Presence (2025)

Steven Soderbergh shows no sign of slowing down with his output, having now released two films already this year; stylish spy thriller Black Bag, and this intriguing- if ultimately flawed- ghost story experiment.

Once again he strips things down to basics, producing a work that's just over ninety minutes and is set entirely inside one house, with the story being- in terms of the camera- told from the point of view of a ghost, sort of. A family led by Lucy Liu's Mother and Chris Sullivan's Father move into the substantially sized house, and we more or less instantly know what's going on as Soderbergh shoots the whole thing from the entity's viewpoint- an idea that feels fresh but occasionally falls into parody; a scene in which the daughter's books are moved as we see them rise up and placed on a table feels rather theatrical for example.

The daughter (Callina Liang) is the focus of the ghost's attention; she has recently lost one of her best friends although the circumstances surrounding her death are different depending on who you talk to- certainly according to her brother (Eddy Maday) it appears that she brought it on herself. He's an unbelievably irritating screen presence for the duration of the film, as is Liu- but certainly not in a negative way from an acting perspective. She puts all her focus on her job and her son, ignoring her daughter and husband and seemingly blaming him for everything that's going wrong. Once the family realise there's something afoot, it's the father and the daughter who know this is something to be understood rather than defeated.

The first forty minutes of Presence stretches your patience and walks a fine line between interesting and dull, and the reason you give it the benefit of the doubt is because you know who's behind the camera (Soderbergh, not the ghost). Thankfully Sullivan's father character is a truly interesting one; an individual who explains how he's feeling, clearly wants to make things work for his family, and is interested and understanding to both his children. You can really feel his struggles and emotions bristling on the surface; this is a truly rounded character that is the crux of the film, even if Soderbergh tries to make it the daughter. Despite some sympathy for everything she's going through, she can still be frustrating and annoying.

The second half of Presence- indeed the portion that many have found fault with- is actually what brings it together and justifies Soderbergh's experimentation. The characters come full circle and the ending makes total sense. The film isn't remotely scary which might well be a problem for some, but at the end of the day Presence isn't a horror film; it's a psychological musing on grief and the slow decay of a family in which only half of them are aware of their own downfall.

Ultimately Soderbergh has produced something that keeps your attention, even if it's only to find out how it ends; but this is worth your time for Sullivan's character alone, despite its many flaws. 6.8/10