The Stream: Definitely not a horror movie.

The Big Screen: Telling the story from the POV of the presence is very engaging.

The Final Bill: A great storytelling device enhances a family drama, but it’s not a scary movie.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: David Koepp
Stars: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, Julia Fox
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: R for violence, drug material, language, sexuality and teen drinking
Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes
Production Companies: Extension 765, The Spectral Spirit Company, NEON
Platform: In theaters January 24, 2025
Notable Trailers: Drop, Mickey 17, Locked, The Monkey, Hell of a Summer

Hey, Streamers! January 2025 was a pretty good month for new releases, which includes the supernatural family drama, Presence. This movie is a ghost story of a sort told from the ghost’s point of view. In Presence, the Payne family moves into an old suburban home that is already occupied by a “presence”. The parents played by Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan are at odds because of issues at work and their differing parenting styles. The daughter, Chloe (Callina Liang), has recently suffered the loss of her best friend and she’s still in mourning. The son, Tyler (Eddy Maday), is a popular swimming star and kind of a jerk to his sister despite the turmoil she’s going through. The presence floats from room to room just observing, and Chloe is the only one tapped into what may be haunting their home. When the situation in the home gets more intense, ghostly intervention hijinks ensue.

Steven Soderbergh directs this movie, which was written by David Koepp. Soderbergh has been making some experimental movies recently like Kimi and Let Them All Talk, and Presence fits in with those efforts pretty well. The best part of Presence is what Soderbergh has done with the camera. Presenting this movie from the point of view of the ghost puts the audience in the center of the action. The camera glides from room to room in such a voyeuristic way that it heightens the unease of this supernatural story. The problem with Presence is that it is promoted as a horror movie, when it is really a family drama with supernatural elements. However, that family drama gets hijacked in the third act by some unbelievable twists. The ridiculous twists that come late in the movie are fun and unexpected, but they truly come out of nowhere and don’t seem to fit the overall vibe of the movie that preceded it.

Side note: some of the acting and dialogue are bad, particularly by the teens. Liang, who plays Chloe is fine. She does pretty well in her emotional scenes; but when she is with her love interest, Ryan, played by West Mulholland, Sheesh! It’s rough!

Ultimately, Presence is an interesting movie with a very intriguing conceit. The plot around the POV camerawork is not as engaging as it could be. Horror movie fans will be very disappointed as this is more of an emotional family drama with supernatural elements than a scary movie. Nevertheless, Soderbergh has made another fascinating movie worthy of time, but I can’t say a trip to the theater is necessary. I’d suggest a bowl of popcorn as long as you know this is not a horror movie.