A nimble camera and atmospheric tension drive Steven Soderbergh’s supernatural family drama.
By Dana Barbuto/Boston Movie News
Steven Soderbergh has built his reputation by experimenting with form and content. He consistently pushes boundaries, from Oscar-winning dramas like “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic” to mainstream hits like the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise and ventures like “High Flying Bird” (his second film shot entirely on an iPhone). With his latest film, “Presence,” Soderbergh applies his inventive sensibilities to the supernatural, crafting a somewhat unnerving family drama where his camera becomes as much a character as the people it observes. The gimmick eventually runs out of steam, but there are worse places to be than trapped inside a haunted house with Soderbergh telling a ghost story.
In “Presence,” Soderbergh, per usual, pulls double duty as director and cinematographer, using his lens to embody a silent, omnipresent observer. The entire film takes place inside a single house that serves as both setting and silent witness to the unraveling of a suburban family. From the opening moments, Soderbergh’s deft visual style creates a sense of voyeuristic unease, as if the walls themselves are watching. The camera glides through the halls, spying on the family’s most intimate and fractured moments: a wife telling her husband that their daughter “can’t take us all down with her” or slurring to her son that “everything she does is for him.” We overhear the husband making an uneasy phone call to a lawyer about his wife’s shady work situation.
Written by David Koepp (“Jurassic Park,” “Mission: Impossible”) and inspired by Soderbergh’s own experience with a haunted Los Angeles home, the film stars Lucy Liu as Rebekah, a wine-guzzling, self-absorbed mother who dotes on her son (Eddie Maday), an elite high school swimmer, while maintaining a strained and distant relationship with her grief-stricken daughter Chloe (Callina Liang). Meanwhile, Chloe’s father, Chris (Chris Sullivan), attempts to fill the gap, focusing his attention on her even as the family dynamics crumble.
The spirit in the home has an unusual fixation on Chloe. Books move mysteriously from her bed to her desk. A glass of drugged juice spills before she can drink it. Even the house painter refuses to enter her room, sensing something is amiss. Chloe herself is dealing with the trauma of losing two friends to fentanyl overdoses and finds a fleeting distraction in Ryan (West Mulholland), her brother’s friend who looks like he walked out of a mid-90s Abercrombie ad. They drink, hook up, and try to outrun their respective pain, though their relationship is far from stable.
Despite Soderbergh’s nimble and attentive camera work, “Presence” never fully comes together. At just 89 minutes, the film feels slight, spending too much time cultivating atmosphere and aesthetics while sidelining plot, dialogue, and character development. The narrative doesn’t commit strongly enough to either its supernatural elements or its twisty teenage thrills, leaving both feeling underdeveloped. The script essentially boils down to this: A family moves into a house, strange things happen, and their lives unravel. By the end, the story’s threads only partially connect.
Still, “Presence” is a welcome detour for January, a month usually dominated by forgettable action flicks (like Mark Wahlberg’s “Flight Risk,” which didn’t even screen for Boston critics) or the last wave of Oscar hopefuls. While it may not haunt viewers long after the credits roll, there’s something to be said for the craftsmanship of Soderbergh’s spooky story.
‘Presence’
Rating: R for teen drinking, drug material, sexuality, language, violence.
Cast: Callina Liang, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday, Lucy Liu, West Mulholland
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: David Koepp
Running time: 89 minutes
Where to watch: In theaters
Grade: B
Boston Movie News 