Presence (2025) Review: Ghost Story Lacks Scares But Ups the Drama

While not a typical horror movie, Presence creates a lasting sense of unease with its story.

Not all ghost stories are meant to scare you like The Conjuring or Paranormal Activity. Presence is a ghost story that follows a family moving into a new home and realizing there is a supernatural presence there with them. However, director Steven Soderbergh shot this movie from the ghost’s perspective. The result might have lacked scares, yet wove a fascinating drama between each member of the family, craftily shot, exploring the home and every aspect of the family’s relationship with each other. While not without its flaws, we have a decent horror movie out in January now!

Similar to In A Violent Nature last year, Presence is shot from the perspective of our entity as it observes our family subjects. It’s like a mix of that and Nickel Boys with how it was shot in the first person. Soderbergh does a phenomenal job behind the camera making it truly feel alive and giving it a personality. The medium in the film describes the presence as curious, unaware of where it is, not just physically but in time. It doesn’t know why it’s there either and Soderbergh captures that as it explores each room and eavesdrops on each person’s conversations. The editing is incredibly stylish too, especially towards the end when the presence needs to make itself known to the members of the family. While there are a ton of long takes, each long take is broken up by a black screen, almost making each moment like a vignette. Soderbergh masterfully takes this idea and brings it to life in such a visually immersive way and he deserves so much praise for all the work he did shooting this movie. 

The movie only takes place in the house, leaving only once the credits are getting ready to roll. I liked this because not only does it reinforce the idea that we are the ghost experiencing the events of the movie, but allows us to live in the house as well, making it a character as well. We get to experience what it’s like to be Chloe, hearing Tyler come up the stairs to bring a friend up the stairs, or how Chris watches the Red Sox while eating takeout alone.  

Outside of the camerawork, the strongest part of the movie is the family dynamics. Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as the parents have such a complex relationship with each other. The movie doesn’t hold your hand as it progresses its story: we only hear their conversations from them and what anyone else says about them so we have to piece together clues from their mannerisms and behaviors. For instance, when Lucy Liu is on her computer, she deletes certain emails in batches. We never see from who, but when Chris enters the room, she instinctively shields her screen and moves to the other side of the bed when he approaches her, clearly indicating there is something beyond their marriage she is hiding from him, somewhat confirmed as they’re about to go on a business trip together and he asks about a certain colleague of hers. 

The sibling’s dynamic is also fascinating. Callina Liang is the star of this movie as she plays Chloe, the young sister to star athlete and prodigal son Tyler, played by Eddy Maday. As a familiar trope, she is not the apple of her mother’s eye as she is a pure boy-mom. Chloe is also dealing with the loss of two of her friends from “overdoses” (watch the movie and you’ll know why it’s in quotes). Tyler has his mom around his finger and can get away with anything, to the dismay of his dad, and we begin to see factions form within the family. All this happens before the ghost ever makes its presence known to Chloe, who is the first to sense it. 

My girlfriend told me that she overheard people talking in the bathroom after the movie and they described it as “the part of porn you skip”. While graphic, it is a little understandable. There is a lot of the movie that feels like it is building up to resolutions that never come. Maybe it is something that doesn’t need answers because like real life, not every issue is solved in 90 minutes and even though the movie ends, you have to act like their lives will carry on and they’ll process the events they just endured in their own ways. I had no issues with the loose ends that weren’t tied up by the end because the ending is one of the wildest experiences. 

The ending ties everything up in such a personal, terrifying, and tragic way. Ghost stories are inherently sad because they are lost souls trapped in our world, but here it is only amplified. Here we are told by the medium that the presence is confusing and we’ll soon find his purpose, and when we do it is devastating. The way it ties into Chloe and the rest of the family leaves such a haunting lasting impression that has stuck with me well after I left the theater. With the crumbs the movie left leading up to its climax, it was such a rewarding payoff that left my mouth wide open. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Presence might lack scares but it delivers as a riveting familial drama from the point of view of a ghost. The movie weaves interesting storylines that you can piece together throughout the story, but they aren’t all rewarded. However, the ending is a big success in my opinion that succeeds on so many levels. Steven Soderbergh is really creative behind the camera, making our stand in its own character and thanks to him and his talented cast and crew, we can start 2025 on a high note.

3.5/5

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Connor Jameson
Connor Jamesonhttps://letterboxd.com/cnnrjmsn
I've always been a movie fan, but I first got big into cinema watching Whiplash when I was younger. That movie led to a greater appreciation of films and got me to dive into the medium. My favorite genre is horror movies, but I’ll always have a secret soft spot for rom coms and musicals. When I'm not podcasting or watching movies, I love working out and going hiking, and I currently work in business analytics with the degree I got from Western New England University. MY FAVORITE MOVIES: Good Will Hunting, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, Whiplash, Moneyball, Top Gun: Maverick
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Not all ghost stories are meant to scare you like The Conjuring or Paranormal Activity. Presence is a ghost story that follows a family moving into a new home and realizing there is a supernatural presence there with them. However, director Steven Soderbergh shot this movie...Presence (2025) Review: Ghost Story Lacks Scares But Ups the Drama