Steven Soderbergh turns everything we know about a haunted house movie upside down in thought-provoking horror-drama Presence, as well as what we've come to expect from his work, too. Over the last 10 years or so, I've really liked Side Effects and Kimi and I adored Unsane, which was shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus and featured a barnstorming performance by The Crown's Claire Foy, but Presence is a much quieter, subtle offering than those high-energy flicks – and it took me a few days of sitting with it before I fully work out its magic. But thankfully, I did eventually…
Its premise, admittedly, is instantly amusing on paper: a haunted house movie told from the perspective of a ghost. Think Paranormal Activity meets In A Violent Nature. But the result is more melancholic and affecting than I could've imagined, as the silent voyeur – so clearly a comment on how Soderbergh sees himself as a filmmaker – opts not to spook the latest residents of their home. Instead, the specter merely observes them and well, it's safe to say they're not fun to be around.
