Movie Review: ‘Presence’

The new movie, written by David Koepp sees a family haunted by a ghost, but from an intriguing perspective.

Callina Liang as Chloe in 'Presence'. Photo: Neon.

‘Presence’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.

Opening in theaters on January 24th, ‘Presence’ is the latest film from Steven Soderbergh, who seemingly never stops wanting to play with format and style, and usually to interesting effect.

While his new supernatural drama certainly has some elements to recommend it, what works about the movie does end up getting a little lost within his format-tinkering, the style somewhat overcoming the substance of the emotional, human story at its core.

Will ‘Presence’ haunt your thoughts?

Callina Liang as Chloe in 'Presence'. Photo: Neon.

Soderbergh really does enjoy pushing boundaries, trying out different genres such as action or heist movie and seeing what he can do within the playground he assigns himself.

For ‘Presence,’ the focus is seemingly on the likes of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ movies, supernatural stories with people at their core, though with a twist –– using the camera as main viewpoint, the drama here unfolds before the gaze of a spirit haunting a house that sees a new family move in.

As they bicker and deceive, we watch, initially passively until the entity decides to try and influence matters. And suffice to say, there are plenty of reasons to get involved, since bad decisions lead to life-threatening situations and head into areas we won’t spoil.

Trouble is, with the main story effectively happening in front of our floating eyes, the connection with most of the characters feels remote, and its hard –– at least until the later stages –– to really empathize with much of the drama unfolding.

Script and Direction

(L to R) Callina Liang, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday, Lucy Liu and Julia Fox in 'Presence'. Photo: Neon.

Veteran writer David Koepp, who has some experience working with Soderbergh at this point (via the likes of pandemic era-thriller ‘Kimi’ and 2025 release ‘Black Bag,’ is also no stranger to supernatural themes.

As both writer and director, he previously brought us ‘Stir of Echoes’ (coincidentally featuring a “Special Thanks” credit for Soderbergh, who presumably gave notes on the film as it was developed and then edited), in which a haunted Kevin Bacon sees visions of a missing girl.

While that movie saw him adapting a Richard Matheson story, ‘Presence’ is an original work from Koepp, albeit one that was clearly written to satisfy Soderbergh’s wish to look at viewpoint and family from a different angle.

The trouble is, as mentioned above, it also sacrifices connection –– when the technical prowess and experimentation with style subsumes relatability with the characters, that distance makes the film less than the sum of its parts. And the storylines contained within are fairly rote; you’ll likely see where the one truly satisfying plot is going from early on.

As director (plus cinematographer and editor), Soderbergh is someone who has plenty of skill and talent to bring to bear, but you do sometimes wonder if he gets lost in the joy of experimentation and forgets to craft a truly rounded project. Still, no one should reject him for trying something different.

‘Presence’: Performances

As has been discussed, the performances here, barring one that stands out, are a little limited in terms of their impact.

Callina Liang as Chloe

Callina Liang stars in director Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence'.

Liang, a relative newcomer with some TV credits and a couple of other movies to her name, is tasked with carrying the emotional heavy load here. As the haunted Chloe (literally), grieving the death of her friend and dealing with the fact that her mother is focused almost entirely on her athlete brother, Liang brins nuance and pain to the role.

And when things become more dangerous for her down the line, she is one of the few performers who invites you into the story, her expressive face conveying more than the script.

Lucy Liu as Rebecca

Lucy Liu stars in director Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence'.

The matriarch of the family, Liu’s Rebecca is a seemingly complicated person who us in some trouble at work, but like most of the family, she’s largely a cipher, driving the plot along and saddled with a storyline that sometimes dips into very familiar squabbling parent syndrome.

Chris Sullivan as Chris

Chris Sullivan stars in director Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence'.

Sullivan is good at bringing world-weariness and unease to his character, Rebecca’s husband and the one person in the family who really seems to connect with Chloe. Sullivan does what he can with a role that, like the others, is at times underwritten.

Eddy Maday as Tyler

Eddy Maday stars in director Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence'.

As the eldest child of the family a swimmer with ambition and ego, Maday makes a solid acting debut, bringing the right levels of petulance and a loaded mean streak to the role.

Like Liang, he’s also entirely believable as a teenager used to getting their own way and also seeking friendship and acceptance in the world.

West Mulholland as Ryan

West Mulholland stars in director Steven Soderbergh's 'Presence'.

Ryan is the chaotic element of the movie; though we won’t exactly say how –– he’s Tyler’s new friend from school and shows a lustful interest in Chloe, one she initially indulges. Mulholland is solid in the part, particularly when called up to show the character’s more dangerous side.

Final Thoughts

(L to R) Chris Sullivan and Lucy Liu in 'Presence'. Photo: Neon.

If there’s one movie that ‘Presence’ puts me in mind of, it’s Robert Zemeckis’ recent effort ‘Here,’ whose gimmick was locking down the camera to show one room through decades and even millennia of time.

While Soderbergh’s effort is more successful, it still doesn’t feel like a complete movie, and at times like a film school project that is on the way to working but hasn’t quite gotten to that point. A skimpy 85-minute running time means you’ll never be bored, but it also tries to cram in several different character arcs and only really has time for one of them to become satisfying.

A sudden surprise near the end as the revelation occurs can’t compensate for what is an experiment that is noble yet crucially flawed.