The same thing always happens. A movie gets hyped, I buy in and get excited, then watch it and am mildly interested in it and wonder what all the fervor was all about. It happened all over again with Possessor (or Possessor Uncut),which is not the alternate title to Horror Express (©Bill Van Ryn for that joke) and it's not one of the movies within a movie within Popcorn.

The film starts interesting enough, as we watch a woman (Gabrielle Graham) insert a needle inside her head and attach it to a machine. She then goes to work at a party where she repeatedly stabs a man, then nearly turns a gun on herself before the police shot her. It turns out that she's controlled by a possessor named Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough),which means that she can directly implant her mind into someone else and use them to kill people.

As her boss (Jennifer Jason Leigh, always a welcome actress) talks her through the end of the assignment, Tasya must identify objects from her past to prove that she is still herself. That's another lie, as she can barely speak like a normal human being when she meets her ex-husband (Rossif Sutherland) and son.

But there's no time to consider that. There's another job, as they have been hired to kill the owner of a data mining company, which excites everyone because they'll be able to control the company by blackmailing the man who hired them. They use the owner's daughter Ava's boyfriend Colin (Christopher Abbott) for the hit, but for the first time, the company doesn't have all of the answers. And even after he completes half the job, killing his girlfriend - yet only wounding her father - he takes back over and causes Tasya to vomit blood.

Can Tasya complete her assignment and get her mark to kill himself so she can be released? Or is this her final possession? And how does her son get involved?

The main reason most have discussed this film is because it was written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the son of, well, you know. This definitely has style, the colors and camera angles are gorgeous but there's an icy edge that ill serves the movie to me. It's as if we are as much on the outside looking in as the titular possessor. I wanted to feel more, to get really excited about it and to find a new favorite, but it was just good.

And I learned, yet again, that hype can really sell a movie, but once it's playing in front of your eyes, it's your call whether or not you really enjoy it. But hey - your experience may vary and you might completely adore this. Also, knowing me, once Brandon Cronenberg's second movie is hated by everyone else - see this same story played out in Under the Silver Lake and Southland Tales - I'll fall in love with one of his movies.

That said - it has a psychic possession threeway, so there's that. And oh yeah - of course he points to Argento as an influence, which makes sense, as this film is awash in dream imagery and primary colors. There's also female as male as female - or whatever the possessor is - full frontal nudity, if you're looking to get your mind blown.

There are some great ideas and images here, so I'll definitely keep an eye on what comes next.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough ) is a paid assassin. The company that she works for gets top dollar for their high profile kills. Tasya enters and controls the body of another person, someone close and unsuspecting to the target. Once completed, Tasya kills herself and enters back into her own body. Except she has trouble pulling the trigger and needs help, like suicide by cops. There are issues with re-connecting as Tasya loses a piece of herself and is out of sorts for a spell. After she did one job, she quickly turns around and does another one, never admitting how hollow she feels. Her job is to enter Colin (Christopher Abbott ) the drug using boyfriend of Ava Parse (Tuppence Middleton ) daughter of billionaire CEO John Parse (Sean Bean) who is not a nice guy either. The client is the son who will inherit the fortune if his father and sister are both dead.

Of course the ending has issues. It is a good concept that has been done in similar ways. Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott did a good job of people who are not always all there mentally.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Tuppence Middleton + others)

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is the Possessor. She's a corporate assassin who uses a brain implant to take over other people to do the killing. Her boss is Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Her next take-over target is Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott) who is dating Ava Parse (Tuppence Middleton),the daughter of tech tycoon John Parse (Sean Bean).

This is a Brandon Cronenberg film. It has his father penchant for blood. It's a fine sci-fi flick with a dash of style. The filming does need something more. I can't quite put my finger on it. It has style but it needs more. It has moments of intensity but it needs more. It has ideas about control and self-identity. I'm not completely bought into the character Tasya. I don't know who she is and quite frankly, she may not know herself. That would have been an interesting idea if it's clearer about being murky. All in all, this is more interesting than not. There are enough in here worthy of the Cronenberg name.