Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Ava’s Possessions’

Written by Scott Edwards

When dealing with possession movies, you always see the battle to get the demon exorcised from the poor person, but you never get to see what happens after that, when they try to rejoin society. With all of the awful things that the possessed would have done during their time under the demon’s power, there should be plenty that they would need to atone for, especially if someone died by their evil hands. Well, we finally have a new take on an old possession story in Ava’s Possessions that answers how difficult it is to regain your life after being under the power of something dark and not of this world.

Ava has successfully been exorcised of her demon and her family has come to celebrate with her. But her mother seems to be upset with her since Ava has allowed herself to be taken by a dark force. Even her father does not seem very supportive when asking his daughter about her extra activities. Being possessed for twenty-eight days, Ava remembers nothing about what she has done and wants to rejoin the land of the living, but when she talks with her friends, it is obvious that things can never be the same again. 

When meeting with her lawyer, Ava finds out that she will be held accountable for her actions while being possessed. With the offer of jail time, a mental ward or a support group, Ava takes the latter. Joining the Spirit Possession Anonymous support group, led by Tony, Ava sees that she is far from the only person that has had problems. With different assignments being held in front of her, Ava is forced to find out what she did while she was possessed and make amends with her victims. After meeting a couple of the people that she tormented while being controlled by the evil spirit, she finds out that forgiveness will not be on the table from many of them, but she is dying to figure out what she did while under the evil spell.

Searching her apartment, Ava finds a watch in her couch cushions, along with a blood stain that she does not remember being hidden by a rug on her floor. Taking what little information she has back to her group, she is able to get some help from her new friend Hazel, but not the kind that can help her in the long run as Hazel has alternate motives. Since she never feared her own possession, Hazel wants her spirit back and is able to convince Ava that it will not harm anyone. After performing a ritual, Ava is marked on the neck by the spirits and will now have to fend off her intruding spirits on her own, without the help of the group. Needing to find out the truth of what happened during her vacant twenty-eight days, Ava finds a prostitute that is willing to help her find out what she is looking for, but the price has to be right. Seeing that her family will not help her with what she needs, Ava is forced to hunt for knowledge on her own and with the owner of the watch’s son keeping an eye out for her, she may not like what she finds when the truth comes to light.

I like the direction this movie took on trying to bring someone back to society after being possessed. Being able to walk the streets while being possessed, Ava caused more damage to herself and others than you see in most stories of this sort. I cannot get over how the leader of the Spirit Possession Anonymous support group works and the unorthodox things that he has the group do to help exorcise their current demons, along with their past ones, he really does steal the show. Watching as Ava starts to figure out what she was up to for her missing twenty-eight days is a little heartbreaking, but she knows that it was not all her fault. I must admit that I was a little thrown off by how her mother and father wanted to deal with the situation at hand with their daughter and how cold that they remained, since family is always supposed to be there for you in the end. It just made Ava stronger and less dependent on others while she finds out the truth about what she did and will have to do to make up for her sins. Stay Scared.

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