The Posession Of Hannah Grace has just hit cinemas and like all good Horror Movies, there is some truth to the work that inspires the events of the film.
Throughout this article I will be discussing events that happen in the film so there will be minor spoilers. If you don’t want to know anything in advance going into the film then I highly suggest that you leave the website now but for everyone, I’m Deffinition and let’s break down my thoughts behind the real life Possession Of Hannah Grace.
The Possession Of Hannah Grace: Real-Life Inspiration
In The Possession Of Hannah Grace, we follow Megan, an ex cop who now works in a morgue. In an interview with Daily Dead the film’s writer Brian Sieve and producer Sean Robins, stated that the film’s initial inspiration was a newspaper article “about a woman in L.A. who was ordered to take part in community service, and her service was in a morgue.”
This out of your comfort zone aesthetic is immediately something that most viewers will pick up on when watching the film and it certainly adds to the tension.
Personally, I believe the film has slight tie-ins to the real-life exorcism of Anneliese Michel who was also the inspiration for the film ‘The Exorcism Of Emily Rose.’
In Anneliese’s real life, she was a young girl that began experiencing seizures at the age of 16. She was diagnosed with psychosis caused by temporal lobe epilepsy and then depression. Depression is a key signifier in The Possession Of Hannah Grace that is notified for being what allows the demon to be able to take control of the titular character.
In real life, by the time Anna was twenty, she began to hear voices. Her condition worsened despite medication, and she became suicidal. After taking psychiatric medications for five years failed to improve her symptoms, Michel and her family became convinced she was possessed by a demon.
To me, this is clear inspiration for Hannah’s father in the film who too believes his daughter is possessed and even goes so far as to kill her in order to quell any damage that she could cause. Anna’s family, similar to Hannah’s appealed to the Catholic Church for an exorcism and they provided this. Over the course of the following months, Anneliese stopped eating food and died due to malnourishment and dehydration. Her family and the priests that took part in the exorcism were jailed due to negligence and whilst there was never any concrete proof, it’s clear that many believe that Anna was indeed possessed.
Personally, I find the real-life events eerily similar to the set up of Hannah Grace’s Possession, even down to the neglect of her parents and whilst the producers have not admitted any tie-ins as such I believe the similarities are quite striking.
Your Thoughts
Obviously, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and if you think I missed any tie-ins make sure to leave them in the comments below.
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