Presence is the latest movie to be declared “the scariest movie of the year” by the marketing people, even though it’s really more of a thriller than it is scary. A ghost story from Steven Soderbergh, with a screenplay from David Koepp, Presence is told completely via the point of view of the ghost and it’s an interesting idea with some interesting moments, even if it does feel a little lacking at times.
The movie starts with the haunted house completely empty. Our lonely ghost looks out of windows and floats silently up and down the stairs, moving from room to room. An estate agent arrives and a family shows up to view the house – Chris (Chris Sullivan) and his wife Rebecca (Lucy Liu), along with their teenage children Tyler (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang). As they split up to view the house, our ghost follows them around, getting up close to listen in on conversations or just hanging back to observe. The family loves the house and puts in an offer. A few scenes later, they’re all moved in and the house is now a busy family home.

A lot of what happens in Presence is general family drama that is just being viewed by us seeing what the ghost sees as we begin to learn the family dynamic. We get the impression that Rebecca broke some kind of law in trying to purchase the house as she conducts secret conversations and bulk deletes emails. Chris is unhappy in the marriage and is seeking advice about his options. Tyler is on the swim team and is favoured by Rebecca, while Chris favours Chloe, who is struggling with depression following the recent deaths of a couple of friends. She also begins a sexual relationship with Tyler’s friend Ryan (West Mulholland), a local drug dealer who’s bad news.

The ghost appears more drawn to Chloe, spending more time observing her and occasionally retreating to her open closet to watch her from afar. Chloe occasionally senses that there is a presence nearby, and is convinced that it is one of her dead friends. Obviously, the family do not believe her, until a moment of anger from the ghost leaves them with undeniable proof.
Apart from that moment, there’s nothing particularly scary or horrific about Presence. Occasionally a character will feel a little uneasy and look right down the camera at you, giving you chills and reminding you of whose viewpoint it is that we’re adopting, so if you’re expecting full-on jump scares or horror then you’re going to be disappointed. There are times when the script falters, and things drag a little. But overall I enjoyed this one, and at just under 90 minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

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Web developer by day, with a movie and TV watchlist that continues to grow as much as my spare time reduces! My favourite movie is Inception and, despite what everyone says, I do not have a man-crush on Tom Cruise.