By Amanda Gilmore
It’s been 35 years since Director Steven Soderbergh has had a Feature film at Sundance. All those years ago he brought Sex, Lies and Videotape which won the Audience Award: Dramatic in 1989. He’s been back since with his TV Show The Girlfriend Experience in 2009.
However, his big return follows a family that moves into a suburban home. Shortly after moving in, their daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), still grieving the sudden death of her best friend, senses a supernatural spirit within.
Soderbergh always finds new ways to use the camera. He was the first established Director to shoot films with an iPhone. Additionally, he always finds new ways to bring audiences into a story. He’s back at it again with Presence. This time around he’s used the camera to tell this story through an entirely new —and inventive— perspective. His camera is the ghost’s perspective. Thus, putting a whole new spin on the Haunted House genre.
Screenwriter David Koepp’s Script mixes multiple genres. It begins as a Domestic Drama. We see this family in all its dysfunction. It’s most fascinating seeing the mother (a fantastic Lucy Liu) who favours her son over her daughter. As the story progresses, it leans more into the ghost and Haunted House subgenres. It succeeds at every turn because of Soderbergh’s choice of perspective.
Presence screens at Sundance ’24:
Jan 19 at 9:45 PM at Library Centre Theatre
Jan 20 at 9:00 AM at Egyptian Theatre
Jan 21 at 9:00 PM at Rose Wagner Centre
Jan 23 at 8:00 PM at Eccles Theatre
Jan 27 at 2:30 PM at Redstone Cinemas – 1
Jan 28 at 11:00 AM at Magaplex Theatres at The Gateway – Theatre 1/2/3
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