A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they're not alone.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, Julia Fox
Release Date: January 19, 2025
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rated R for violence, drug material, language, sexuality and teen drinking.
Runtime: 1h 25m
Review:
Steven Soderbergh's reverse perspective ghost story, Presence, is a solid bit of voyeuristic experimentation that's more engaging as a drama than a horror film. The gliding, first person point of view can be a bit disorienting initially especially for people who have not played many first persons video games. It gives the film an interesting look and feel as the camera serves as the character of the Presence with Soderbergh proving more than capable of communicating a boatload of information via movements and more standard ghost tropes over the course of the film's brisk runtime. The film plays out in a series of short and extended sequences that play out like uninterrupted shots which are technically impressive. Once the film settles in the central story it is far more focused on a portrait of a family fraying at the edges for a variety of reasons. Lucy Liu toplines the cast as a domineering matriarch who's possibly involved in some sort of criminal endeavor and overly focused and forgiving of her eldest son. Chris Sullivan is solid as the long-suffering father who's trying his best to keep his family together even though he's clearly at his breaking point. Eddy Maday is appropriately douchey and entitled as the family's golden child. Callina Liang plays the daughter who's broken from the recent loss of a friend which may be the Presence since it seems to be singularly focused on her. The four of them have a natural family dynamic even if the characters are written a bit generically. The script only gives us bits and pieces on their backstories but it’s enough to give us insight into the dysfunctional nature of their family unit. West Mulholland's Ryan is far less subtle with the character written as far too creepy and strange as Tyler's friend who shows an immediate interest in Liang's Chloe. It’s obvious that there's something off about his character early on that makes Chloe's interest in him seem far-fetched at best. It makes the final act come off as far more predictable than it should have, especially since its script drops breadcrumbs every step of the way. It ultimately keeps Presence from really knocking the concept out of the park even though it leaves you with a particularly goosebump inducing shot.
B
