Possession Review
Director: Storm Saulter
Date Created: 2026-08-12 00:02
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Possession Review: Directed by Storm Saulter and written by Jefferson Bannis and Karla Crome. Sky Atlantic’s five-episode supernatural thriller stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Claudia, Jonny Lee Miller as Oliver Connaught, Sheldon Shepherd as Cudjoe East, Nadean Rawlins as Mercy, Sean Gilder as Tom, Shantol Jackson as Sarah, Safina Simpson as Betina, Olunike Adeliyi as Detective Patsy Dawkins and others. Each episode has a runtime of around 45 to 50 minutes.
Possession Review
Sky Atlantic’s Possession revolves around Claudia, a British solicitor who finds herself going to Jamaica after the death of the wealthy business mogul, Alfred Connaught, who ends up leaving all his wealth to a Jamaican man known as Cudjoe East as opposed to his own son, Oliver. This seems to be a simple case of inheritance, but things start getting complicated for Claudia as she discovers a possible link between Cudjoe and the Connaughts, which dates back many centuries. This takes her on a journey back in time into the history of Hope Hill plantation.
The first thing I found intriguing about the 2026 Possession series is that the ghostly plot is not entirely disconnected from the historical plot of the series. There is a clear intention here of making the point that the past is never really dead, particularly if the prosperity of one family has been created at the expense of others. While the legacy left behind by Alfred to Cudjoe seems to be an impossible conundrum to solve legally, the more Claudia investigates, the more she uncovers its connections with the history of Hope Hill and those who suffered there.
I was especially fond of the way that Claudia’s investigation slowly transforms from being a professional task into one that becomes highly personal. In the beginning, Claudia goes to Jamaica for the purpose of protecting the business connection that her law firm had, but there is also an unpleasant aspect to why she is selected for this job since race factors into it. However, Claudia gains an instant reason to doubt everybody around her. Once she finds the documents regarding slavery and reparations, her investigation becomes about far more than verifying Alfred’s will.
This is where Cudjoe becomes one of the most fascinating characters in the series. The assertion by Cudjoe that he is centuries old appears to be ridiculous at the time of Claudia’s first encounter with him. However, as she continues to get flashbacks on the history of the supernatural world, the credibility of the story becomes evident. His relationship with Matthew, who was the enslaved man at Hope Hill, adds an emotional component to the character that is not only confined to being the supernatural character in the story.
While that is the case, the Sky Atlantic series Possession does not do well at all where Oliver is concerned. Jonny Lee Miller makes Oliver a bundle of nerves that makes him an engaging character due to the fact that Oliver has just lost his father and the chance to receive any inheritance. However, when the ghostly element starts possessing his character, Oliver turns into something like a vehicle to be used for scaring people rather than a well-rounded character.
The same applies to Charlotte, whose narrative is rather intricate. Her history is shocking, especially considering the series’ revelation of just how much she is willing to do to have a baby and later, just how much her sadness and fury make her hate Cudjoe. It was nice to see that the series did not portray her as a one-dimensional villain. Her actions are appalling, but the series is trying to help the audience understand why she feels that way.
The historical narrative, in fact, is one of the most compelling aspects of the series to me. The narrative about how the history of Cudjoe at Hope Hill and the actions of Charlotte turn the plantation into something even more horrible provides additional context for the modern-day storyline about the possession. The notion that people can be forced into slavery even after their death works really well for the story.
Unfortunately, sometimes this pacing gets in the way of allowing these ideas to be received correctly. There is a lot going on in Possession within only five episodes, including inheritance, family history, Jamaican myths and legends, historical trauma, slave trade, reparations, possession, murder and an ancient curse. Some of these individual ideas may be intriguing, but not always given the chance to breathe.
I was not entirely sure how to feel about the horror itself. While there are definitely some frightening scenes, particularly once the possession begins influencing Oliver and Cudjoe, the notion of being stuck within your own body while under the influence of another is certainly terrifying enough. Cudjoe provides insight into the plight of a “zombie,” giving the concept a tragic element. However, sometimes there are too many supernatural events to keep them all frightening.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw makes Claudia an interesting character despite herself because she portrays her as a character who is smart and perceptive but who is becoming overwhelmed by situations which she cannot unravel using legal arguments alone. What I enjoyed most about Claudia was seeing her evolve from someone who saw every situation in terms of the evidence that she could gather to investigating situations where things happened that could not be easily explained away.
Mercy is one other character whose story was left untold by the show. Mercy has a vital function as being the link between Claudia and the spiritual world, and the way in which Nadean Rawlins portrays her helps ground her whenever she is on screen. However, there are many other characters that have untold stories in the five episodes we saw.
Sky Atlantic Possession Review: Summing Up
Overall, Possession in its entirety is definitely more thought-provoking than satisfying. The concepts that are discussed in this miniseries are fascinating; they involve such things as slavery and its heritage, compensation for past crimes and trauma that people carry from their history into the present day. The connection between Claudia, Cudjoe and Charlotte adds an emotional dimension to the plot, which sometimes seems to be too complicated because of its complexity.
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