A queer romance, relationship insecurities, suspicious familial behavior, and Kabbalah Jewish mysticism are just a handful of themes explored in Gabriel Bier Gislason’s Danish film ATTACHMENT. This spunky horror romance puts a less familiar spin on the overplayed possession subgenre, delivering a fun and engaging movie that’s anything but orthodox.
The film begins in Denmark and tells the story of Maja (Josephine Park) and Leah (Ellie Kendrick), two star-crossed lovers who fall for each other a little too fast if you ask me. When Leah is injured, the new couple returns to her home in an orthodox London neighborhood where her overprotective mother, Chana (Sofie Gråbøl), oversees her recovery and acts really weird while doing so.
The movie is fun, well-acted, and appropriately paced. The cast handles the humor just as well as they do the creepiness, and while it’s neither laugh-out-loud funny nor edge-of-your-seat scary, there’s something charming about this amusing, fairly simple film. It’s refreshing and interesting to see the possession trope portrayed outside the usual tired Catholic exorcism movies. The film’s use of Judaic folklore is a welcome change from your usual crucifixes and holy water.
The movie was made quickly under quarantine, and you can tell, but that doesn’t hinder it from being a genuine, eerie, effective good time.
ATTACHMENT is currently streaming on SHUDDER.
