Possession: Limited Edition – Second Sight Films (UHD/BluRay Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France/West Germany, 1981
Director: Andrzej Żuławski
Writers: Andrzej Żuławski, Frederic Tuten
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent, Margit Carstensen, Carl Duering, Shaun Lawton

Release Date: December 15th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 124 Minutes 9 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region B (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: £52.99

"A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something far more sinister." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "A new producer approved 4K restoration presented in HDR with Dolby Vision."

Possession comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 92.7 GB

Feature: 72.7 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always retains an organic look. That said, Fidelity in Motion delivers another exemplary encode.

Possession comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.3 GB

Feature: 31.1 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds excellent; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds and the score are well represented.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), deleted scenes (4 minutes, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archive interview with director Andrzej Żuławski (36 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a documentary titled The Other Side of The Wall: The Making of Possession (51 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, Polish, and French with non-removable English subtitles for Polish and French), a featurette on poster artist Barbara ‘Basha’ Baranowska titled Basha (5 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an interview with producer Christian Ferry titled Our Friend in the West (6 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Composer Andrzej Korzynski titled The Sounds of Possession (19 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Polish with non-removable English subtitles), a locations featurette titled A Divided City: The Berlin Locations (7 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with text in English), an archival documentary titled Andrzej Żuławski: Director (51 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a featurette titled Repossessed: The Film’s UK and US Reception (12 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay with Kat Ellinger titled The Shadow We Carry (18 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro titled The Horror of Normality (26 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Andrzej Żuławski moderated by Daniel Bird, an audio commentary with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Alison Taylor, an audio commentary with Frederic Tuten moderated by Daniel Bird, an audio commentary with Daniel Bird and Manuela Lazic for the North American Re-edit, and the North American Re-edit: newly restored from an archive print (77 minutes 6 seconds, 1.66:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English no subtitles).

Extras on Blu-ray disc one include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), deleted scenes (4 minutes, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archive interview with director Andrzej Żuławski (36 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a documentary titled The Other Side of The Wall: The Making of Possession (51 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, Polish, and French with non-removable English subtitles for Polish and French), a featurette on poster artist Barbara ‘Basha’ Baranowska titled Basha (5 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  an interview with producer Christian Ferry titled Our Friend in the West (6 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Composer Andrzej Korzynski titled The Sounds of Possession (19 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Polish with non-removable English subtitles), a locations featurette titled A Divided City: The Berlin Locations (7 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with text in English), an archival documentary titled Andrzej Żuławski: Director (51 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a featurette titled Repossessed: The Film’s UK and US Reception (12 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay with Kat Ellinger titled The Shadow We Carry (18 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro titled The Horror of Normality (26 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Andrzej Żuławski moderated by Daniel Bird, an audio commentary with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Alison Taylor, and an audio commentary with Frederic Tuten moderated by Daniel Bird.

Other extras on a second Blu-ray disc are the North American Re-edit, newly restored from an archive print (77 minutes 6 seconds, 1.66:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Daniel Bird and Manuela Lazic for the North American Re-edit.

Additional extras include 6 collectors' art cards, a 211-page original shooting script book with notes by Andrzej Żuławski and Frederic Tuten, a rigid slipcase with Basha’s original theatrical artwork, and a 220-page hardback book with cast & crew information, an introduction written by Daniel Bird, an essay titled I Suffer. I Believe. I Am. The Passion According to A. written by Alison Taylor, an essay titled It’s Not You, It’s Me: Escaping the Prison of Heteronormative Coupledom in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession written by Elena Lazic, The Creature: Preliminary Sketches, Filming Possession written by Dominique Schneidre, Behind the Scenes, Puzzle Pieces The Possession Pressbook, Medusa the Poster of Possession written by Barbara Baranowska, Making a Monster an interview with Andrzej Żuławski, originally published in Cahiers du Cinéma, conducted by Pascal Bonitzer and Serge Toubiana, Inferno, the Cahiers du Cinéma review of Possession written by Pascal Bonitzer, The Wall, The Mutual Influence of Żuławski and Bilal, an essay titled My Dinner With Andrzej written by Daniel Bird, an interview with Andrzej Żuławski titled The Past Present conducted by Piotr Kletowski and Piotr Marecki, an essay titled Everything Old is New Again, or How We Grew to Stop Hating and Love Possession written by Daniel Bird, and Green Eyes: Remastering Possession written by Andrzej Jaroszewicz.

Summary:

A marriage in crisis: a woman who's having an affair asks for a divorce, and while her husband tries to work things out, her behavior becomes increasingly bizarre.

For Andrzej Żuławski's first and only film in English, Possession, he would draw inspiration from his life. Possession was his first film since his bitter divorce from Małgorzata Braunek, and he would use the trauma from that event as the launching point. Even its location, Berlin, serves as a metaphor that mirrors that of its two leads, since it is a city divided by a wall.

Anyone familiar with the cinema of Andrzej Żuławski knows that his films are challenging, and they require multiple viewings to fully absorb everything. Although there are many moments in Possession that are not conventional, the bulk of what’s unfolding is actually fairly straightforward. While Anna, the wife, finds herself trapped in psychosis, Mark, the husband, becomes more in tune with his consciousness.

In an Andrzej Żuławski film, actors are required to step beyond their comfort zones, as Żuławski's unique style is evident throughout all his works, regardless of the actors involved. Characters in Andrzej Żuławski’s film have a heightened emotional response that resembles someone in hysterics. The two leads, Isabelle Adjani (Subway) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), deliver unforgettable performances that are arguably their best. Also, they both take on double duty, as their characters each have a doppelganger.

Out of all of Andrzej Żuławski's films, Possession more than any other fits firmly into body horror cinema. The most notable of these moments are Anna’s new lover, an octopus-like creature that she makes love to, and a scene in the subway where Anna screams and thrashes, which is a perfect example of rage captured onscreen. The subway scene is arguably one of the most exhausting moments ever captured on film. Additionally, Andrzej Korzyński's score significantly enhances the overall mood of the film. Ultimately, Possession is an extraordinary film, filled with symbolism and subtext, and there is so much going on that it takes multiple viewings to fully appreciate.

Second Sight Films gives Possession a phenomenal release, making it stand out as one of 2025's best home media releases. It comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer