Ever since The Blair Witch Project, the point-of-view horror has not only become a celebrated sub-genre but it’s also become a very crowded marketplace. Of course, Blair Witch was nowhere near being the first to do it and at the very least, Cannibal Holocaust and many others had the same motif years earlier. Other fearful films are more literal POV though. In a Violent Nature is arguably one, even if the lens is not directly behind the killer’s eyeballs and floats around his shoulders. But Grace: The Possession (2014 – seen through the “eyes” of a body-snatching demon) and You Are Not Alone (also 2014 – seen through the eyes of a would-be slasher victim) are very much devoted to this gimmick. And that’s not even considering the many sequences in classic fare, such as Halloween (1978), The Evil Dead (1981), and Amityville II (1982), where the camera momentarily “becomes” the prime antagonist during kills and scares. Nerdery aside, that pre-amble was to point out that, though it’s a cool premise, Steven Soderbergh’s latest genre opus is certainly not unique in the genre. Nevertheless, the one-line premise is enough to cause a frisson. A haunted house story told solely from the perspective and vision of a supernatural entity? That could work. Staring Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as the family heads, this unusual spook story is now in cinemas in both the US and the UK, so let the property viewing commence.

 

It all starts with the camera looking at the view from a window in a deserted house for sale. As it moves around the rooms and encounters an estate agent, it becomes apparent that the camera represents the point-of-view of a sentient being that is invisible to others, presumably a spectre of some kind. All of the following events are subject to time jumps and are solely viewed from the perspective of the Presence. A family moves in as the Presence watches silently, consisting of parents Rebecca (Liu) and Chris (Sullivan), along with their YA kids Chloe and Tyler (Callina Liang and Eddy Maday). Although a seemingly solid and normal family unit, as we watch the Presence follow them, we realise that troublesome issues are affecting them all in some way. Rebecca has been doing some (never verified) dodgy stuff at work and is blindly devoted to her jock/bully son, as opposed to the sensitive Chloe. For her part, Chloe is suffering from anxiety and depression after the death of a close friend from an overdose. Fractures in the familial structure get worse when the daughter starts to sense the presence of the … err … Presence. She suspects that she is being haunted and/or helped by the spirit of her dead friend. But the truth may be even stranger than that…

 

There are two things you need to know about “Presence”. The first is that, even with just an 85-minute long run-time, it is a very slow-burner. The second is that, despite it being very definitely a ghost story and in the horror genre, the most disturbing elements do not come from the places you expect. However, as a third caveat, I’ll say upfront that it is a very solid and worthy offering from Soderbergh. It succeeds in creating a strong emotional connection with the protagonists, something that last week's Wolf Man struggled to do realistically and shows that the filmmaker could probably go for a full-on horror if he chose to do so. As it stands though, the scope and objective of this project does admittedly feel small-scale and experimental compared to his previous films, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a satisfying experience and a nice, atypical excursion into the paranormal, with some very neat concepts and some dark moments. Just don’t expect sheet ghosts or black cats to jump out of cupboards with a musical shriek on the soundtrack or the Lipstick Demon to leer over someone’s shoulder.

 

It’s also worth mentioning that the gimmick of ghost vision doesn’t outstay its welcome. For the most part, you tend to forget that you’re watching events through spectral eye sockets, and it just feels like an intimately filmed family drama. This is only up-ended when the Presence reacts to events in some physical way (which doesn’t happen that often) or those being viewed seem to sense the apparition. This makes for a few good sequences where characters, such as Chloe and Lisa (a medium played by Natalie Woodlams-Torr) look directly at the camera, thereby signifying an awareness of the Presence. For those expecting obvious jump-scares and bumps in the night, the film just doesn’t roll that way. Mostly the Presence is a benign entity that just seems content with observation until something provokes it and it feels the need to react in a corporeal sense. Rather than family members being terrified by strange events (although this does happen on one occasion for an intriguing reason), the emphasis is put on understanding the motives and origins of the ghost, rather than the potential threat it may pose to others. That actually feels kind of old-school and quite refreshing. It harkens back to the misunderstood spooks in The Changeling or The Others, rather than the demonic ghouls in the Amityville films and the like.

 

This is where the film scores “bigly” (to quote a certain political leader). When you reach the climax of the story, you realise that clues and hints about the nature of the ghost have been laid throughout the story. There are reasons as to why it looks out of the window, is drawn to a cupboard in one character’s room, and why it never leaves the house. To validate this, listen to some of the statements that the medium says and exactly what the father says to the daughter at one point. Whilst it’s not the biggest mystery in the world, it is clever and provides for a satisfying and poignant sign-off. Another plus point (although it has proven to be contentious to some critics) is the darker element of the story which provides a believable realistic and disturbing portrayal of someone with psychopathic tendencies. Without giving things away, the most intense things in the story are grounded in real-life danger and evil that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the uncanny. Surprisingly, all of this means that the film is likely to stand repeat viewers and a greater understanding of some of the more subtle touches the second time around.

 

Whilst an original take on a potentially familiar tale is always welcome, and this succeeds in the majority of its aims, there are some areas where improvements could have been made. Whilst it’s probably intentional, chunks of the story are missed due to limitations of the perspective. For instance, just what did Rebecca do to instigate potential criminal proceedings? The Presence never leaves the house for nearly the entire story, and you’ll become as familiar with some of the rooms, as you do with your own house. A couple of sequences jar a little and aren’t really needed. The Mary Poppin’s moment, where invisible hands tidy up Chloe’s bedroom seems a bit silly and unwarranted. Especially when other physical interactions seem to be driven by “emotional” outbursts of spectral energy, this feels like a lightweight Disney moment. When the family are witness to an undeniable event of spooky shenanigans, they argue about leaving the house, but this is soon seemingly forgotten, and they even leave the kids on their own soon after! Really?

 

Apart from those minor narrative niggles though, this is a superior Soderbergh effort that should pick up some plaudits and get some recognition for its inventiveness. It’s well acted, well directed (in remarkably few takes and over the course of just 3 weeks, allegedly), and it brings some heart and invention to the modern ghost story. As well as the darker moments, the family interactions and problems highlight modern concerns such as bullying, depression, and abuse, without getting preachy or overwhelming the core narrative. It won’t be the scariest thing you’ll ever see, but it is a solid and ingenious take on the paranormal and can be easily recommended for fans of the genre. Don’t ghost it!