Steven Soderbergh is a filmmaker who continues to innovate, as evidenced by his next film, Presence, an atmospheric horror set in a haunted house.
“You have a presence here,” a woman says to a family in the final trailer. After moving into a new home, a family of four — Rebekah (Lucy Liu), Chris (Chris Sullivan), Tyler (Eddy Maday), and Chloe (Callina Liang) — quickly realize they are not alone. The family believes their house is being occupied by a supernatural presence that pays close attention to their every move, especially those by Chloe. The presence needs something from the family, and how it conveys its request becomes the movie’s central mystery.
Presence is no ordinary haunted house movie. Soderbergh shoots the film from the POV of the presence, meaning the filmmaker’s subjective camera takes the audience through every nook and cranny in the house to observe the family. “If I’m the presence, what do I see?” is how Soderbergh described the movie’s unique POV in a press release.
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Presence’s ensemble also features Julia Fox, Lucas Papaelias, and West Mulholland.
Soderbergh directs Presence from a screenplay by David Koepp. Presence marks the second collaboration between Soderbergh and Koepp behind 2022’s Kimi. Soderbergh and Koepp’s third collaboration is Black Bag, a spy thriller starring Michael Fassbender, opening on March 14, 2025.
Presence premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to a positive reception. The film holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78 on Metacritic. Soon after its premiere, Neon acquired distribution rights to Presence for $5 million.
Presence opens in theaters on January 24, 2025.