It’s always great to see a new movie from writer David Koepp and director Steven Soderbergh. Koepp has been one of the most talented, in-demand Hollywood screenwriters for decades, having credits on Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, and the underrated Premium Rush. Meanwhile, Soderbergh has had an equally varied career, from his commercially successful Ocean’s trilogy to smaller iPhone films such as Unsane and High Flying Bird. These multitalented filmmakers are a match made in heaven, having previously teamed for the 2022 Zoë Kravitz thriller Kimi. 2023 saw their returns to big studio films with Koepp’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Soderbergh’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Now, they’ve reunited for a wonderful new low-budget film, Presence.
This is not your average horror movie. As a matter of fact, I’d hesitate to even call it a horror film. Neon has marketed it as such, but I can’t help but feel as if people will be disappointed by the lack of scares in this movie. By no means is this a slight against the film; Presence is a well-crafted experimental bit of fun that works pretty well. The movie is told from a unique perspective: the entire film is shot in first person. We’re always in the POV of a supernatural entity that exists in this house. The movie introduces us to this entity watching a family consider moving in with the help of realtor Cece, played by Julia Fox. While Soderbergh reunites with Fox after 2021’s No Sudden Move, fans of “Josh Safdie’s muse for Uncut Gems” should lower their expectations, as she’s only in one scene.
The opening musical score should clue you in on what this movie is: a drama. The music is saccharine and emotional. If the film had opened with your standard high-pitched eerie musical score, that would have fit the “horror movie” aesthetic much better. But that’s far from what Koepp wanted to do with this film; the sentimental music works because this movie is more of a supernatural drama than a horror film.
Presence follows a family. We have the mother, Rebecca (Lucy Liu), the father, Chris (Chris Sullivan), the daughter, Chloe (Callina Liang), and the son, Tyler (Eddy Maday). We have our standard horror movie setup: a family moves into a house, and strange things begin to happen as they sense another presence in their house. This is your classic cliché horror movie, but what makes it not cliché is the fact that we’re not in their perspective; we’re in the ghost’s point-of-view. We’ve seen many movies where the child starts to see and hear strange things, but with this film, we see through the ghost’s eyes as it moves objects around, leading to Chloe’s shock.
Where this movie excels is the mystery. Who is this ghost? Why are they here? What does the ghost want to do? The questions surrounding the entity we’re peering through are more compelling than any “scares” we may expect. This film is free of jump scares. The movie aims to bring in terror by having us pose as a voyeur in their home. It’s a fascinating, innovative idea that really works, but not exactly from a horror perspective. If the ghost did something malicious in the first act, then we’d feel that the family was in danger. But again, that’s not the movie Koepp and Soderbergh wanted to make.
As far as the family dynamics go, there is some drama, but it usually never goes far enough. We have a vague sense of the struggles going on with Rebecca and Chris. It’s clear enough that they’re not in the healthiest mental state, but the movie never elaborates on these ideas enough to be interesting. The most interesting dynamic surrounds the kids. Tyler is befriending a popular kid named Ryan (West Mulholland), who Chloe begins to hook up with. Chloe is also grieving the loss of her friend who died in a drug-related incident. She’s the character with the most baggage, and Presence excels when it focuses on her.
Now, this isn’t to say that Presence is free from horror. There is an element of horror, particularly in the final act, but the source is surprising. The final few minutes have a few moments that will make your skin crawl. I remember physically recoiling in my seat. There’s a lot to appreciate about this film from that perspective. Because we’re in someone’s POV, Soderbergh allows many scenes to breathe without any cuts. We have long takes where the actors perform for extended periods of time, and it works. The performances are good, even if I wish Koepp’s script had pushed the drama far enough to allow for the familial relationships to be another source of horror.
Overall, Presence is a pretty decent film. The reveal in the final moments improves the rest of the movie by a lot, as it recontextualizes everything you previously saw. There’s an emotional hook that is generally adequate, but needed one more scene to fully stick the landing. I wouldn’t say this is a scary movie by any means, but it’s definitely worth a watch.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Presence review.
