Presence Review

Presence is the latest film released by prestige distributor Neon, which acquired the rights after its premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

The Paynes move into a new house after a tragedy. Chloe’s (Callina Liang) best friend died from an overdose and she is still grieving. Chloe’s troubles affect the rest of her family. In the house is a poltergeist that watches over the teenage girl.

Presence is made by a team of veterans. It was directed by Steven Soderbergh whose filmography contains big hits like Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike, and Contagion, and written by David Koepp, best known for adapting Jurassic Park. They have blockbuster experience yet Presence felt like it was made by filmmakers early in their career because it was small-scale, bold, and inventive.

Presence’s unique selling point was that it was shot from the poltergeist’s point-of-view with a series of long takes. As a fan of long takes, I appreciated the technical achievement and The Presence acted as a fly-on-the-wall to the family drama. Presence had a voyeuristic quality since the poltergeist was privy to private, intimate, and painful moments. Chloe and her father, Chris (Chris Sullivan) were suffering from their mental pain. The audience gets to listen to many conversations and slowly learn about the family, like the different parenting styles with Chris being caring and Rebecca (Lucy Liu) being horribly neglectful towards her daughter.

The screenplay had rich details about the family and their issues and there was a great use of foreshadowing which would make future viewing more rewarding. Some of the teenage dialogue was a little cringy and that was probably due to Presence being made by two men in their 60s.

Presence was a deliberately restrictive film. Everything was seen from the eyes of the Presence and it could only move within the house. This approach made Presence feel like the first Paranormal Activity since they were domestic set supernatural stories that used a unique filming style. When a medium (Natalie Woodlam-Torr) arrived at the house her reaction was similar to Paranormal Activity’s clairvoyant.

Presence has been classified as a horror film and marketed as such. This was misleading since the film was really a family drama and a supernatural drama. The Presence wasn’t a malice being and it grew close to Chloe. It acted as a protector to the teenager and considering Chloe’s issues it was easy to empathise with her. The Presence offered the girl some love and tried to prevent her from making bad decisions due to her depression. Liang gave a believable and heartfelt performance as this troubled girl and hopefully, she will earn many more roles. If Presence had been written as a novel it probably would have been marketed to teenagers.

Marketing Presence as a horror was a double-edged sword. Horror has a built-in audience and Presence was made on a $2 million budget so it will probably make its money back. However, the trailer and posters have highlighted reviews claiming it was the scariest film in years. This was misleading and audience members who go expecting a terrifying experience will be disappointed.

Even with its supernatural elements, Presence is an engaging and relatable film. If you approach it with the right mindset, it will be a rewarding experience.