The Scare Salon

I wouldn’t call Presence a horror movie exactly; it’s eerie in places, and does have a clear supernatural bent, but it’s more like a family drama with a ghostly element, so if you’re looking for something fast-paced, gory, and/or terrifying, it’s probably best to look elsewhere, as much of the effectiveness of Presence stems from the deteriorating relationships of the family at the center of the story.

At the very beginning of the movie, there’s a long, unbroken shot of the camera floating through a beautiful but empty house (as in most of his movies, Soderbergh operated the camera himself, under the pseudonym Peter Andrews). The conceit of the entire film, in fact, is that it’s shot from the POV of the titular presence, the entity that’s haunting the house. I’m actually not sure if anyone has made a film from the ghost’s perspective before, but if not, it’s amazing it took this long for someone to do it because it’s a great fucking idea. This establishing sequence goes a long way toward suggesting that the presence is lonely, trapped in this house for who knows how long and for who knows what purpose.

Soon after, the Payne family arrives with a realtor to have a look at the place. The house is on the market for a fairly reasonable price, and the realtor tells the family that houses in this neighborhood very rarely go up for sale. The wife/mom of the clan, Rebecca (Lucy Liu), is clearly the one running the show; a total type-A individual who is salivating at the good school district and already planning to refinance their mortgage in a year.

Her husband Chris (Chris Sullivan) is much more laid-back, obviously content to follow along as Rebecca steamrolls her way through life. Rounding out the family are two teenage kids, Chloe (Callina Liang) and Tyler (Eddy Maday).

The presence watches from the sidelines as the Paynes move in and get settled into their routine. Almost from the jump, though, cracks in the family’s foundation are very apparent. Rebecca is suspected of engaging in some illegal dealings at her high-powered job and is afraid she’s going to have to face the music. Chris wants to stand by her, but is also going behind her back, calling a lawyer friend and asking if the shit she did will come back to bite him in the ass and wondering if maybe he should just cut his losses and get the hell out of the marriage. Please note that the exact details of Rebecca’s shenanigans are never revealed; it’s all just implication and sideways discussion.

Then there are the kids. Chloe, clearly the more empathetic and sensitive, has been having a hard time since her best friend recently died of a drug overdose. She was also casually acquainted with another local girl who died the same way, and she’s finding it difficult to see past her grief. She’s been to therapy and is on medication, but it seems as though her mother doesn’t have much sympathy for her situation, not even wanting to send her to another doctor or try a different medication when Chris suggests it. All Chloe needs is time, Rebecca insists, while Chris berates her for always choosing the option that results in Rebecca not having to do anything that would inconvenience her.

Then there’s Tyler, who is definitely his mother’s child. He’s confident to the point of arrogance, a star swimmer and a popular guy at school. Rebecca dotes on him, doing everything in her power to further his swimming ambitions, to the detriment of her daughter, who she barely acknowledges exists, often seeing her as a burden who is bringing the whole family down with her silly traumas. Rebecca also excuses Tyler’s shitty behavior toward his “lesser” schoolmates, particularly one horrible prank he and his friends pull on an unpopular girl which he finds absolutely hilarious but results in the girl dropping out of school from the shame.

The presence sees all of this, floating from room to room and spying on the family’s conversations. It seems to take a sympathetic interest in Chloe, often hiding in her bedroom closet as though it’s keeping an eye on her. Chloe is also the only one to sense the presence; she never sees it, but she senses it, and quite early on in the movie, the presence moves some of her things in order to let her know that it’s there. Chloe is a little spooked but not overly frightened because she thinks the presence is actually the spirit of her deceased best friend, Nadia.

Chloe tries to tell her brother and parents about the presence, but Rebecca and Tyler mock her mercilessly, claiming she’s making things up for attention. Her father is much more understanding, even though he doesn’t believe her at first, and is saddened by his wife and son’s cruel treatment of her.

Chloe begins sort of dating Tyler’s friend Ryan, another popular kid at school who seems like he’s on her wavelength and actually listens when she talks about her feelings. The presence almost seems wary of Ryan, though, and watches from the closet when he’s there.

A bit later in the story, the entire family sees the paranormal activity for themselves in a way that is undeniable, and at the suggestion of their realtor, they bring in a psychic. To say any more would be a bit of a spoiler about who or what the presence is, so I’ll wrap up the synopsis here.

As I mentioned, this is much more a drama than a horror film, and a lot of your enjoyment of it will hinge on how deeply you become involved with the characters’ problems. The entire thing takes place inside the house (since the presence cannot leave), so it has a very claustrophobic feel to it as well. I was actually on board with the strained family relationships and found most of their interactions wonderfully fraught with tension, especially as I was imagining myself in the spectral shoes of the presence watching them.

I do wish that a few of the side plots (such as Rebecca’s shady business dealings) had been elaborated on a bit more, but I’m not actually sure that was necessary to the impact of the story overall. The ending (or rather the climax) was also very abrupt, but I thought it worked really well because it was so shocking and sort of came out of left field (well, it had been foreshadowed earlier, but y’know).

I would recommend this to horror fans who dig more slow-burn ghost stories that are more unsettling than scary and who like very character-focused films. If that doesn’t sound like you, then Presence will likely not win you over; the acting and cinematography are fantastic, but it’s not a fright a minute by any means. This might be out of left field, but it gave me the same sort of vibe as 2016’s Personal Shopper with Kristen Stewart, in the sense that it was a ghost story that was focused much more on the living characters than the ghost.

If you’ve seen Presence, let me know what you thought; critic reactions seemed largely positive, but audiences were split right down the middle. I liked it quite a bit, but I can also see how some might not be into it.

Until next time, keep it creepy, my friends.