Presence

Synopsis: A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone.

Review:

The movie opens with the view of an empty home, and the camera making it’s way through the space teaching the audience how to watch this movie. Next the we seen a real estate agent named Cece arrive just ahead of her clients, Cece is played by Julia Fox. Her clients are the Payne family, a family of four: mother Rebecca who is played by Lucy Lui, father Chris played by Chris Sullivan, a son named Tyler played by Eddy Maday making is screen debut, and younger sister Chloe who is truly the center of the story, played by Callina Liang. We quickly see the dynamic of the family, Rebecca is driven and focused on the school district of her first born, the father and daughter have an aside about her instant decision to buy the house within 2 minutes.

The Presence is seeing many of the family members at their worst and the disfunction of the family is on full display, the siblings are constantly fighting and the parents relationship is truly strained. The mother, Rebecca is overheard talking on the phone about sketchy things having to do with her jobs and we have this confirmed when Chris reaches out and has a conversation with a friend who is a lawyer about the implications on a husband of his wife’s crimes. This and all the other strain has Chris is considering leaving Rebecca who is dismissive of his concerns and obsessed over their son Tyler, an arrogant champion swimmer. Rebecca has little time or attention for her daughter Chloe, almost feeling like she is tired of her and her issues much like her brother, Tyler. At the same time Chris is concerned for his daughter Chloe, who on top of grieving the deaths of the two girls she knew one of which was her best friend Nadia, is seemingly more and more withdrawn from everything and everyone.

The Presence often hides in Chloe’s closet and eventually she senses the Presence and assumes it is is the spirit of Nadia. Tyler makes a friend with a popular boy named Ryan, who is played by West Mulholland and he quickly finds his way to Chloe. They start hanging out and get high and talk about the feelings around losing a friend and there lives, until Chloe breaks down sobbing and Ryan is a shoulder for her to cry on literally. Ryan is constantly assuring Chloe that she is in control with his and that she will decide when and where they have sex. Ryan is vulnerable and lets Chloe in on his psychological issues and obsession with control. When they are starting to head towards having sex the Presence makes a shelf in Chloe’s closet collapse halting them in their tracks. Later on a different day when Chloe and Ryan have sex and afterwards we see Ryan spike a drink but the Presence eventually knocks over and spills the glass before Chloe can drink it. We hear Tyler telling a story that he and his friends prank a female classmate convince her to send over an intimate photo of her and then circulated that photo it on social media. His mother Rebecca is supportative and a cheerleader for his antics, but his father Chris and Chloe are appalled. When this story and scene unfold the Presence head’s directly to Tyler’s room and trashes it and in turn reveals itself to the rest of the family.

Chris immediately calls the realtor and asks the question if anyone died in this home and they insists no one died in the home, as she’d legally have to disclose that. The real estate recommends her friend, a medium come by the home. We see the family greet the medium who immediately senses the Presence and notes the antique mirror built into the fireplace mantle that has connections to the spiritual plane. While there the medium realizes that Chloe can also sense the Presence eluding to trauma has opened a metaphysical door to the other side. The medium mentions that the Presence is here for a reason suggesting that the Presence sees time differently then us, often confusing past with present. Both Tyler and Rebecca dismiss the medium as nonsense shortly after we see Chloe and Chris have a conversation in which he reveals that he believes Chloe’s claims. Chris admits that he has become more religious with time as his age has brought him experience. The medium returns and talks to Chris who tells her that others at the house don’t want her there, she tells Chris she believes the Presence is here to prevent a future event, something to do with “the window that doesn’t open.”

At Ryan’s convinces Chloe to spend the night together while her parents are away on a business trip, Chloe reminds him that Tyler will still be home. As soon as the parents leave, Ryan arrives and pours drinks and drugs Tyler and this leaves him asleep in the living room. Ryan then pours drinks and spikes one of them and takes the drinks up to Chloe’s room. When Ryan arrives in her room, Chloe admits to him that she’s not comfortable with the situation any longer and he manipulates her into comforting him and “just talking” over the drinks. Eventually Chloe consumes the spiked drink and it leaves her incapacitated and Ryan gloats that he killed Nadia and made it look like an overdose. Ryan takes out ultra-thin plastic wrap to repeatedly cut off her air supply but pulling back and letting her breathe in a game of cat and mouse with her life. After seeing this the Presence flys down the stairs and rages and eventually wakes up Tyler. Tyler stumbles and runs upstairs, tackles Ryan and they both go out her window. The Presence looks out the window to the bodies below on the driveway below.

After a cut to black we see the family moving out of the house but before leaving Rebecca senses the Presence and follows it to the mirror. Rebecca screams as she sees Tyler’s reflection in the mirror and breaks down in grief. The view and perspective of the Presence heads out the door and floats out and above the house as the family leaves the home.

I really enjoyed this film, I think the pace and length of the film made some details more generic and less fleshed out. I will take as many of Steven Soderbergh’s big swing approaches to movies that he wants to churn out. The perspective is really an interesting and effective way to tell the story. Seems like there is something in the air, we now have a 2nd film within a year that has decided to shoot from a first person perspective and did so effectively, the other was Nickel Boys.