Out Of The Caribbean: Storm Saulter’s Possession Screens in Jamaica

Storm Saulter and Karla Crome’s Possession premieres in Jamaica, putting Jamaican stories and Black creative talent centre stage ahead of its UK debut.

On 20 June, The Courtleigh Auditorium in Kingston hosted an exclusive screening of the first two episodes of Possession, the new British limited series directed by acclaimed Jamaican filmmaker Storm Saulter and written by British actress and screenwriter Karla Crome.

Best known for on screen for roles in Misfits, Carnival Row and Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, Crome has also built an impressive writing career with credits including Safe, The Stranger and Screw. With Possession, she brings those experiences together in a story that explores inheritance, identity, spirituality and the lasting impact of colonialism.

The five-part supernatural drama follows ‘Claudia‘ (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious young biracial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to contest an inheritance claim, only to discover that the disputed estate, Hope Hill, a former plantation, is the very place that has haunted her dreams. What begins as a legal dispute soon unravels into something much darker, connecting the brutality of Jamaica’s colonial past with present-day injustice.

Instead of using Jamaica just as a backdrop, Possession puts the island’s history at the heart of the story. Through supernatural horror, the series explores belonging, ancestry and justice, while drawing connections between Britain’s colonial past and the lives people are living today. As Crome recently told us in an exclusive interview, horror became the perfect way to explore difficult conversations while still delivering compelling entertainment.

The international cast is led by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jonny Lee Miller, Sheldon Shepherd and Bel Powley, alongside a strong ensemble of Jamaican talent including Shantol Jackson, Nadean Rawlins and Jeff Crossley.

Possession became the second project approved under the Jamaica Screen Development Initiative’s Production Rebate Programme, administered by JAMPRO on behalf of the Government of Jamaica, following the global success of Bob Marley: One Love.

The series employed more than 300 Jamaican cast and crew members and contributed approximately US$4 million to the local economy. For an industry that is still building its production infrastructure, international projects like this create jobs, develop local skills and open up long-term opportunities for Jamaican creatives.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who attended the Kingston screening, said Jamaica had not done enough over the past five decades to invest in filmmaking following The Harder They Come, and that Saulter represented exactly the kind of ambassador the country’s screen industry needed.

If Jamaica is serious about becoming a global production hub, projects like Possession represent far more than overseas investment. They create opportunities for local actors, writers, directors, technicians and production companies, while proving that authentic Jamaican stories can connect with audiences around the world without losing what makes them unique.

For Storm Saulter, whose films Better Mus’ Come and Sprinter helped redefine contemporary Jamaican cinema, Possession marks another significant step onto the international stage. For Karla Crome, it is a powerful example of how genre television can explore Britain’s colonial history through a distinctly Black British and Jamaican perspective. Together, they have created a series that feels both internationally ambitious and deeply rooted in Jamaica.

Possession is scheduled to premiere on Sky Atlantic in the UK later this year. For Jamaica, however, the more important premiere has already taken place, on home soil, in front of the people whose stories are finally being told.

We recently spoke exclusively with Karla Crome about Possession, exploring the series’ themes of colonialism, Jamaican spirituality, Obeah, and working alongside Storm Saulter. Read the full interview here: Karla Crome Talks Possession, Slavery’s Legacy, Jamaican Spirituality and Gothic Horror