The Possession of Hannah Grace - A Misnomer, But That's Okay

The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018) is 10% about Hannah Grace and 90% a night in the morgue. And that makes it work well.

It follows Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell) in her new job taking the graveyard shift (get it?) in a morgue. When a body that's not quite dead comes through, she ends up getting more than she bargained for.

Even though the title's a bit of a misnomer, the premise is at least original. There's the obligatory exorcism scene at the very beginning to satisfy that expectation, before it moves on to the original stuff. The setting lends itself to being creepy, highlighting something we don't like to think about. The whole film feels leeched of colour, except for Hannah (Kirby Johnson)'s bright hair,that sets the ambience nicely. Her twisty poses are a classic of the genre and lay the spooky groundwork. Setting it all in one night keeps the pace concise, the scares tight and a adds to the experience. Megan's at least an interesting character we want to find out more about (a mysterious past is always a good hook), and she handles herself well when things start to go wrong. Its a slow burn, but once the demon starts moving, it pays off nicely.

Unfortunately, it gets lazy when it comes to its secondary characters. Most of the people introduced are flat and just there for demon fodder. Kind of expected in the genre, so it begs the question why Hannah doesn't kill Megan in the multiple opportunities she has to do so. I guess demons don't kill you if you have emotional trauma and a character arc to complete. They will, though, murder you just the scene after you mention that you're gay. (That's how good representation works, right?)

The movie does add an interesting element in Hannah's dad hunting her down. He becomes a character with a lot of potential, and some of that does appear onscreen, but there's definitely more that could be brought forth.

Overall, the film delivers on scares, harrowing kills and atmosphere much better than expected. It takes something that we've seen before, and creates something a little off the beaten path. Just make sure you have backstory to get sorted so the demon doesn't get you.