Presence

I want to preface this by saying I thought Presence was a good movie. The acting, camera work, storytelling - all hit the mark for me.

That being said, I wouldn't classify this as a horror film, and I didn't find it scary at all. Suspenseful? Sure, at times. However, the "twist" was relatively easy to catch on to pretty early in the film, and figuring that out sort of detracts from the experience.

I would categorize this film as more of a family drama, with an interesting and unique take on the classic ghost stories of the past. If you're looking for a film to truly scare you, this one isn't it. Almost all of the ghostly happenings are shown in the trailer as well, which was disappointing.

I saw this at a secret screening, which is where you don't know what the movie is going to be.

The movie takes a while to get into anything. You're watching the family settle to their new home which, with movies like paranormal, didn't seem boring. Unfortunately in the case of this movie, the script and subsequent acting from some individuals made it hard to get into/ watch at some points.

During the climax of the movie, the monologue from a certain character (it will make sense what I'm saying when you watch it, I just don't want to spoil anything) was a hard watch. It felt like a school drama performance. This is probably due to a poor script and acting.

The movie as a whole is fine, I wouldn't pay to see it in the cinema, I recomend waiting for it to come out on a streaming service.

I'd seen the trailers and was excited to see the film on its release . So last week we saw a secret screening/preview of it at our local cinema . Filmed from the side of the ghost/spirit and based on an empty lovely house a family of four move into. The house itself is lovely and the filming is brilliant but I have to be honest myself and mr husband were really disappointed. Lots of filming that were irrelevant. Some scenes were good and some secretive . But In my honest opinion after watching the trailer I was so disappointed with the film. The end five minutes are good and sad . But overall not as good as we hoped.

The people who generally saw this film most likely did so based on the trailer, imagery, and title of the film, all which indicate it's going to be similar to things like 'Hereditary' or 'Babadook'.

This movie is nothing like those. I wouldn't even call it scary. It's not supposed to be. The low ratings are probably from moviegoers who expected it to be, which is fair, no blame on them.

For those looking to watch a very quality movie, with a novel concept, this one might be for you. It has a lot of heart, some powerful social/relationship dynamics, and pulls you in, making you cheer internally for things to happen or not happen.

It is very intense in it's filming. There is no hiding in this film, from an actors perspective. There is no need for indepth character development, and I think that's what I liked about it. We didn't need an hour of backstory, we got just enough to help the story progress.

Lucy Liu is not the star player in this film. She plays her role convincingly. The storyline is subtle and the way it is filmed is key. There is some subtleties that won't make sense until it's all over.

It is not quite as revolutionary as some reviews have made it out to be, but it is different and I really appreciated it for that.

You are kept in suspense, but not in an exhausting way. You keep watching because you know there's an explanation but you're not teased to get there.

I enjoyed it. A nice little ghost story from a different perspective and no expectation of a commercialised series of films. Just slimmed down, basic story telling.

Recommend a watch.