Cannes First Look: Christopher Abbott in Brandon Cronenberg’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Possessor’ (Exclusive)

Christopher Abbott — soon to be seen in George Clooney’s Catch 22 TV series — sports a pair of peculiar goggles in this first-look still from Possessor, coming from writer/director Brandon Cronenberg.

Arclight is in Cannes selling international rights to the sci-fi thriller, which also stars Andrea Riseborough, Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Cronenberg — whose feature-length directorial debut Antiviral premiered in the Un Certain Regard competition in Cannes in 2012 — wrote the script, which centers around Tasya Vos (Riseborough), an agent for a secretive organization who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of high-paying clients. But something goes wrong on a routine job, and Vos soon finds herself trapped in the mind of an unwitting suspect (Abbott) whose appetite for violence turns out to rival her own.

Producers include Fraser Ash, Niv Fichman and Kevin Krikst of Rhombus Media (Enemy, Into The Forest) and Andy Starke of Rook Films (Free Fire, Kill List). Arclight’s Gary Hamilton and Ryan Hamilton are exec producing.

Possessor has already been snapped up for North America, with Well Go USA striking a deal for U.S. distribution and Elevation Pictures coming on board for Canada.