Steven Soderbergh has been making feature films for more than thirty years, and in that time he’s done just about everything. Indie dramas, blockbusters, crime movies, prestige television, political thrillers, comedies, even sci-fi and romance. But one thing he’s never really attempted earnestly is horror. Soderbergh’s latest, Presence, premiered earlier this year at Sundance and it’s probably the closest thing to a horror that Soderbergh is likely to do.
Imagine a haunted house or ghost story with Soderbergh’s sensibilities, and that’s what you can expect from Presence. The story centers on a family who learn they are not alone upon moving into a new home. As I wrote in my review, Soderbergh’s “lens is an actual presence, a supernatural force lurking in some places, observing carefully in others.”
That makes this a movie seen from the entity’s perspective, which opens up some fascinating areas of exploration. Soderbergh’s approach to doing so is deliberately paced to not match the rhythms of studio horror movies, so expect more of a slow burn.
Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, and Chris Sullivan lead the cast, joined by Callina Liang, Eddy Maday and West Mulholland. Soderberg directs from a script by David Koepp, who recently worked together on Kimi.
NEON will release Presence in theaters in January 2025.
