For the entire history of the haunted house subgenre, it’s typically been a given that you have to show the ghost in said haunted house. But Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” looks to change that. This time, the camera is the ghost, floating around and observing the lives of the Payne family.
The ghost has a particular interest in the family’s daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), who feels a supernatural presence (no pun intended) in the new house. Meanwhile, mother Rebecca (Lucy Liu), father Chris (Chris Sullivan) and elder brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) all react to Chloe’s behavior in different ways.
Throughout his entire career, Soderbergh has sought to experiment with cinema’s capabilities. “Presence” serves as another example of that. The hovering camera truly feels like a specter. “Presence” doesn’t follow the shot-reverse-shot mode of conversation and the camera, and thus the ghost, moves where it wants to move.
All of this should account for a genre-shattering experience that re-examines what makes something scary. Plus, it has a chance to be really cool and inventive! Does “Presence” pull off its trick? Well….
‘Presence’ has great direction, but bad writing
Soderbergh’s talent with a camera is undeniable. He’s made classics like “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.” But he eagerly spices up his own formula to stay creatively fresh. In 2018, for example, he shot the thriller “Unsane” all on an iPhone.
With the ghost-as-camera in “Presence,” Soderbergh uses a cinematic trick that avoids being a simple gimmick. While the marketing for this film advertises a “chilling” experience, the end result is really different. Soderbergh’s latest work feels much more meditative, using the camera as a device of observation. The film features mostly long takes that make the Paynes’ lives feel organic.
While Soderbergh certainly brings his A-game, the script leaves much to be desired. Full of cliches and contrivances about the family unit, “Presence” struggles on a scene-to-scene basis to build meaning.
Not to spoil too much in this review, but “Presence” features a twist that wants you to re-contextualize everything you just saw. In a better script, the twist, which reveals who exactly the ghost is, would make you feel more emotional about the quieter family moments.
Unfortunately, the film’s scenes of family conversations feel so baseline and never hint at larger tensions or complexities. Sure, Chloe and Tyler have sibling beef and Chris has mental health issues that are only hinted at. But nothing indicates that “Presence” wants to go deeper. Instead, it feels like the film is just saying, “Value your family members. You may not know what they’re going through.”
Long story short, I wouldn’t necessarily blame Soderbergh for the film’s shortcomings. Instead, the blame goes to screenwriter David Koepp, who has written infinitely better scripts like “Jurassic Park” and “Death Becomes Her.”
Lucy Liu, Callina Liang impress
Liu, who has been stuck in recent mediocre films like “Red One” and the “Shazam!” sequel, shows off some of her dramatic skill. As a working mother, Liu provides a razor-sharp focus that also acts as a cold indifference to her daughter.
Liu hints at more of a disappointment in her life. She may not feel truly emotionally available or satisfied with her husband. But again, the script doesn’t give her the place to dive into it more.
Similarly, Liang aces the assignment as the daughter who feels a connection to ghosts. As we come to find out in the film, Chloe’s friend mysteriously died. So it’s up to Liang to play a girl who is overcoming her trauma and yet feeling like something is watching her.
Liang conveys a spaced-out nature to her character, providing a naturalistic depiction of teenage depression. At the same time, she knows how to portray a sense of anxiety that can permeate the rest of the film’s atmosphere.
How ‘Presence’ compares to other ghost stories
We all love a good ghost story. Whether it’s “The Shining” or a real-life haunted road in Sydney, they all hint at a larger fear. In “The Shining,” there’s a clear fear of alcoholism and the family unit, while the haunted road could serve as a fear of being out on the road.
“Presence” seems to be in dialogue with these classic ghost stories. There are plenty of tropes, including the one child who can hear the ghost or doors and objects moving on their own. But with the camera serving as the perspective of the ghost, the film seems on its surface that it wants to be different.
However, once again, the writing remains the issue. The ghost, and thus the audience, pays attention to the anxieties of not just Chloe but of Rebecca and Chris as parents. With Chris’ brief moments of psychological breakdown, anxieties about parenthood creep in much like in “The Shining.” But “Presence” takes nowhere near enough of the care and precision to examine that theme than in Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 film.
The key weakness of “Presence” is not that it takes the mystery away from the ghost story or that it’s not spooky enough. Rather, it’s that the film doesn’t go far enough in giving the ghost true thematic representation. So as a ghost story, “Presence” remains stuck in this middle ground where it has the potential to re-define a whole subgenre. And yet, Soderbergh’s mission comes up just short.
Final thoughts
I really wanted “Presence” to be more than what it was. It’s an experience where you’re convinced going into a film that you will like it but then come out feeling mixed. That is one of the most disappointing feelings you can have when you walk out of the theater.
That said, I can’t help but respect Soderbergh for his experimentation. His insistence on trying something new makes him one of the more fascinating filmmakers working today. “Presence” has the ingredients of being another feather in the cap for Soderbergh.
If only he had picked a better screenwriter. Oh well, at least “Black Bag” comes out in a month. Wait, you’re telling me Koepp also wrote “Black Bag”? Oh, brother.
