Presence review

PRESENCE: 

STEVEN SODERBERGH’S AMIBITIOUS TAKE ON THE HAUNTED HOUSE GENRE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

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Lucy Liu in Presence

 

            Director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s trilogy, Contagion, Logan Lucky) and screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Premium Rush) join forces for a new take on haunted house cinema in the new supernatural thriller drama, Presence. Steven Soderbergh is a fascinating director to me because you never know what you’ll get from him. 

            He’s done heist movies with the Ocean’s trilogy and Logan Lucky, crime dramas such as Traffic and No Sudden Move, comedies like Full Frontal and The Informant!, the underrated sci-fi film Solaris, thrillers such as Contagion, Side Effects, and Unsane, biopics like Erin Brockovich and Che, a damn good action movie with Haywire, and most importantly…Magic Mike. Not to mention how consistent he is with filmmaking with often two films of his being released in a year with this year being no exception because we have this and Black Bag coming out. 

            I was curious to see how Steven Soderbergh would do a haunted house movie about ghosts given how versatile he is as a director and that it’ll likely subvert audiences’ expectations when it comes to the genre. I should get this out of the way, Presence is NOT a horror movie despite the film being about ghosts and paranormal activities. 

            The movie is actually a very slow-burn family drama shown from the perspective of the supernatural entity that’s haunting the house. So, if you’re going into this expecting something along the lines of Paranormal Activity or The Conjuring then you might be disappointed by it. 

            Even after my viewing of it, I didn’t know what my thoughts on it were and needed some time to let it sit. Hopefully now, I can attempt to do a review of this…I think it’s good! 

            This is nowhere near one of my favorite Soderbergh movies like Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven, Logan Lucky, or even Contagion, but I really admire his ambitious approach with the film and how it’s presented. It is definitely an acquired taste which is probably why the audience reactions are very polarizing especially if you’re going in expecting a full-on horror film. 

            The film follows a family of four consisting of mother Rebecca (Lucy Liu-Shanghai Noon, Charlie’s Angels 1 and 2, Kill Bill), father Chris (Chris Sullivan-The Drop, This is Us, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2), elder brother Tyler (Newcomer, Eddy Maday), and younger sister Chloe (Callina Liang-Tell Me Everything, Bad Genius) moving into a large suburban house. However, Chloe starts to feel this supernatural well, Presence in the house that witnesses the growing cracks within the family shown through the POV of the Presence itself. 

            The film also stars Julia Fox (Uncut Gems, No Sudden Move) as Cece the realtor. 

            Overall, Presence is certainly one of Steven Soderbergh’s most experimental films in his career that probably won’t win everyone over in terms of its pacing and execution. But if you’re looking for a different kind of ghost movie compared to the jump scare-filled stuff that plagues most movie theater screens, this one should deliver what you want. 

            The movie definitely leans into subtle suspense and even then, it’s used to sparingly to focus more on the dilemmas surrounding the family. The parents’ marriage is strained with Chris even thinking about leaving Rebecca, Rebecca is committing financial fraud at her work and obsessing over Tyler as a swim champion while paying little attention to Chloe, and Chloe is grieving over the death of a friend; it’s all done well and serves as the emotional core of the film. 

            The movie does a lot of the same haunted house/ghost tropes that you’ve seen in other films where things float and fly around the room, objects shake intensely, doors open and close by themselves, and the lights start flickering. But the film’s most unique gimmick is that it’s shown through the perspective of the ghost and consists of long takes, camera pans, and POV shots. 

            There are some damn impressive camera work here that really makes you feel like you have become the Presence though not quite to the extent of a film like Birdman where the whole thing was one continuous shot. I still very much admire what Soderbergh went out to accomplish with this film and pushing the envelope for how to make a movie about ghosts even if I found the sudden cuts to black to be pretty distracting (I’m not kidding, take a shot every time the film cuts to black). 

            Most of the performances are strong with Chris Sullivan being very compelling as the dad who’s trying to keep it together and give solid pep talks with his kids. Lucy Liu is the biggest name attached to the film and she also gives a great performance as this struggling mother who glorifies her son but tends to neglect her daughter though you do understand the situation she and her family is in so it’s not the case of a cruel parent. 

            I think Presence is going to be the black sheep of Steven Soderbergh’s filmography as it is definitely not an audience movie because of its slow-burn pace, cerebral storytelling, and camera tricks. I see this being more successful with critics and film aficionados (People like Chris Stuckmann or someone like that) for its ambition and filmmaking methods than with mainstream audiences. 

The Criterion Collection and A24 audiences essentially in fact, I can totally see this movie getting a Criterionrelease in the near future, the poster even looks like a Criterion Collection box cover. Regardless of what you think of this film, Presence will certainly lead to plenty of fascinating conversations amongst moviegoers. 

Just don’t go in with your only knowledge of it being the trailer because it made it out to look more like a horror movie than a supernatural drama. The scariest of false advertising.