Clearly in the midst of several facets of crisis, a family of four moves into an idyllic neighborhood to advance the social and athletic success of their son while providing a fresh start for his younger sister, who just suffered a terrible loss. There’s just one problem - someone or something is already inhabiting the home. In addition to directing, Soderbergh literally picks up the camera as cinematographer to provide “Presence” a methodical single-set approach filmed from the spirit’s point of view (POV).
Despite utilizing many long shots from the spirit’s POV limited to the confines of the home, “Presence” still provides its cast with the space and freedom to deliver knockout performances. Newcomer Callina Liang steals the show as the young daughter who first senses the mysterious spirit. Playing a father desperately trying to hold himself and his family together, Chris Sullivan is the perfect foil to Lucy Liu’s explosive portrayal of the domineering mother.
However, while the precision and degree of use of POV long takes are the kind of risk-taking innovation we’ve come to expect from Soderbergh, the early scenes in particular fall a little flat. The fact that this minimalist execution is quite deliberate doesn’t make it any more enjoyable. The spirit of the movie is really carried by David Koepp’s razor-sharp script. Tension builds though-out the film not from otherworldly interactions or jump scares, but increased family sparring.
Soderbergh and Koepp of course tie it all up with a final act rewarding enough, but most of the audience probably left the theater wishing the prolific director took 12-13 days instead of a miraculous 11 days to shoot the film.
“Presence” screening times are listed in the Sundance Program at: https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/656a4ffafac9f434c5c077ff but the film is not available for online streaming.
