It isn’t always about spinning heads and pea soup.
Possession can be demonic, spiritual, psychological, or even metaphorical. These stories explore what happens when control slips away, of the body, the mind, or the soul.
From classics like The Exorcist and The Evil Dead to more nuanced tales like Relic and Hereditary, possession films embody themes of corrupted innocence, inner turmoil, and the desperate fight to reclaim the self.
This tag also includes:
If a character’s very being is at stake, it belongs here.
J.C. Doler’s The Twin,is an Austin Film Festival highlight. This psychological thriller blurs the lines between supernatural horror and the devastating reality of a mind consumed by grief and trauma. Featuring a raw performance by Logan Donovan, The Twin is a must-watch indie film that explores mental health, doppelgängers, and the echoes of a haunting past.
Ava Maria Safai’s horror debut explores Iranian teens’ supernatural possession through forced assimilation in 2004 Canada. Chilling identity horror.
Hold the Fort (Fantasia 2025) is a horror-comedy where homeownership comes with hellspawn battles, HOA absurdities, exploding heads, and a mercenary named McScruffy. Review by Mother of Movies.
In Bring Her Back (2025), the directors of Talk To Me return with a haunting foster horror soaked in grief, guardianship, and spiritual misfires. Sally Hawkins delivers an eerie, layered performance in a film that doesn’t always explain itself, but always knows how it wants you to feel.
Julia Max’s “The Surrender” (2025) starring Colby Minifie and Kate Burton delivers psychological horror that examines toxic family relationships through the lens of supernatural resurrection. When patriarch Robert dies, his widow Barbara and daughter Megan perform a brutal ritual to bring him back, only to discover some monsters are better left dead. This Shudder exclusive combines beautiful cinematography with devastating emotional truth about cycles of abuse and the mythology we create around toxic love. A must-watch for fans of elevated horror that prioritizes psychological terror over cheap scares.
All Fun and Games (2023) review: Natalia Dyer and Asa Butterfield star in this Salem-set horror where childhood games become supernatural death traps. A cursed knife turns family fun into nightmare fuel in this competently crafted but predictable possession thriller
