Presence Review

Review of Presence (2024) by screenqueeen: 👎 2/5

80/100

Soderbergh comes so close to getting past the thin film of Koepp's relative mediocrity but is pulled back by obligation to serve some kind of simplistic modern narrative. this is the skeleton Joyce Chopra forged in SMOOTH TALK, just done with hands shaking as much as this film's steadicam work. right there in the center of the mystery that peels itself apart, with no regard for tension i'd add, is a heart-sinking contribution to moral panic surrounding fentanyl. this had a chance to go somewhere with the father and daughter knowing more about the other family members than they suspected but that far more interesting set of threads gets discarded for a drugged rape attempt in the latest of a series of them. the thwarted first attempt was enough to instill that fascination of how influential something so thin as plastic wrap can be in something so grandiose as the passing of a life. we didn't need a micro monologue from someone so clearly a villain from their first appearance. the packaging for this movie is the sexiest part about it, something nearly like IN A VIOLENT NATURE but supposedly the unseen character that most things gravitate around. by the very last 20 minutes this manages to insult anyway for putting the emotional weight into the life "sacrificed" before the titular presence can move on, having the mother use her still-undefined devotion to her son as the anchor to get us to try and feel something. to paraphrase Chris Sullivan's line to his son to fit this review, "there's a fine film somewhere inside this one. i want to see that one soon."