A family moves into a seemingly ordinary suburban home. But when strange occurrences unfold, they soon become convinced that something else is in the house with them. A film by Steven Soderbergh, starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, and Julia Fox.

The film opens with a shot of an empty room, as if the camera is positioned inside an open closet looking outward. The sound of a car approaches and parks outside. The camera moves from the closet toward the glass window, looking down to reveal a black car below. A woman holding an umbrella rushes from the car toward the house as rain falls outside.

The camera quickly moves along the stairway, traveling down. The woman who enters the house appears to be a real estate agent, Cece (Julia Fox). Cece has an appointment with the Paynes — a couple, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan), and their son Tyler (Eddy Maday) and daughter Chloe (Callina Liang). They’re looking for a suburban house in the North school district which Tyler will attend. Although Chris is initially hesitant to buy, Rebekah has everything planned out for her beloved son Tyler, a future competitive swimmer. Rebekah decides to take the house, and the family eventually moves in.

Chloe is reeling from the untimely death of her best friend Nadia, one of two girls in the community who mysteriously died in their sleep. Chloe begins to sense something in the house, as if someone is watching her, and unexplained occurrences happen including objects keep changing places by themselves. While Chloe doesn’t actually see when things are moved, viewers can see that there is some kind of spiritual entity in the house. Unlike the vengeful spirits in typical haunted house films, this ghost appears to be benevolent.

Chloe tries to tell her family about the unseen spirit, which she believes to be Nadia attempting to communicate with her. But nobody believes her since there’s no proof other than Chloe’s word, and none of the other family members experience anything unusual in the house. Then one night, when Tyler shares a story about how he and his friends maliciously pranked and humiliated a girl from school, the spiritual entity becomes infuriated and sabotages Tyler’s room.

Chris reaches out to Cece about the strange happenings, but Cece insists there have never been any reports of such incidents in the house and that she’s legally obligated to disclose such information if there were. However, she offers to send her sister-in-law, who has a gift for sensing the supernatural, to check out the house and see if she can help.

The next day, Lisa (Natalie Woolams-Torres) arrives with her husband, Carl (Lucas Papaelias). As soon as Lisa steps inside, she seems visibly unsettled by an unseen presence. She tells the Paynes that there is indeed a spirit in the house, but it’s confused as it doesn’t know why it’s there or what happened to it. She clarifies that the spirit isn’t Nadia, but something did occur to it in this house. Lisa explains that the spirit is trying to understand both the Paynes and itself, but time doesn’t flow the same way for it. Past and present can overlap, leaving it disoriented and unsure of when it is or what it needs to do.

Second sight is an alleged form of Extrasensory Perception (ESP), often associated with clairvoyance or precognition. It involves the ability to perceive information about future events or remote locations without using the five traditional senses. This concept is often linked to paranormal or pseudoscientific beliefs.

Meanwhile, Chloe starts a secret romance with Tyler’s friend Ryan (West Mulholland). They keep their relationship under wraps, hiding it from everyone, including Tyler. Chloe sneaks Ryan in and out of the house when no one’s around, making sure no one finds out. One day, while Chloe is in the bathroom, Ryan spikes her orange juice with a white powder, presumably some kind of drug. Unseen by Ryan, the spirit in the house witnesses the act and intervenes, knocking the glass over before Chloe can take a sip.

Later, Lisa returns to share a dream she had about the unseen presence connected to the house. However, Chris dismisses her, influenced by Rebekah’s belief that Lisa is a fraud. Despite this, Lisa insists she doesn’t need to come inside as she only wants to warn Chris about an impending danger that hasn’t happened yet. She mentions something about a window that doesn’t open, though the details remain unclear.

In a spiritual or paranormal context, “presence” often refers to the perceived or felt existence of a non-physical entity, such as a spirit, divine being, or supernatural force. In a more general sense, presence can refer to the feeling that someone or something is nearby, even if they are not physically visible. This might be interpreted as a ghostly or supernatural presence.

Directed by American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh from an original screenplay by David Koepp, PRESENCE is an extraordinary supernatural thriller about a haunted house with a clever narrative that employs unconventional storytelling. Viewers experience the story through the eyes of the unknown spiritual entity that occupies the house.

I love how the film leans more into suspense and thriller elements rather than relying on pure supernatural horror or cheap tricks like jump scares. The tension builds gradually as the story unfolds, almost like a detective mystery, where the audience is drawn into piecing together clues and trying to figure out the true purpose of the unseen presence.

If you pay close attention, the writer drops several subtle hints throughout the film about the true identity of the presence. Everything clicks into place in the final moments, when the secrets are revealed, tying the story together in a way that’s both deeply satisfying and emotionally impactful. It’s a revelation that manages to be heartbreaking and utterly terrifying at the same time.

PRESENCE premiered at Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2024. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 24 January 2025, by Neon. It has grossed $9.2 million on a $2 million production budget.

Steven Soderbergh on Having a Ghost and Then Becoming One with His Camera in ‘Presence’
It’s an experiment that shouldn’t work. A feature film shot entirely through the point of view of a ghost who watches a family of four move into a large suburban home and over time witnesses their most intimate and disturbing moments, as a supernatural mystery begins to bubble beneath the surface.

‘Presence’s Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp on ghosts and horror
For the director behind Ocean’s Eleven and Logan Lucky, Presence began when “our house sitter saw a ghost” in his Los Angeles home. From there, he’d sent Koepp a few pages of a draft, imagining the spirit wandering the space and seeing a realtor arrive with prospective buyers. “Steven had this idea: first-person point of view of the ghost, should all be in one house, and it feels like it wants to be a family drama. And I was like, well, okay, those are my three favorite things. I know how to write a family. I love a contained space, and your aesthetic idea is really cool.”

How ‘Presence’ Writer David Koepp Reinvented the Haunted House Movie From the Perspective of the Ghost
While Koepp had written ghost stories before – 1999’s “Stir of Echoes,” based on a Richard Matheson story; and 2008’s “Ghost Town” (written with Koepp’s partner John Kamps), a comedy about a dentist who can see ghosts – the writer is adamant about adding something to the mythology each time. For “Presence,” Koepp wondered, Why are there ghosts? And also, Why can we perceive them?

Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan Talk Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Presence’
Shot entirely in the first person perspective of a ghostly figure haunting a suburban household, Presence is an unconventional genre piece, with Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as a married couple who are convinced that they and their children are not alone in their new house.

‘Presence’ Writer David Koepp on That Devastating Ending
I have this theory that every time you make a new ghost story, you have to come up with a reason why the people can see ghosts. One of those ways is through trauma. The times in my life when I’ve experienced something traumatic, I am more open to the world and people around me than I am otherwise. If you’re suffering yourself, you notice the suffering of others more acutely.