"Presence" - Steven Soderbergh's weekend project.

Josh
Mar 24, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Apr 23, 2025

Steven Soderbergh (2025)

Best student film ever.

For me, Steven Soderbergh is one of those directors I keep forgetting about his filmography but every time I look back to it I realise how varied his range is. From the Ocean’s (2001, 2004, 2007) films to Magic Mike (2012, 2023), down to Kimi (2022) or Sex, Lies and Videotapes (1989), he’s someone who isn’t afraid just to take on various genres. And it shows with Presence. This is something I would expect to come out of a film school that gave their students next to no budget, being a good ol’ single location film that cleverly uses the floating camera as the point of view of the Presence within this house. It’s so minimal yet effective in its presentation, thematically it deals with some heavy concepts and dramatic beats.

Written by Hollywood veteran screenwriter David Koepp, known for some of the biggest Hollywood movies out there such as Jurrasic Park (1993), Spider-man (2002), Mission Impossible (1996), and many, many more, comes half a script. And I say that lovingly. Because Koepp has set up a complex series of characters presented in a way where we witness portions of the family's life. This is a method of screenwriting that I love as the movie will just start and you pick up the pieces as you go. From the POV of the Presence that occupies the house, gliding through an empty house, it watches a family inspect the home. Straight away we understand the dynamic of the family. A Mother worried about their son's schooling, a Father reluctantly agreeing while trying to bring their depressed daughter into the picture.

*Callina Liang in "Presence" - Courtesy of Neon*

From the perspective of the Presence, time works differently. It skips time throughout specific points in the family's life and key conversations. Like a Presence that appears in and out of the family's affairs, we get snippets of their conversations and we can interpret the external lives of these characters. Chloe, the daughter, played by Callina Liang, takes the room where the Presence resides as the only one in the family who can sense it. And it creates an uncanny feeling as she stares towards the camera towards the audience. Amplified by a scene that is typically found in haunting movies, a psychic (Natalie Woolams-Torres) comes to do a reading on the house. As soon as she enters the house, she stops right in front of the camera like she’s about to run into the person operating it and stares in horror down the lens. It’s the small moments like this that elevate it beyond a bland Conjuring-style haunting movie.

Lucy Lui plays Rebekah, an ever-working focused mother who seems to favour the more popular and ambitious son, Tyler, played by Eddy Maday. An athlete who is trying to make it big at school befriending the popular kid, Ryan (West Mulholland). The connection between the Mother and Son seems to go very deep, as we have this awkward scene of her talking about doing anything for your family even if it’s wrong and how she’s never felt connected to someone as she does with him. Almost like in a manner like she’s talking to a partner. The father, Chris, played by Christ Sullivan, has a more sympathetic connection to Chloe who has gone through a traumatic experience, having two friends who have recently died with no known cause. Although not explicitly spelt out, it’s alluded to that one of her friends could be the thing haunting the house.

*Lucy Liu in "Presence" - Courtesy of Neon*

It can be read that the spirit is one of those girls or just a presence that is out to protect Chloe. As we get to see emotion from the POV of the Presence. As Tyler is talking about an insensitive prank they pulled on a girl at school, again with some great character moments where the Mother is gripped on every word while the Father has his head hung in shame, the camera glides up his room and starts throwing trophies off the walls and books around the room. And these protective emotional reactions are used against threats towards Chloe from Ryan, who although can sleep with her, still attempts to use a date rape drug on her.

Looking at the consensus from audiences, it’s unsurprising that this didn’t sit right with everyone. The trailer does capitalise on the more intense paranormal moments and does highlight the core gimmick, although it seems marketing this as a horror movie feels somewhat misleading. It is extremely reserved in its scares as the Presence barely interacts with anyone while utilising the metaphor of horrors found in man. Whether it’s a man taking advantage of a girl or a Mother putting their family at risk by doing shady deals at work. This is sadly a plot thread that is set up to be reasonably interesting although ends up going nowhere. With the gliding wide lens, it did remind me of The Shining (1980) where scares and drama can be pulled from family affairs while the horrors in the location act more as a catalyst to reveal all.

As much as I would want to discuss the ending and its impactfulness, it’s one that is best experienced first-hand. It’s extremely simple in its presentation but one that I have not been able to get out of my head. It’s one that ties the whole movie in a nice bow and is like a gut punch. And it’s all amplified by simple camera movements where in any other movie it could be seen as underwhelming but here it worked extremely well.

While it’s not something I would recommend it anyone, I would still push to at least give it a go. I would imagine the family drama could be enough to keep people engaged as the gimmick can blend into the background a little bit. For me, it’s a haunting movie that will stick in my head as a new and unique literal perspective on the genre. Showing that you don’t need much spectacle to create effective scenes. Just a room, fishing wire, an athletic cameraman and an idea.