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Review: Presence

ogradyfilm


Presence is a fascinating formal experiment. Plenty of horror movies utilize camerawork that resembles the gravity-defying movement of a lurking specter; here, however, the device becomes the central gimmick around which the entire story revolves: the audience experiences the action exclusively through the point-of-view of the spirit haunting the house that the protagonists inhabit. It gracefully glides from room to room, ethereal and disembodied. We see only what it chooses to observe; its occasional interactions with its environment—rearranging disorganized books, rattling cluttered shelves, spilling the contents of drinking glasses—likewise shape the conflict, complicating the characters’ relationships and pushing them to ever greater extremes.


While David Koepp’s lean, economical screenplay provides a solid narrative foundation—finding suspense not in spectacular supernatural phenomena, but rather in comparatively mundane human drama (e.g., psychological trauma, anxiety over one’s own mortality, the gradual dissolution of the family unit)—Steven Soderbergh’s patient, methodical direction is what truly elevates the film, giving the material ample space to breathe. The result is a triumph of craft and cinematic technique, as emotionally resonant as it is stylistically adventurous. The unconventional visual presentation won’t be every viewer’s cup of tea—but it certainly appealed to my sensibilities.

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