(Updated 11/05/2024)
Director Steven Soderbergh has made movies in nearly every genre, from drama to action and comedy. But he has never really made a horror movie — at least, until now. PRESENCE has a really simple premise: A family moves into a new home, and begins to believe that they are not alone.
(OK, with respect to Soderbergh doing horror, he has come close. The 2011 thriller CONTAGION, which became popular during the early days of Covid, is terrifying. So is his movie UNSANE, set in a psychiatric hospital. But neither is really horror; they're both really bleak thrillers. And they're certainly not supernatural in any way.)
Check out the eerie new trailer for PRESENCE, and we'll tell you more about this unusual ghost story.
What's the Presence Release Date?
NEON will release PRESENCE on January 24, 2025.
Watch the New Trailer for Presence
This trailer quickly shows that this is not a standard ghost story or horror movie. It seems to be told entirely through the POV of the spirit that haunts — or is trapped in — the house. Pullquotes highlight the fact that Soderbergh seems to be experimenting here. He does this occasionally, often to great effect. PRESENCE looks somewhat like his version of the movie A GHOST STORY made by David Lowery in 2017. There's no relationship between the films, but they appear to be complimentary.
Who's in the Cast of Presence?
The cast of PRESENCE is pretty tight because the movie is so focused on the family experience. Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan play Rebecca and Chris Payne. Callina Liang and Eddy Maday play their kids, Chloe and Tyler Payne. And Julia Fox plays the realtor who puts them into the house in the first place. West Mulholland also has a role.
And since the movie is clearly focused on the "presence" that expresses itself through the movement of the camera, maybe it's also fair to say that the movie stars the cinematographer as well. Which, in this case, as with many of Steven Soderbergh's movies… is Steven Soderbergh. He's even credited under his own name here, rather than as his frequent alias Peter Andrews. (Fun fact: Soderbergh's "Peter Andrews" alias is based on the name of his father, Peter Andrew Soderbergh.)
Presence Comes From the Screenwriter of Jurassic Park
PRESENCE is written by David Koepp, who became famous thanks to his seventh produced screenplay, for JURASSIC PARK. Koepp has done a lot of different things over the years, including an earlier collaboration with Soderbergh. That movie, KIMI, ended up released only to streaming in 2021, which is too bad. KIMI is a terrific small-scope tech thriller.
So hopefully that led to a good working relationship between Soderbergh and Koepp.
PRESENCE opens on January 24, 2025.
All images courtesy of NEON.