Steven Soderbergh is a director that likes to take chances and experiment with his craft, and Presence may be his best example of that to date. It surely won’t appeal to everyone, but there is a masterful hand at work here as the film tells its own style of ghost story.

From it’s opening title credit which seems to be nice nod to Poltergeist, the story confines itself to the narrative’s setting, the interior of a house. The view point is that of the presence in the house, and it watches as a new family moves in.

Seemingly focused on the daughter, Chloe (Callina Liang), the presence watches over the entire family as it settles in and makes the house a home. We get glimpses of problems within the family, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan) seem to be chafing at one another as Rebekah seems to be involved with something not entirely legal.

While Chloe is haunted by the death of a friend, her brother, Tyler (Eddy Maday) seems to be on the fast track for a swimming scholarship. Tyler’s new friend, Ryan (West Mulholland) has his eye on Chloe, and under the home’s roof, family drama, edged with a supernatural touch begins to play out.

I enjoyed how it was shot, how moments of physical haunting were created and the way the narrative played out. It doesn’t give you all the details of all the things going on with the family, we’re very much focused on Chloe, but there are glimpses of daily life and strain that lend it an authenticity.

Shot incredibly quickly over a three week period, the film has a beauty to it as the house grows into a home, and because to fall apart.

There are some nice ideas about who or what the presence is, which are nicely resolved by story’s end and leaves you thinking about a number of possibilities.

There is a reality to the way the characters interact, talking over one another as the each pursue what is most important in their day or life. There’s a real sense of a family group here, they don’t always get along, they have their changing issues from moment to moment, and the brother and sister struggles feel very real.

Throw in the supernatural stuff and you have a very well made psychological drama tinged with a solid ghost story. And I love the moments when the characters look directly at the camera, as if they can sense the Presence.

It’s beautiful, quiet, and not a typical entry in the supernatural genre. And that alone makes it worth the watch. But it’s not one you can wander in and out of, you need to invest yourself in the narrative and characters. With a runtime short of an hour and half, it’s definitely worth your time from a storytelling and film-making perspective.

I quit liked this one.