Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Distributed by: Neon
Written by Taylor Baker
86/100
In Steven Soderbergh’s latest experiment, the camera lens embodies a specter that haunts a spacious 2-story home. “Presence” deftly builds the audience into sensing the personhood within the camera’s POV throughout its runtime. Time flits away in chunks, the specter and thus we, the audience, smoothly glide through rooms and hallways to windows to watch the rain fall and leaves blow by. The reflection of the camera and the figure that must be holding it are missing from the window though. Through repetition, this seemingly small detail speaks not only to the film’s craftsmanship but also to the emotionality built moment by moment through the film’s precision.
Darkness slowly envelopes our point of view like a large, slow blink from a single eye. We sensorily settle into the knowledge that we are with someone or something. Shortly after the film begins, in a brief but surefooted sequence, Cece (Julia Fox) bursts into the home to show it to Rebecca (Lucy Liu) and her imaginatively named husband, Chris (Chris Sullivan). They’re searching for a home in this school district so that their son Tyler can participate in a renowned swimming program. All the while, our perspective comes from this invisible specter observing the conversations and eccentricities of the realtor and the family. This sets the stage for the bulk of “Presence’s” runtime as we learn about the family dynamics and their secrets.
Time passes, and tensions amongst the family build. We begin to piece together who this presence might be through the camera’s behavior and what may have caused it. “Presence” will keep most audiences guessing until nearly the end. A whodunit can rarely refrain from giving itself away entirely in its opening moments, and it is even rarer for one to be presented with such experimentation. This is not a haunted house story. “Presence” is about a haunted family, focused on the emotions within rather than the ghosts around them.
“Presence” Trailer
You can follow more of Taylor’s thoughts on film on Letterboxd, Twitter, and Rotten Tomatoes.