Presence

Throughout his career, Steven Soderbergh has dabbled in many different genres, to varying degrees of success. Take a glance at his filmography, and you'll see thrillers, dramas, comedies- an eclectic mixture of movies. From the tantalizing intrigue of 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape,' to the silly hijinks of the 'Ocean's Eleven' movies and the brilliant biopic 'Behind the Candelabra,' Soderbergh refuses to be pigeonholed. Although sometimes he faulters- 'Full Frontal' didn't really work and 'The Laundromat' was exceedingly underwhelming- generally his films are worth a watch.

His newest, 'Presence,' is not. Billed as a psychological horror, the film follows the Payne family's move to a new home. From the outset, there are cracks in their individual relationships, which become heightened when the daughter, Chloe, starts feeling a presence within the building. Is the mysterious entity a mischievous ghost, is Chloe suffering from some kind of mental illness, or is something completely different afoot?

David Koepp wrote the screenplay, and, in fairness, he eschews many of the traditional tropes found within haunted house flicks. However, he also avoids anything remotely thrilling, profound or engaging. It is less horror and more teen drama, and a slow-moving one at that, with caricatures instead of characters as well as dialogue that sounds like bad improv. Further, proceedings come to a halt so abruptly it makes one feel that he lost the pages for his original ending, deciding to make one up on the spot.

As an aside, there is a serious problem regarding the film's marketing. Watch the trailers, and you see ads for a horror movie. You are promised it will "terrify" and is "frightening." You are not told it is about as frightening as a tortoise chasing a snail, and somehow not as fast-paced. The trailers are deliberately misleading, which can only lead to disappointment. (Anecdotally, during the screening this reviewer attended, two people walked out after the first twenty-five minutes, while a young woman loudly denounced Soderbergh for lying during the end credits, claiming she was more scared when she looked in a mirror).

The film does not deliver what it said on the tin. It is a melodrama, essentially, with a ghost thrown in for a bit of flavour. Despite that, there are some interesting moments and canny observations. The portrayal of the mother's complex relationships with her two children rings true, capturing the nuances of family dynamics with authenticity. Similarly, her strained interactions with the father provide a poignant look into the cracks that form in a marriage under pressure.

In addition, Soderbergh's cinematography is striking. Each scene is captured in a single, unbroken take, immersing the audience in a continuous flow of tension and unease. This technique cleverly blurs the line between observer and participant, making the audience feel as if they themselves are the Presence, silently witnessing the unravelling of the Payne family's life like some kind of ghostly voyeur.

However, the scene transitions are jarring, each capped off with a cut to black that feels like the work of a film-student who hasn't got the hang of editing. This feels disjointed and less polished than one would expect from a director of Soderburgh's calibre. In addition, the pacing is laboriously slow, meaning the film suffers from a dearth of momentum or drive. At 84 minutes, it is a short film; Soderberg's editing makes it drag.

Conversely, April Lasky's minimalist production design deserves mention. She and her team have meticulously crafted the Payne family's new home to be both inviting and subtly disquieting. The house itself feels lived-in, cluttered bedrooms full of personal touches giving it an air of authenticity. Imogen Lee's set decoration, from the furniture to the family photos on the walls, helps ground the story in a palpable reality. Furthermore, Zack Ryan's muted score is quite brilliant, subtly creating an eerie sense of dread (that Koepp's narrative sorely lacks) drifting throughout the film like a malign wind.

Moreover, Lucy Liu delivers a compelling portrayal of the mother, grappling with her strained relationships and the growing tension within the family. Her nuanced performance captures the emotional turmoil and complexity of her character, bringing an authenticity that grounds the story amidst the supernatural elements. Chris Sullivan is similarly strong as the father, bringing to life his insecurities with ease. He creates a character that feels well-rounded, despite Koepp's limited characterisation.

On the other hand, as Chloe, Callina Liang comes across as a bit wooden, lacking the emotional range to fully engage the audience. Although by no means terrible, Liang's overall performance feels flat and she fails to elevate the character into someone compelling. Eddy Maday's work as her brother is similarly unexceptional. Further, West Mulholland is insidiously smug and one-note as Ryan, an acquaintance of Chloe's. He isn't given much of a chance, though, lumbered with the most awkward lines in the film; which he recites unconvincingly, as if he were in a bad school-play he didn't fully understand.

In conclusion, Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence' is far away from his best work. Although there are some notable elements, such as striking cinematography and strong performances from Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan, the film ultimately fails to deliver on its promise of psychological horror. David Koepp's screenplay lacks both thrills and depth, resulting in a slow-moving teen melodrama with caricatures instead of compelling characters. In short, despite a few praise-worthy elements, 'Presence' doesn't leave much of an impression.

Presence is a well constructed, drama-centred ghost story with a very effective story-telling gimmick. The short runtime and tiny cast and set served for an efficient and tight story. The production constraints must have been COVID related but I feel Soderberg used these limitations to the films credit.

The cast were strong and believable as a family unit. Many unseen facets of the characters lives were referenced and the film did a good job of presenting each personality organically. Although I actually found the daughter, who could be considered the films main character, to be the least deeply developed.

Although it's a ghost story of sorts, I would not call it a horror film. It seldom attempts to scare the audience in anything more than a very mild of unease. That said, there were several chilling moments.

Overall I enjoyed Presence and I appreciated its creativity and economical story telling. Although not a sensational film, it was a satisfying and tight story which I appreciated.

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.

I usually don't like saying this but Presence just ended up feeling like a prolonged gimmick of a movie. Because despite the fact that I do think the main idea is quite interesting I don't really think it ended up sustaining a whole feature. If it was a 20-30 minute short I think this premise could've worked wonders and felt like a very unique take on a ghost story. But as is, despite some really impressive camera work, it just ends up feeling like there's a lot of bloat which comes in the form of character drama only some of which I thought actually worked. The transitions between scenes are very abrupt and after a while I felt like I was watching the same 2 or 3 scenes over and over again. The dialogue and the acting can feel quite stilted and a lot of the drama going on between this family doesn't really amount to much with a last minute twist that felt like it belonged in a different movie. For only an 85 minute movie it drags which again goes back to my point that this idea feels better suited to a short. There's a few interesting ideas and more than a few points where I really felt like I was getting what Soderbergh was going for but this really just ended up feeling like a bit of a missed opportunity. I really like the idea and always compliment a film that has a premise I wish I'd have come up with myself. I just wish the actually execution was on the same level.

While I appreciate Soderburgh trying something new, there were way too many missed opportunities to make this movie feel anything other than gimmicky. Don't get me wrong, it was a good attempt at a ghost story but the tone of the movie got tripped up on adding too many distracting elements. It seemed more experimental than anything else; the characters felt forced (especially the parents), the foreshadowing was over the top, and the last ten minutes undid any possible horror that I originally hoped I would find. Definitely walked away feeling disappointed but only because the events leading up to it left too many open ended questions. (One of the biggest being why they would leave their children in an obviously haunted house (this is not a spoiler, it's literally the title of the movie) and then say "make good decisions." Dumb.)