Matthew Holness taps into psychological horror greatness with a cerebral picture that will lay eggs in your brain.

Possum has all of the ingredients that you hope for from a debut horror picture. It tells a disturbing story about a man returning to his childhood home and caught in a tug of war with an alluring spider puppet. Possum throws its audience into a twisted puzzle and relishes the ensuing confusion. It’s a phenomenal debut film as writer-director for Matthew Holness (best known for acting in frekaing Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), who balances a complex tightrope between tones.

Even though Possum presents a highly stylized story with plenty of disturbing and confounding visuals, this is really an internal tale about repression, living with past grief, and the power of guilt when it festers and isn’t confronted. It also eloquently explores deeper material like whether it’s possible to...