Review: Presence uses horror tropes to create something utterly unexpected

Get the Full StoryMany horror movies use floating cameras and first-person POV to tell a story, but Steven Soderbergh has used these familiar techniques to craft something remarkable with Presence. Like many ghost movies, Presence begins with a wealthy family moving into a new home. As days turn into weeks, it becomes clear there s something weird happening in the house. Objects move by themselves, glasses shatter, and sometimes it s possible to feel someone watching, although this force can t be seen with human eyes. The novelty is how Soderbergh tells the story by using the camera to represent the field of vision of the haunting spirit. Every scene of Presence is framed from the ghost s point of view, which means we get an unusual insight into what the apparition is experiencing and how it reacts to what happens inside the house. Let s be clear. Since Sam Raimi decided to craft a first-person scene to materialize the invisible force in the woods of Evil Dead, this technique has become a staple in horror cinema. Plus, the entire found footage subgenre relies on the concept we are seeing exactly what the person behind the camera saw. However, floating cameras are usually incorporated for no more than a few seconds. Furthermore, the found footage genre has the constraint of needing to make each scene possible to reproduce with in-universe cameras. Presence doesn t set any technological boundary for its gimmick, meaning the ghost can watch the family through unusual angles. In addition, Soderbergh s commitment to shooting everything with floating cameras makes Presence a technical achievement, even when the story fails to impress. The biggest obstacle to Presence s success is public expectation. The movie is being distributed by NEON, which last year graced us with horror hits such as Longlegs, Immaculate, and Cuckoo. Given that Presence revolves around a haunted house story, it s fair for people to expect Soderbergh s latest to be fully anchored in horror cinema. Nevertheless, Presence is far from scary. Nor is it trying to be. By shifting the focus to the ghost itself, the movie is willing to explore what causes the emotional outbursts the living interpret as the actions of an evil entity. The movie s unique point of view also allows Soderbergh to explore how the apparition is struggling to find its purpose and be released of its material constraints it s not only the living who must understand why a haunting happens to find some peace of mind. As a result, Presence is more like A Ghost Story than The Haunting of Hill House or The Conjuring. To be fair, Presence does have moments of tension. Soderbergh is no stranger to nerve-wracking thrillers, having directed movies such as Unsane and Side Effects. Also, Presence is penned by David Koepp, the writer of David Fincher s claustrophobic Panic Room. Both men know how to play with the public s feelings and generate anxiety, and Presence gets there eventually. However, the movie is just not that interested in scares. Once you accept it, you can enjoy the film for what it is: an exploration of suburban drama with a pinch of the supernatural. Image via NEON Once you take Presence for what it is, it gets easier to realize how brilliantly executed it is. As a being that doesn t abide by the time and space rules that determine human perception, the apparition jumps from moment to moment, carefully observing the family of four and unraveling their dynamics. Rebecca Lucy Liu is a ruthless businesswoman who obviously prefers her firstborn son, Tyler Eddy Maday . That means it s up to the father, Chris Chris Sullivan , to compensate for Rebecca s absence when the youngest daughter, Chloe Callina Liang , needs emotional support. For reasons the movie will slowly unveil, Chloe seems to be the primary target of the titular presence, which often puts her at odds with Tyler and Rebecca, who would prefer to live their lives without the girl s supposed attention-seeking behavior. While the family complexities are enough to get you emotionally invested in their unexpected journey, the dialogue is occasionally stiff and heavy-handed. Since the spirit can only glimpse specific moments of the family s life, Koepp s script wants to ensure everyone follows the plot and makes the connections needed for Presence s ultimate emotional payoff. The problem with this approach is that the movie is not trying to reinvent the narrative wheel, so the hand-holding is not unnecessary and distracting. Fortunately Presence works because of its cast. Each family member is played by a talented performer who understands the assignment. The cast ignores the camera and recreates glimpses of everyday life that help us understand what makes each of them tick, fully trusting Soderbergh can put everything together in a satisfying way in the editing room. The result is a mesmerizing slice of life spiced up by the ever-present ghost that haunts the house and that learns together with the audience what s at the core of the conflicts unfolding on the screen. That comes in handy, as the central mystery of Presence is a little too obvious to sustain the plot by itself. Image via NEON Even though Presence tries to drop feed information to the public, a piece of the puzzle at the time, the movie s twists and turns won t surprise many people. That s fine, as Soderbergh s is more an exercise in style than anything else. On that front, Presence is a cinema accomplishment that deserves to be seen by anyone who minimally cares about movie-making. The whole movie is structured in long takes shot with handheld cameras, which demands incredible coordination and synergy from the entire cast. Most of the scenes also count only on natural light, which helps to give Presence a homemade texture, highlighting its self-contained story. Finally, since the whole movie takes place in a single environment, it s impressive that Soderbergh manages to keep things fresh and develop new ways to make the ghost-view gimmick relevant. The special effects of Presence are equally impressive. The movie prioritizes practical solutions to create images of furniture being moved by the spirit or objects floating in the air. These choices help keep the film grounded, but they also entice the viewer s curiosity, as you are left questioning how the director manages to do those things without breaking the illusion of the supernatural. In short, while Presence could do with a more engaging story, the movie still has plenty of wonderful surprises in store. That s even more relevant for cinema fans who appreciate filmmakers daring to do something fresh with film language.

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