PRESENCE and the Birth of a New Horror Sub-Genre

From the director of Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Erin Brockovich, and Ocean’s Eleven comes PRESENCE: a new film from Steven Soderbergh. Featuring outstanding performances from Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox.

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

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by David Koepp

Starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Julia Fox, Eddy Maday, Callina Liang, West Mulholland

The weekend box office is in and it’s no surprise that the most marketed movies with star power and screens took the prizes. FLIGHT RISK took the top spot, and Mufasa continued its domination at number two.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, NEON’s entry, PRESENCE, took ninth place, taking in $3.4 on 1,700 screens. And I’m not surprised.

Not unlike last year’s surprise, the indy slasher film IN A VIOLENT NATURE, PRESENCE tells us the story from the antagonist’s POV. And now, as more of these first-person POV films are being made, the rules for them are being established. Rules?  Yes, rules. For example, these films are slow burns. Both IN A VIOLENT NATURE and PRESENCE move along at what some may call a snail’s pace, something similar to much of the “elevated” horror that has come out in recent years (Elevated Horror: ie: the last new sub-genre, and a perfect example of it is Egger’s NOSFERATU!).

POV movies tend to include aspects found in found footage films. This includes incorrect focusing, out of frame action, the audio is often muddy, and you get a little shaky cam when necessary. Robert Montgomery first tried this technique with a Philip Marlow noir mystery, THE LADY IN THE LAKE, some 80 years ago. It’s been used sparingly over the years, but mostly as a portion of a film. Take WESTWORLD’s android scenes, or HALLOWEEN’s classic one shot open for perfect examples. HARDCORE HENRY launched the modern era of this format a little over a decade ago, but it wasn’t until last year when the horror industry got its grubby little paws on it, that First-Person POV films have come to the forefront.  

Horror likes to push boundaries, as we know. And experimental filmmaking tends to work best for the little niche genre that makes bank at the cinema. The cost of making a horror film vs the return is extraordinary. So experimenting with this genre only makes sense. If it fails, you didn’t lose out on much. If it works, you make a boat load of money. The Blair Witch Project did this 25 years ago with the found footage sub-genre. And now horror has a new darling, and the offerings from it are only going to get better as they are made a released.

It’s only logical that one of the first films in this “new” sub-genre to get attention was an indy film, last year’s IN A VIOLENT NATURE. It’s a natural progression for a big studio and big studio names to get involved after the indies break the water. Enter veteran filmmakers Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp, who take the framework of IN A VIOLENT NATURE and move it from the campground to your house, to tell a near perfect by-the-numbers haunted house story. The haunted house from the ghost’s perspective has been done a few times, with THE OTHERS being a standout in the field. But PRESENCE goes full on First-Person POV with its spiritual entity, at once adding more depth to the new sub-genre while staying true to its roots.

The problem I had with IN A VIOLENT NATURE, is the same problem I have had with many of the recent additions to the horror catalogue attempting to do something different. LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL was great, until they shifted the POV. IN A VIOLENT NATURE suffers from the same POV shift in the third act, as it moved from the slasher to the final girl. PRESENCE is superior to both films, in that it sticks the landing by staying true to its promises and never once shifts POV. 

PRESENCE is quiet horror. 2024 started with a quiet horror flick, NIGHT SWIM. It was met with a bathwater reception, and though NIGHT SWIM was well made and had a great cast, it failed to connect with audiences. And that’s where PRESENCE is superior, and gets it right. You feel for the cast, because at its heart, PRESENCE is a family drama. It flips tropes on its head and addresses toxic masculinity better than WOLFMAN by showing us a nurturing caring father figure in Chris Sullivan’s Dad. Daughter Chloe, played by Callina Liang, is poorly dealing with grief over the deaths of her friends. The toxic relationship between her athlete brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) and their mother, Lucy Liu’s Rebecca, drives the narrative; as decisions they both make impact the family.

 It’s not a perfect film, as the First Person POV sub-genre experiences some pacing issues, but is worth your time. Fans of the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY films and THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE TV series will enjoy this quirky film. What are some of your favorite haunted house and ghost stories?