Possession

Creator Karla Crome explores the impact of British colonialism in Jamaica to chilling effect in supernatural drama Possession. The miniseries stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Claudia, a lawyer tasked with travelling to Kingston to figure out why a wealthy client has suddenly cut his son (Jonny Lee Miller) out of his will and left everything to a mysterious local man named Cudjoe East (Sheldon Shepherd). After opening an ominous-looking trunk she finds hidden under the floorboards of the client’s estate (which was a former plantation house), Claudia finds herself caught in a centuries-old feud as horrors from the past resurface. While the show struggles to maintain its slow-burn terror, Crome delivers a thoughtful and nuanced examination of collective trauma, heritage, and identity.

The show is deeply connected to Caribbean culture, which becomes the foundation of its horror and plot. From the instant Claudia arrives in Kingston, she’s surrounded by local traditions and stern warnings not to touch what she doesn’t understand. Frequent references to Obeah and other spiritual practices ground the series within a distinct national identity and generate an eerie Gothic atmosphere. As shocking as the central mystery’s many twists and turns can get, the horror elements never become especially frightening. The scares are always heavily telegraphed and rely on well-worn genre tropes.

The real horror comes whenever the plot jumps back in time to when the estate was a sugar plantation overseen by Charlotte (Bel Powley), the daughter of an aristocratic British family. Crome doesn’t hold much back when depicting the savage and inhumane cruelty of slavery. One brutal scene where a woman has her tongue cut out is far more disturbing than any of the supernatural happenings. The scars of the past are visible in the present day, with the plantation house itself serving as an inescapable reminder of Jamaica’s colonial history. The showrunner primarily explores these ideas through sharply written and extraordinarily performed conversations between Claudia and Cudjoe, ultimately asking how (or even if) these atrocities can be rectified.

Crome blends folklore and history to fascinating effect with Possession. Although the show’s lukewarm horror won’t keep viewers up at night, its thematically rich script will give them a lot to think about, right up to its tender and moving conclusion.

Andrew Murray

Possession is released on Sky on 6^th August 2026.

Watch the trailer for Possession here: