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In Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 cult horror film Possession, the main character is Mark (played by Sam Neill). His goals and the obstacles he faces shift from the domestic to the supernatural as the film's psychotropic narrative unfolds.
Initially, Mark’s goal is to save his marriage and maintain the integrity of his family. Upon returning to West Berlin from a mysterious espionage assignment, he is blindsided by his wife Anna’s (Isabelle Adjani) request for a divorce.
As the film progresses, his goal evolves into a desperate quest for truth. He becomes obsessed with discovering the "why" behind Anna’s erratic behavior. He wants to know who her lover is, where she goes when she disappears for days, and ultimately, what has replaced the woman he once knew.
The primary obstacle is Anna herself. She does not behave like a standard unfaithful spouse. She is prone to violent outbursts, self-mutilation (cutting herself with an electric knife), and hysterical fits. Her refusal to provide a rational explanation for her departure leaves Mark in a state of psychological limbo.
Mark initially believes the obstacle is a traditional "third party." He discovers Anna has been seeing Heinrich, a flamboyant, New Age-spouting eccentric. Mark’s physical altercations with Heinrich and his attempts to "win" back Anna’s affection through confrontation fail because Heinrich is also losing his grip on Anna.
The most visceral obstacle is the tentacled, bloody creature that Anna is secretly nursing in a derelict apartment near the Berlin Wall. This creature represents the literal and metaphorical "possession" of Anna. Mark cannot compete with this entity because it is a physical manifestation of Anna’s suffering and her desire for a "pure" or "perfect" being. The creature eventually grows to replace Mark himself.
Mark is a secret agent, and his former employers (represented by the mysterious "pink socks" agents) act as a secondary obstacle. They monitor him and Anna, adding a layer of Cold War paranoia to the domestic drama. His professional background makes him prone to using surveillance to track Anna, which only deepens his descent into madness rather than solving his problem.
A major internal obstacle is Mark’s own sanity. The film uses "The Double" (Doppelgänger) as a motif. Mark encounters Helen (also played by Adjani), a kind, "pure" version of Anna who teaches their son. Mark's goal of returning to a happy life is obstructed by his inability to choose between the comforting, fake reality of Helen and the horrifying, visceral reality of the "real" Anna.
The city itself, hemmed in by the Berlin Wall, acts as a physical and symbolic obstacle. The atmosphere of isolation, tension, and being "trapped" mirrors the characters' internal states, preventing any possibility of a peaceful resolution or escape from their mutual destruction.
Mark’s goal is reconciliation and understanding, but he is blocked by the supernatural birth of a doppelgänger, the violent psychological breakdown of his wife, and his own inability to distinguish between love and possession. In the end, the obstacles consume him, as he is replaced by a "perfect" version of himself birthed by the creature.
While the summary correctly notes Mark is 'consumed' by obstacles, it omits the specific fate of the son, Bob (who drowns himself/commits suicide), which is the ultimate failure of Mark's initial goal to 'maintain the integrity of his family'.
In Possession (1981), the main character Mark (Sam Neill) is a spy returning to West Berlin with the initial goal of saving his marriage to his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani). As Anna's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and violent, his goal shifts to uncovering the truth behind her actions. The obstacles he faces include Anna's refusal to explain her behavior, her lover Heinrich, a monstrous creature she nurtures in a secret apartment (which eventually grows into a doppelgänger of Mark), the surveillance of his former employers (the 'Pink Socks' agents), and the psychological toll of the situation. Ultimately, Mark fails to achieve his goals; he is killed, and his place is taken by the creature-doppelgänger, while his son tragically dies, marking the total destruction of the family unit.