Possession

Possession

2002

A modern American academic researching a 19th-century poet becomes entangled in a literary detective story as she and a British scholar uncover evidence of a secret love affair between two Victorian writers. This romantic mystery, based on A.S. Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel, stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart.

Director

  • Neil LaBute

Cast

  • Gwyneth Paltrow
  • Jeremy Northam
  • Jennifer Ehle
  • Toby Stephens
  • Tom Hollander
  • Trevor Eve

Filming Locations

  • British Museum

    The British Museum was used for scenes set in Roland's workplace, where he works as a research assistant to a professor specialising in the fictional Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash.

  • Leighton Hall

    Leighton Hall in Carnforth, Lancashire was used as one of the period country house locations for the Victorian flashback sequences depicting the lives of the 19th-century poets.

  • Pickering Station

    Pickering Station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway was used for Victorian-era railway scenes, with a period steam locomotive and vintage coaches providing the authentic 19th-century atmosphere.

  • Stoner Park

    Stonor Park in Oxfordshire was used as one of the English country house locations representing the Victorian-era settings in the film's period sequences.

  • Thomason Foss Waterfall

    Thomason Foss, a waterfall near Beck Hole in North Yorkshire, was used for a dramatic outdoor scene in the film, representing the wild natural landscape associated with the Victorian poet LaMotte.

  • Whitby

    Whitby and its Church Street were dressed to represent a Victorian fishing town for the 19th-century flashback sequences; the modern storyline also brings Maud and Roland to Whitby as they retrace the Victorian poets' journey.