RalphRahal

0/10

Presence (2024) takes a unique approach to the haunted house genre, putting you in the perspective of the ghost itself. The story follows the Payne family as they move into a new home, each carrying their own personal struggles. Chloe, the daughter, is grieving the loss of her best friend, while her mother, Rebekah, is dealing with legal troubles that aren't fully explained. The film plays with the idea of an unseen presence observing their lives, but it never fully confirms whether the ghost is actually the girl Chloe lost or someone else. While the concept is intriguing, the film could have explored the ghost's story more deeply rather than leaving it so ambiguous. Steven Soderbergh’s direction is creative, using floating camera movements to make you feel like you're silently drifting through the house, watching events unfold. The cinematography adds to the eerie atmosphere, but the editing choices, especially the long black transitions, interrupt the flow. These moments break immersion instead of adding to the tension. That said, the way the film manages to avoid showing the camera operator in reflections is impressive, proving the level of care put into the visuals. Lucy Liu gives the strongest performance, bringing depth to Rebekah's character, while Callina Liang does a solid job as Chloe, capturing her grief and confusion. The rest of the cast is decent but nothing particularly stands out. The script does a good job at building tension within the family, though some lines feel a little too on the nose. The score works well, subtly enhancing the eerie tone without overpowering the film. Presence is an interesting watch with a fresh perspective, but it could have benefited from a deeper dive into its ghostly mystery and a more refined edit to keep the pacing tight.

Dean

0/10

I'm having a hard time to give this movie more than 5 stars. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either, just an average movie. Sadly it wasn't scary at all. The only thing I loved about this movie were amazing soundtracks. Those soundtracks deserved better horror movie than this.

CinemaSerf

0/10

A family move into a new home - now I did like the meandering corridors and design of this spacious plot, but quickly we discover that it's a paper thin façade for four people who are struggling to get over a trauma. Nope, nothing new so far and, indeed nothing new to come either as daughter "Chloe" (Callina Lang) falls for the rakish "Ryan" (West Mulholland) who is the new best friend of her hunky, charm free and brain dead brother "Tyler" (Eddy Maday). Pretty swiftly, they are at it but simultaneously she starts to feel that she is being watched. Things move about on their own, her brother's room gets trashed and even the woman they bring in to do the "Madame Arcati" thing thinks something isn't right with the place and it's old silver nitrate mirror. Next thing... Well you'll have to watch it and see, but for me the opening couple of minutes of hand-held POV photography really put me off - especially it's use of the fish-eye, scene-stretching, lenses which people don't actually possess. It made me feel slightly seasick and I couldn't decide if it was a drone cam or a very sure-footed person gliding silently about the place giving us a repetitive third party perspective into the family's lives. Mum (Lucy Liu) rarely puts her laptop down; dad (Chris Sullivan) sort of lumbers around rudderless; the brother is a bit of an attention seeking idiot and finally, the daughter is a moody and uninteresting teenager trying to deal with some baggage about which we learn more, later. The parents come across as a couple who would never in a million years have chosen each other in the first place. At least the production doesn't try to hoodwink us with repetitive visual effects, but what we are left with here is a dialogue heavy story that ends all too abruptly as if the short story it's adapted from just ran out of ideas. Disappointing, sorry.

Manuel São Bento

0/10

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/presence-review-the-first-great-film-of-the-year/ "Presence challenges narrative conventions and leaves an indelible mark on the cinematic landscape of 2025. Steven Soderbergh's bold choice to tell the story entirely through the perspective of the supernatural entity proves to be a risk that pays off, delivering an immersive, unique approach that captivates the audience until the very end while intensifying the emotional connection to the complex family. The authenticity of the performances and the fascinating exploration of themes like grief, loneliness, and redemption outweigh the repetitive editing and minor unnecessary subplots, without undermining the overall impact and brilliance of the finale. It's the first truly great film of the year." Rating: A-

Brent Marchant

0/10

Diehard fans of horror films have often complained that releases in this genre don’t get the kind of respect they deserve, almost as if they’re the Rodney Dangerfield of the moviemaking. Unfortunately, it’s a reputation that’s frequently deserved given that many of these offerings are formulaic, predictable, tedious and needlessly gratuitous. The emergence of “smart” horror films has helped to offset this somewhat, imbuing these pictures with a degree of maturity and respectability that has long been sought but lacking. But, if these films truly want to earn the kind of esteem that their followers crave, these productions have to get better at doing what they do, yet the efforts that go into yielding such results all too often come up short, as is the case in this latest project from acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh. In all honesty, this attempt at creating an elevated version of a prototypical haunted house story leaves much to be desired. When a family of four moves into their new suburban home, strange happenings begin to occur, nearly all of which affect Chloe (Callina Liang), a troubled teen who recently lost her best friend under mysterious circumstances. But she’s not alone in her troubles – her parents, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan), are having marital problems and her older brother, Tyler (Eddy Maday), is wrestling with behavioral and attitude issues. It’s unclear what’s really going on with everybody, but then that’s where the problem lies with this largely unfocused snooze, one that does little justice to its label as a horror film. For starters, much of it is boring and slow, especially at the outset, taking its own sweet time to get off the ground (almost half of the movie in fact). Then there’s the lame and often-cryptic dialogue, which fails miserably at encouraging viewer engagement or moving the narrative along. And, perhaps most egregiously, the picture drops the ball when it comes to what movies in this genre are supposed to do – provide the audience with good frights. In fact, there’s precious little in this film that can be considered “scary”; it’s more suspenseful, if anything, but even that is significantly watered down. Finally, when “the big reveal” comes, it’s not so much frightful as it is implausible and of questionable taste – wholly inappropriate for and not particularly in the spirit of what should constitute a good haunted house story. The result is a huge cinematic disappointment, one that makes viewers wonder what the point of it all is supposed to be. Admittedly, the film features some intriguing camera work, but it ultimately does little to shed meaningful light on the narrative, particularly in “depicting” the mysterious presence responsible for all of the supernatural goings-on and its relevance to the characters or the intent behind this story. I must confess to being somewhat baffled by the filmmaker’s involvement in this project as its quality is a far cry from that of most of his previous efforts. Even more so, though, “Presence” does little to move the needle in bolstering the reputation of a genre looking to make a better name for itself. I’ve seen scarier and more compelling TV commercials than this woefully anemic offering, and, because of that, it’s done little to change my opinion of movies of this ilk.