Soderbergh’s odd need to use fake names surely began years ago as some legal stunt, and now it’s probably just a strange gag, but when you’re this hugely respected filmmaker you can basically do what you want.
Beginning with a movie that pretty much created the whole ‘indie cinema’ movement (Sex, Lies, And Videotape back in 1989), Steven has since turned out: audience-pleasing blockbusters (the modern Ocean’s pics); Oscar-friendly biopics (Erin Brockovich); sci-fi remakes (Solaris); historical epics (Che: Part One and Two); character/action comedies (Logan Lucky); experimental horrors (Unsane); techno-fear thrillers (Kimi); and so, so much more.
Some audiences will be surprised by this made-in-secret outing because, as the title suggests, this is entirely a movie about a ghost, and it’s not a spoiler to point out that the whole thing is from the ghost’s perspective, and this paranormal force is actually the protagonist. We open with a long, complex sequence with the camera swooping around a New Jersey house – up and down stairs, restlessly in and out of rooms – and it soon becomes clear that this isn’t a ‘God’s Eye’ storytelling trick for our benefit, but the presence itself.
The Payne family moves in, with Mom Rebecca (Lucy Liu), Dad Chris (Chris Sulivan), teen son Tyler (Eddy Maday), and daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) all struggling to deal with Chloe’s continuing grief over the recent deaths of two friends. Scenes play out over what seems months (each with a final fade-to-black) as the presence observes, and key plot threads emerge: Chris is deeply unhappy, and his relationship with Rebecca is strained; Tyler is being cruel to his classmates, probably due to the influence of new pal Ryan (West Mulholland); and the intuitive Chloe believes that there’s something in the house, and she even thinks she knows who it might be.
The poltergeist presence eventually does start moving books, knocking over glasses, ransacking a closet, and more, but this is no Conjuring or Woman In Black, with Koepp’s script moving from eerie psychodrama to conversations about existential dread, and beyond.
Just long enough at a brisk 84 minutes, Soderbergh’s film might prove controversial for its many unanswered questions, but that’s life.
And death too.
Presence is now screening at cinemas.
3.5 stars out of 5
