Repossession – Movie Review (4/5)

REPOSSESSION is a horror drama that was originally screened at film festivals worldwide in 2019 and 2020. Now, there is finally an actual US release and it’s absolutely worth watching. Dark and brutal. Read our full Repossession movie review here!

REPOSSESSION is a horror drama from Singapore, but don’t worry. The dialogue is at least 95% in English with very little foreign language spoken. Several foreign languages are spoken in the melting pot that is Singapore, so you’ll get a line here and there in a foreign language, but that’s it.

Don’t let the fact that it’s listed as being from 2019 keep you from watching this. It originally premiered at a US film festival in 2019 and has played film festivals all over the world since. However, getting a wide release can be tough – especially these years. For me, it was worth the wait, and this movie is worth your time as well.

Continue reading our Repossession movie review below.

Letting go of the past and fighting for a future

As already mentioned, all the main dialogue is in English and it’s through both dialogue and action, this brutal story is told. It’s one that covers both trauma and the need to hold on to social status. The need to keep up appearances and cling to symbols of success is breaking our main protagonist, Jim.

When the 50-year-old Jim is unexpectedly fired, he doesn’t want to burden his wife or daughter, so he simply doesn’t tell them.

Now, they don’t expect him to provide and the family has a wonderful and loving relationship.

In other words, it’s clearly Jim himself to puts this pressure on him.

A true genre-bender

As his past is revealed, we learn that things tend to always go wrong in some truly terrible ways. This is probably why he fights too hard to keep his family out of his recent struggles. He only tells his best friend, who tries his best to convince him to talk to his family.

Honestly, while this might sound boring and strange, I assure you it is not!

Gerald Chew (Apprentice) stars as Jim while his wife is portrayed by Amy J Cheng (Crazy Rich Asians). The casting is spot-on. Together, these two come across as the most loving and compassionate couple and it’s what makes everything else seem even darker and scarier.

Watch Repossession digitally On-Demand

The writers and directors of Repossession are Ming Siu Goh and Scott C. Hillyard. This is the first feature film for them both. Scott C. Hillyard has mostly worked as an actor before, while Ming Siu Goh has worked on many TV series and web productions.

They have since co-created the short film The Shape of You as well. The short film is a horror-comedy short film, so who knows, maybe we’ll get a feature film version of that one later.

I was thoroughly impressed with this movie, which is a classic horror drama in many ways. However, with the little moments of humor and the supernatural elements as well, it becomes a real genre-hybrid. Part psychological thriller, part love story, and a whole lot of horror drama throughout. Check it out!

REPOSSESSION will be out on digital on December 21, 2021.

Details

Directors: Ming Siu Goh, Scott C. Hillyard
Writers: Ming Siu Goh, Scott C. Hillyard
Stars: Gerald Chew, Amy Cheng, Sivakumar Palakrishnan, Rachel Wan, Jennifer Ebron