Presence 4K 2024

Steven Soderbergh is experimenting again.

The plot of “Presence” at first glance seems formulaic: a family moves into a new house, where they encounter the paranormal. If we talk about the action, then that's it.

Active development of events is not worth waiting for. The plot revolves around the internal experiences of the characters, their secrets and secrets. The ghost here acts only as a catalyst for their disclosure.

In the center of the plot - a girl Chloe, experiencing the death of her friend, and a ghost wandering around the house, which is more like a lost soul than an evil entity.

However, Soderbergh inverts the usual pattern by shooting the movie “on behalf of the ghost”. The camera, like an invisible spirit, moves through the rooms, eavesdrops on conversations, observes and tries to interact with the characters.

The idea is to make the viewer feel like a participant in the events, not a passive observer.

But unfortunately, in practice, this idea doesn't work as well as it sounds. Instead of immersion, a first-person “video game” effect is created, which I personally found unconvincing.

Pseudo-documentary filming refers, for example, to the “Paranormal Phenomenon” series of movies. Only in those films there is much more realism and tension.

Pumped up and PR-campaign of the movie. It's a shame that once again the viewer is deliberately confused. I don't know when marketers will realize that deceiving expectations is a move that leads to disappointment and low ratings.

Examples abound:

- “Saw. Joker” - a movie that has nothing to do with either ‘Saw’ or ‘Joker’ (a complaint to localizers and marketers who blatantly lie in the trailer);

- “Destination” - unrelated to the franchise;

And now “Presence,” which was positioned as a “chilling horror” but in fact turned out to be a meditative drama.

On the way out, we have:

- deceived expectations;

- a minimalist, almost empty plot;

- an ambitious but unrealized idea with a camera;

- existential questions instead of horror.

I do not recommend the movie for viewing. It wasn't scary, but it was boring.