Presence Review: Soderbergh Delivers Spooky Suspense.
Presence is the new movie from director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp, who most recently collaborated on the nifty Alexa inspired thriller, Kimi. Presence stars Lucy Liu as Rebecca, the business-like matriarch of the Page family, who has decided to move her husband, Chris (Chris Sullivan), and two young adult off-spring, Chloe (Callina Liang) and Tyler (Eddy Maday) into an old house as a way of affordably moving into a desirable area. Unfortunately, the house comes complete with a floating spectre that watches the Page’s every move. But the spectre does not go unnoticed. Chloe, whose best friend Nadia recently died of an overdose, is emotionally traumatised and so her heightened emotional state enables her to sense the … presence. A spooky connection is made and as the drama unfolds inside the house the spectre makes itself known.
Screenwriter David Koepp is one of the most successful wordsmiths working in Hollywood. He’s a safe pair of hands, competent is the word that springs to mind, and has made a career out of providing solid material that great directors are able to fashion into something distinctively their own. This is certainly true of Presence which has a very familiar outline – think Poltergeist, or Paranormal Activity – except for one clever conceit. We see the entire film through the eyes of the spectre.
This conceit is brilliantly executed by Soderbergh, a director who has remained fresh through experimentation and by imposing limits on himself. Here the entire film was shot on a tiny Sony camera that looks like something you’d take holiday snaps with. As such, the camera is able to drift freely about the Page’s house and creates strange image distortions as it does so. The effect is genuinely eerie and gives the impression of a roving sentient being, with its own feelings and experiences. In one especially brilliant moment the spectre is upset, and retreats up the stairs to hide in a closet. Without Soderbergh this approach might have seemed like a gimmick, but with his emotive camera moves the spectre becomes a character for us to interpret and project onto, not simply the usual malign presence.
Inevitably for the genre, Koepp’s script comes with a Shyamalanian twist in its tale, intended to provide a gasp of revelation. Koepp’s script works hard to make it make sense… and fails despite some carefully placed lines of exposition. However, thanks to Soderbergh’s perfectly developed atmosphere, which untethers and unsettles, audiences are more likely to step out of the cinema stunned, in a good way, instead of merely scratching their heads.
If Presence is a director’s piece, it is also an actor’s piece. The movie takes place almost entirely in the Page’s house. The drama of the story doesn’t just come from the spectre, but from the human interaction that it watches, and none of the actors have anywhere to hide from the camera’s lingering gaze. The small cast all rise to the task and do excellent naturalist work, as they must. The main plaudits, however, must go to Chris Sullivan as Chris, who anchors the film with his warm and sensitive portrayal of a concerned father and husband, perfectly off-setting his wife’s cold, type A personality. (Liu and Sullivan have an unlikely, but entirely believable chemistry.) And to Callina Liang, who portrays Chloe with subtle shades of vulnerability and strength.
It is worth pointing out, for those looking for a scream-fest, that Presence isn’t precisely a horror movie. It doesn’t include any gore, or much in the way of jump scares. It is better described as a suspenseful spook-story. It is also something of a slow-burn, but at a mere 85 minutes there isn’t long to wait before Presence starts making itself felt, and the end result is something tense, scary and hauntingly memorable. Float over to the cinema and see it.
Presence is in UK cinema’s from 24/1/2025
