The ‘Possession’ Trailer Intertwines the Past & Present

William Faulkner famously said of the Civil War, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” a truism about race relations the 21st century has only doubled down on in the last decade. Most colonial powers are only now starting to deal with the fallout of choices made over the last 400 years, with varying levels of honesty.

However, one of the most powerful, the United Kingdom, which at one time boasted the sun never set on its empire, is surprisingly doing better than most in facing its history head-on – at least in its fictionalized dramas. Since the beginning of the 2020s, the country that’s made its culture its greatest export has produced some of the most thoughtful TV series about the societal destruction wreaked by the British on its conquests and how the trauma from those terrible acts still echoes today. The Long Song, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, and Get Millie Black all tackled the legacy of slavery in Jamaica.

Now, Possession joins them in a five-episode limited series that intertwines the horrors of the past with those of the present day. More importantly, the full-length trailer confirms the series pulls no punches about how ugly the history it covers really is.

Here’s the Sky TV synopsis:

Claudia, an ambitious young bi‑racial lawyer, travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man, Cudjoe East, against Oliver Connaught, a wealthy white aristocrat. But the case takes an unsettling turn when Claudia discovers that the disputed estate is the very place that has haunted her nightmares: Hope Hill, the Connaught family’s former plantation. 

As Claudia and Oliver dig deeper, they uncover a disturbing link between the plantation’s brutal past and the injustices still shaping the present. Possession is a gripping supernatural thriller that blends eerie mystery with the vibrant energy of Jamaica, following one woman’s journey into long-buried secrets, identity, and the past’s enduring hold on the present. 

Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Surface) stars as Claudia, with Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary) as Oliver, Sheldon Shepherd (Bob Marley: One Love) as Cudjoe, and Nadean Rawlins (Get Millie Black) as Mercy.

The series co-stars Bel Powley (Everything I Know About Love) as Charlotte, Sean Gilder (Mary & George) as Tom McKenzie, Olunike Adeliyi (Frankie Drake Mysteries) as Patsy Dawkins, Richard Dillane (Wolf Hall) as Eugene Desfrienes, Diveen Henry (The Day of the Jackal) as Flora, Jack Bandeira (Happy Valley) as Kenneth Connaught, Shantol Jackson (Death in Paradise) as Sarah, Jeff Crossley (FarEye) as Angelo, and newcomer Safina Simpson as Betina.

Written and created by Karla Crome (Toxic Town), the series is based on an original story by Jefferson Bannis. Director Storm Saulter (Sprinter) helmed all five installments, with Kate Ogborn producing. Crome, Saulter, Mbatha-Raw, and Miller all executive produce, alongside Ruth Kenley-Letts, Jenny van der Lande, Neil Blair, Sam Hoyle, and Serena Thompson.

Possession is expected to premiere on Sky before the end of 2026. It does not yet have American distribution.

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