| The camera moves slowly and then quickly through the house, smooth but unorthodox motions – as if it is a ghost. And that’s because it is a ghost. Presence tells the story of a family who have just moved into a new house, all from the point of view of a ghost, a presence, living in that house with them. But let’s get one thing clear: contrary to the marketing, this is not a horror movie; this is a family drama disguised as a ghost story. | | 2024
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay by: David Koepp
Starring: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan
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Mom Rebekah (Lucy Liu) is a very driven, hard-working, results-oriented person; if she wants something done, like buying a new house, she’s going to do it. Dad Chris (Chris Sullivan) is more even-keeled than his wife, a little more thoughtful and compassionate in his response to life and family. They have two teenage kids. Older son Tyler (Eddy Maday) is a competitive swimmer, and takes after his mother, and he’s the reason for the move – Rebekah wanted him in the right school district for the top swimming recruitment school in the country. Then we have younger daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), the star of the movie, and also the reason for the move.
The mother drives this family, she very openly and repeatedly says the move is about getting Tyler into the right school. She dotes after her son, and will do anything to protect him. Meanwhile Chloe is suffering from the loss of her two friends, rumored to be drug addicts who died in their sleep. Chris thinks it was too early to uproot Chloe from the school and home she knew while she’s still grieving. Personally, I think the move was the mother’s desperate attempt to get Chloe out of her depression, but she would never say that or admit it, it’s way easier to say it’s to help Tyler.
Unbeknownst to them, there’s a ghost living in their new house. You can actually get a sense of the ghost’s loneliness, while it wistfully looks out the window waiting for new buyers, how it rushes down the stairs for the family’s arrival. Using a ghost as a point of view to tell a domestic drama is creative and surprisingly effective. I was a little worried that the constantly moving camera would get annoying or hard to watch, but it never was, and it really helps highlight the ghost’s presence.
The ghost is immediately drawn to Chloe. I think there are a few different reasons for this, but the prominent one that the movie likes to explore is Chloe’s belief that there is a ghost in the house – that of her dead best friend Nadia. As you should be able to guess by now, mother and son don’t believe in ghosts. Chris is so sympathetic to Chloe’s grief that he’s willing to explore the idea that there is a presence.
There is a lot going on beneath the surface – all within the family dynamics, Chris and Rebekah’s relationship, Tyler and Chloe’s animosity-driven brother-sister relationship, and how each kid takes after one parent. It all comes together to tell a traumatic story of a teenage girl’s recent experiences with death, and a ghost that just experienced death itself.
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