Presence

Since Sundance is now over, I decided to see Presence, a film I enjoyed at last year's festival, now that it is in wide release.  I liked it more upon a second viewing because I was able to notice a lot more details.  A dysfunctional family, including a cold and uptight executive named Rebecca (Lucy Liu), her docile husband Chris (Chris Sullivan), her cocky son Tyler (Eddy Maday), and her depressed and neglected daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), moves into a large suburban home hoping to have a fresh start after the recent death of Chloe's best friend Nadia from a overdose.  As tensions between the family members intensify, Chloe begins to feel a presence within the house.  Other family members reject the idea of a ghost but it soon begins to make contact in a way that is protective of Chloe, especially when Tyler and his new friend Ryan (West Mulholland) act aggressively towards her.  The entire movie is from the POV of the ghost, achieved by having director Steven Soderbergh operate a handheld camera to follow and eavesdrop on the characters in long unbroken takes.  I was particularly struck by how the subtle movements of the camera seem to convey how the ghost is feeling about what it is seeing (I noticed that some of the early shots, especially those before the family inhabits the house, foreshadow what eventually happens as well as the identity of the ghost).  This is more of an atmospheric psychological thriller about a family in turmoil than a horror movie (the trailer is a little bit misleading) but it is extremely compelling with a thought-provoking twist at the end (which definitely made more sense to me after watching it a second time).  This is a clever spin on the traditional ghost story and I would definitely recommend it.