It was rumored that Isabelle Adjani attempted s**cide following the film’s release due to the extreme emotional and psychic demands of her performance.
Possession (1981) was heavily censored for its US release, and banned in the UK.
Sam Neill has commented on the rigors of filming: “I call it the most extreme film I’ve ever made, in every possible respect, and he asked of us things I wouldn’t and couldn’t go to now. And I think I only just escaped that film with my sanity barely intact”.