It was a bit of a surprise for the Cineworld Secret Screening 13 film that was shown as we had a supernatural horror thriller with a preview screening of Steven Soderbergh’s Presence starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Julia Fox, Eddy Maday, Callina Liang and West Mulholland.
Married couple Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan), along with their children Tyler (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang), move into what appears to be an ordinary suburban home.
Each family member is dealing with their issues, but when strange occurrences begin happening around them, they quickly become convinced that something else is in the house. This presence is about to disrupt their lives in ways they could never have anticipated.
I have to say that Presence is certainly a slow-burning movie with nothing much really happening for the first 30 minutes or so of the film, but this gives us a chance to build up something about the family that has moved into the new house and what the daughter is going through with the loss of her friends who died. Their deaths are a mystery themselves!
In some aspects of the film, it did give me those vibes of A Ghost Story (2017) with the viewpoint of the film from the “Presence” as it watches the family and follows them around the house listening to what they are talking about and eventually latching on to Chloe (Callina Liang) for reasons that become clear later in the film.
As the film progresses so do the interactions of the supernatural entity and although we don’t get any real jump-scare moments we do get some wonderful camerawork as the shots glide through the house from room to room giving us that unearthly feeling that we are the Presence that is in the film.
Presence seems to be very much of an experimental film for Steven Soderbergh with the style the film is shot, but it works and it works well for the story which plods along at a rather slow pace. I found myself wanting to know the outcome of the film and what would be the twist, but the moment that we learn something more about a certain character towards the end of the film is somewhat of a surprise that you know is coming!
This is certainly going to be a film that is not going to be to everyone’s tastes, but it is a refreshing change from action, gory horror and Sci-Fi.
Presence is out in UK cinemas from the 24th of January.
A Slow Burner from the Viewpoint of a Ghost
Movie title: Presence (2024)
Movie description: A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs.
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 25m
Director(s): Steven Soderbergh
Actor(s): Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan
Genre: Supernatural Horror, Drama, Thriller
Summary
Presence isn’t going to be for everyone, but with its style of camerawork and idea of the film being from the viewpoint of the ghost, it’s an interesting watch for filmmaking methods.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
