PRESENCE

US, 2024, 85 minutes, Colour.

Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, West Mulholland, Eddie Maday, Julia Fox.

Directed by Steven Soderberg.

An eerie opening. The camera roams through a large dark and empty house, many rooms, staircases, gazing out the windows, the eye of the camera seeming to be the Presence. And this continues even in daylight, even when a family of four arrives to look at the house in order to move in. The style of the roving camera also suggests something of paranormal activity.

And, quietly, even minimally at first, there is something paranormal.

However, the drama is focused on the family. The mother, Lucy Liu, is a business-woman, always looking at her phone, brisk and decision-making, dominant. On the other hand, her husband, Chris Sullivan, has left the decisions to his wife, is suspicious of some shady aspects of what her business might be doing, but is devoted to his children. The son, Eddie Maday, eyes on his phone, petulant towards his sister, his mother’s favourite, some tantrums. The daughter, Calina Liang, is a somewhat introspective teenager, upset at two deaths of girlfriends at her school, alleged suicides. She is the first to notice strange disturbances in her room.

Another aspect of the film is that it is presented in what it might be called short chapters, a particular focus, an incident, a conversation – and then fading to black.

This is a film by Steven Soderberg who has been making all kinds of films for 35 years, big budget (the Ocean’s series), many experimental like this one, filmed in three weeks within the confines of the house, Soderberg always acting as his cinematographer and editor (using nom de plumes). The screenplay is by David Koepp, better known for big budget screenplays.

So, the important thing about Presence is suggestion rather than dramatics. For those who are interested in family dramas, there are interesting sequences of family dynamics, especially where the father explains to his daughter his own difficulties in relating to his mother. But, there is also another character, the son’s friend who comes to visit, rather casual in his approach, but eventually taking a liking to the daughter, becoming involved in sexual activity, causing stress to the girl.

There are moments of paranormal activity, puzzling, the camera quivering, but all the time the camera observing, a presence.

There is a development towards the end of the film, unexpected, disturbing.

For the impatient audience, the process will seem too slow. For audiences who take the film as it comes, adjusting to its pace, interested in its themes and characterisations, Soderberg’s film and his style can be intriguing.

1. The title, the focus on presence? The camera and into roving is the presence? But what the camera is representing? And the overtones of paranormal activity?
2. Small budget, filmed in three weeks, within the house, the camera roving at the opening, all the rooms, staircases, the dark? The transition to the light? The camera still roving, looking out the windows? Observing the activity outside the window, cars driving past, the estate agent arriving, the workers coming into the house, the suggestion that something is awry? The atmospheric score?
3. The of the film in sections, mini chapters, the fading to black, suggestions, a touch disjointed? The effect?
4. The title, audience expectations? Horror? Scare? Or atmosphere?
5. The agent, arriving, in a hurry, turning the lights on, welcoming the visitors, explaining the mirror, persuasive?
6. The family, the arrival, the successive brief chapters, the house furnished, settling in, the rooms, the daughter’s room and the photos, the son’s room? Meals? Discussions?
7. The mother, businesslike, decision-making, love for her husband, her children, the son her favourite? On the phone, the business deals, suggestion of shady aspects? Her husband’s suspicions, his becoming exasperated, tempted to leave? Relationship with his children? The discussion with his daughter about his own relationship with his mother? The son, phone, room, moods, his friend coming to visit?
8. The suggestions of the paranormal, the books moving in the air, the camera quivering, the shelf crashing…?
9. The discussion about the two girls dying, the effect on the daughter, suicide or foul play? The sense of presence and the atmosphere of the girls and their death?
10. The friend, arriving again, friendly with the daughter, the sexual encounter, her response? His return, her resistance? The effect on him?
11. The friend, his attack, masking the daughter, the revelation about the other girls, his malice and motivation?
12. The sense of presence, alerting the brother, his rushing upstairs, seeing his friend, attacking him, their falling out the window, their deaths?
13. The consequences, the family moving out, the mother taking some time, their leaving?
14. The camera, moving out of the house, the overview of the house itself, the street, the location?
15. The overall effect, impatient viewers and its slowness, others surrendering to the style of the film and its atmosphere?