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| Images courtesy of NEON |
Steven Soderbergh, despite initial talks of retirement from
film directing completely, has returned at a breakneck pace cranking out a new
film each year sometimes releasing within months of one another’s theatrical
runs. When 2013 seemed to signal the end
of his filmography with Side Effects, four years elapsed until his
return with Logan Lucky followed by his experimental iPhone indie Unsane
with a renewed energy and minimalism to his productions. Scaling back the budgets considerably as
well, it is something of a full circle comeback to his indie roots beginning
with Sex, Lies and Videotape. His
most recent venture Presence picked up by NEON marks the director’s
first foray into the supernatural horror subgenre and as such is a bit of a
redux of screenwriter David Koepp’s Stir of Echoes as far as an
unfinished business ghost-story but Soderbergh’s brilliant technical approach
and the performances give it a remarkable emotional weight not felt in this
arena since Peter Medak’s The Changeling.
Utilizing the Poltergeist font in the opening titles,
Presence begins silently in an empty home seemingly from the perspective
of an entity or spirit roaming about the floors and staircases endlessly when a
family named The Paynes consisting of married couple Rebekah (Lucy Liu), Chris
(Chris Sullivan) and their two children Tyler (Eddy Maday) and his younger
sister Chloe (Callina Liang) is shown the household by a realtor. While Chloe is grieving the death of her
friend Nadia who was one of two girls who died in their sleep in the community,
she begins sensing the presence and begins believing it might be the spirit of
Nadia. Meanwhile Tyler introduces Chloe
to his druggie friend Ryan (West Mulholland) who begins making moves on her
including but not limited to spiking her drinks, prompting a torrent of
paranormal activities that will bring all the principal characters together in
ways unexpected and moving.
Again a bit of a companion piece to Stir of Echoes only
with Steven Soderbergh editing and shooting the piece himself at an astounding
speed, reportedly only allowing two takes per shot in a total of only eleven
days, Presence is a lean mean little spin on the paranormal horror
subgenre featuring strong performances from its young cast and particularly the
parents played by Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan.
Lucy Liu gives one of her most emotional performances to date here
conveying emotions of grief while Chris Sullivan makes the father figure a
complex man who is growing apart from his wife and her fraudulent work
activities. Still the ones who own this
movie are the three teen actors Callina Liang, Eddy Maday and West Mulholland
who bring this saga with the omniscient first-person point-of-view camera perspective
of the Presence into a thrilling roller coaster ride with moments of
genuine terror and suspense.
Released theatrically in January of 2025 against Flight
Risk and Brave the Dark, the taut little Soderbergh spin on Stir
of Echoes by way of Poltergeist with the same wide-angled aesthete
as Unsane, Presence did well critically and commercially against
a tight budget and release. Made for $2
million, it went on to rake in around $9.3 million and helped renew interest in
Lucy Liu’s career. Steven Soderbergh is
hitting his stride again with another film Black Bag while Presence finishes
up in theaters and enjoys streaming rentals while screenwriter David Koepp is
also having something of a career renaissance.
A little bit of a game changer in the pantheon of unfinished business
ghost-stories where the camera itself is the main star, Presence like
the title will sneak up on you where you least expect it and for Soderbergh has
fashioned maybe his most emotional film experience since Erin Brockovich or
Traffic. Soderbergh still has it
and this one packed quite a spectral punch.
--Andrew Kotwicki
