Louisa Krause in Ava’s Possessions (Momentum Pictures)

This is a sly, well-made little horror/comedy that puts a unique spin on the demonic possession genre while providing just enough chills and laughs along the way. It has a clever, unique premise. What happens after a demon leaves a young woman who it has possessed? How do her friends and family now feel about her? Is she responsible for her actions when she wasn’t herself? And, of course, how can you be sure the demon won’t come back?

Ava, a smart, hip twentysomething New Yorker has no memory of events of the past month while she was possessed. So it’s a revelation when her lawyer shows her security camera footage of her banging some dude’s head against an ATM. That man is suing her. She also did some other nasty things. Apparently this happens often in the New York area, because the choice Ava is given is to either face charges or go to a Spirit Possession Anonymous (SPA) meeting. She wisely chooses the latter.

Ava, armed with wisdom from here SPA counselor (played by an intense, po-faced Wass Stevens), she heads into the neon-drenched New York night. As she picks up clues and interviews those unlucky enough to cross her possessed self, she gets closer and closer to understanding why there are bloodstains on her apartment floor. And just when you think she’s got it solved, the proverbial rug gets pulled.

Ava’s Possession possesses (ha) a clever low-key sense of humor that leaves room for the supernatural bits to do their part without having to compete with the comedy, and since we are taking a more straight-faced approach, we feel empathy towards Ava.

Kudos to Louisa Krause, who captures the guarded nonchalance of a lonely millennial in the city, director-writer Jordan Galland for creating a smart horror/comedy with unexpected depth, and especially James Bolenbaugh, who, taking cues from Scorsese’s maligned classic After Hours, manages to create a neon drenched New York that is simultaneously sleek and gritty. I can say from experience that it has not been like that in a long, long time.

Written and Directed by Jordan Galland
Produced by Galland, Maren Olson, Carlos Velazquez, and Douglas Weiser
Released by Momentum Pictures
USA. 80 min. Rated R
With Louisa Krause, Deborah Rush, William Sadler, Zachary Booth, Wass Stevens, and Carol Kane