"Presence" Review
The genre is the red-herring
Some of you may be shocked to hear I dared to watch another horror movie after my nightmare-inducing experience with Nosferatu. Still, after listening to director Steven Soderbergh talk about how he made this movie, I had to give it a shot. I can say for certain this one was worth the watch.
The premise of Presence sounds basic at first. A family moves into an old house after facing a tragedy, and they soon discover a ghost — or “presence” — may be living in the house. However, there is a twist on conventions that makes the movie. It is shot from the perspective of the ghost.
That unique perspective makes the audience into the ghost. We creep around the house, watching the family and occasionally intervening in their life. Due to this decision, there are no jump scares. The movie is not scary in the conventional sense. Instead, it fills the audience with uneasiness throughout. We cannot see the ghost. We have no idea who or what they are. Sometimes, members of the family sense the presence and look straight into the camera. Since we are not used to being stared at by the characters in the movie, it raises the feeling of dread that fills each shot. Soderbergh is known for doing his own camera work since he is incredibly meticulous; in this case, it pays off. The camera work is steady when necessary and shaky in the right moments to create urgency.
Admittedly, most of the movie’s performances do not stand out. The camera perspective makes it difficult for the actors to milk their shots as much as is possible in conventionally shot movies. However, Lucy Liu as the mother Rebecca and West Mulholland as their friend Ryan manage to make the most of that difficult task. Liu’s final scene is haunting, and Mulholland portrays his character’s “nice guy” attitude with eery accuracy.
As the movie continues, we learn that the true horror is in the family dynamic instead of the ghost. The technical decisions of this movie are very impressive, but the story itself leaves much to be desired. This movie was a great experiment, and I am so glad there are filmmakers out there willing to take risks. If not for the ghost POV, Presence would hardly be distinguishable from the plethora of stories like it.
This review is a short one, but that seems appropriate for such a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the theater and was so excited by the chance to see something unique. But I have not thought about the movie much since, and its contents will likely fade into a vague memory.
I do think you should see this movie because as moviegoers we should support filmmakers who are taking risks. Just enjoy your time and don’t worry too much about the details.