ellie Kendrick and Sofie Gråbøl
Attachment Review
Like The Offering, another recent religious horror movie centered on the Jewish faith, Attachment strives to be a different kind of possession/exorcism movie. The Offering serves as a kind of reverse exorcism movie where letting the demon out is the start of the problem. Attachment is about the effect of a possession on the people around the possessed. It’s an admirable concept…but one that doesn’t take too long to understand why it hasn’t been done before.
Maja (Josephine Park) falls in love with Leah (Ellie Kendrick) and is forced to deal with her overbearing mother Chana (Sofie Gråbøl). When Lea starts to exhibit some strange behavior, Maja and Chana fight over what’s best for her. But Chana might know a lot more about what is happening than she lets on.
Attachment doesn’t go as deep into religious lore as The Offering did…but it’s very much in the same vein. Both movies push hard on the idea that while the good parts of faith are real…so are the demons and superstitions. Both movies also feature a love interest in the lead role who comes from an outside perspective on the Jewish faith.
Where they differ is in what kind of movie they want to be. The Offering plays up the creepiness and often has a dreamlike quality. Attachment is more grounded and discusses what you are willing to sacrifice for a loved one. Whether it be the love of a partner…or of a mother.
None of this would work if the three leads didn’t bring their A game. Park and Kendrick have the chemistry needed to buy into their relationship in short order. Attachment begins with a meet cute that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hallmark movie. It then lets us spend a bit of time seeing the couple happy before Leah starts to have problems. After she suffers a seizure, the couple move to an apartment in Chana’s building so she can be there for her daughter.
From there the movie shifts into a different type of story. We see Chana pushing Maja away and acting overly protective of Leah. Religious artifacts are placed around the room in a superstitious manner. Maja tries to break through with Chana but the mother isn’t interested. Park and Gråbøl are terrific pitted against each other in a manner builds from passive aggressive to…well…aggressive.
Eventually the story has no choice but to address the elephant in the room. Or…the Leah in the room, I suppose. The third act is where Attachment becomes a bit more like a standard possession movie. It is impressive how long it holds out. Unfortunately, that comes with a caveat. There’s a reason that movies about possession don’t put the possessed character in the background. They’re where all the fun is.
Attachment is very light on fun. It’s played like a drama for the most part. It uses Leah’s possession as the catalyst for a story about the people closest to her. In fairness, it does a good job of it. Just be prepared for what kind of movie Attachment is. A well-acted, patient drama about people watching the person they love go through hell.
I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that Chana has been aware of her daughter’s condition long before Maja enters the picture. The movie doesn’t hide it or hint at any other twist so I’ll go ahead and address it because it exposes the biggest problem in Attachment. Chana’s stubbornness at keeping Maja in the dark just doesn’t make sense. She’s the reason Maja actively works against her attempts to keep Leah safe…simply because she doesn’t feel like explaining the situation to her. Maja, herself, seeks out a deeper understanding of their religion…she would have been very open to what Chana had to say on the matter.
Either way…Attachment inevitably gets to its rather predictable climax. There is some fun to be had here but not as much as you’d hope. It’s another one of those movies where some wilder choices later could have elevated what came before it. But that’s not the movie that Attachment is trying to be. It mostly succeeds at what it wants. It’s just a question of whether it’s what you want.
Scare Value
It’s tough to give a possession movie a new angle. In part because it’s been done so many times…and in part because you might have to cut out the good parts. Attachment tries to find some new good parts to make up for the lack of expected ones. It mostly succeeds. That it does so as a quiet family drama provides a buyer beware kind of situation. If you’re tired of seeing the same tropes in possession/exorcism movies, give it a try. It offers a different take for as long as it can.
3/5
Attachment Link
Streaming on Shudder
Attachment Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Attachment, check out a completely different kind of possession movie Studio 666
