This is the only PG-13 movie that has permanently disturbed me, a desensitized 17-year-old. It left me with an irrational paranoia that followed me the whole drive home. I was half-convinced a semi was going to t-bone me as I turned onto First Capitol, given what had happened to the man who witnessed an exorcism in the movie.

The Possession played off of our old, irrational human fears wonderfully. There was a large swarm of alienesque bugs, hard-to-explain supernatural occurrences and an innocent child possessed by evil. I was forced to confront my greatest fear. I had to watch human eyes shift to dark, treacherous eyes. I still look away when Bilbo Baggins’ eyes pop out in The Lord of The Rings when he is overcome by the Ring’s evil before Frodo.

What was also haunting is The Possession is based on a true story. It was about a family who had recently gone through a divorce. The children stayed part of the time at their mom’s house, and part of their time at their dad’s house. The youngest, Emily, found an antique Dybbuck box at a garage sale. She became obsessed with it. It talked to her. It was her friend. Besides the idea that something evil could live in a box, I couldn’t shake the feeling that all of this could happen because the backstory of the family was plausible and any child could find this type of box at a garage sale. These boxes were actually believed to hold restless souls in Jewish tradition, making The Possession all the more realistic.

Do not watch it alone.