Heard some nice things about this movie, so I decided to check it out. Right off the bat, you’ll notice the unique direction of the movie in that it’s shot from the perspective of the ghost/spirit. I initially wasn’t feeling the movie that much in the beginning, but it slowly, if only a little, started to get interesting. Even though it clocks in at only one hour and twenty-five minutes or so, it likely could have been even shorter. Say, maybe, a single TV episode? You know, not the ones that are twenty minutes, but around forty-five to fifty minutes or so.

I’ve always wanted to see more horror movies get produced that inflict a different kind of horror on the viewers than the usual jump scare or gory type. Presence aimed to do just that. The majority of the movie is spent in the spirit’s point of view, following the Payne family around the house. We see the typical teenage drama between the brother and sister, along with the parents themselves. Seeing Lucy Liu was like one of the weirdest things ever so far. I totally did not expect that! She didn’t really add a lot to the movie in general (her role likely could have been played by any mature Asian actress in the industry, and no one would have been the wiser), but it was still good to see her on-screen.

So, there were really two things I noticed that felt off. For starters, I wasn’t sure exactly what the whole legal issue drama thing between the husband and wife was about. They spent some film time shooting a scene in which the mom let her son know that she would have sacrificed everything for him and that everything she did was for him and his future. It felt weird and forced, so I guess the viewers at that time were semi-led to believe that she did something illegal to secure his future financially? Then there was the obvious parenting difference between husband and wife on how to help their daughter and her trauma. We then see a scene in which the husband talks to a friend about this “illegal” thing, but no mention of what exactly, only that he implied it was mostly his wife who was guilty of actually doing it. Then there was the scene where he and the wife were about to go on this trip or meeting or something, and they were to meet her workers. Not sure what or where I missed it, but I was left wondering afterwards what this whole thing was about. I don’t think it impacted the story or ending in any way other than that the mom seems to have cared a whole lot more for her son than her daughter. This was evident throughout the movie as mother and daughter hardly had any interaction.

Secondly, what is up with that killer dude? The entire family moved houses so that their son could go to a better school for his future swimming prospects. We learned that the daughter is going through some trauma after both of her friends died from drug overdoses. But see, this was from their previous school, not the new one they are going to now after moving houses and districts. So then how or why was it revealed that the son’s new and popular friend at this new school was the actual psycho killer of her two friends at her previous school? I can only assume that because he’s a drug dealer, he travels to other schools to deal and party?

Anyway, I thought the movie was just average. I did like the ending and reveal. For some odd reason, that loud scream of pain and sorrow by the mom at the very end when she looked into the mirror to realize what had happened was the scariest scene for me. That scream, combined with the spirit of her son standing completely still, along with the camera angle, somehow really got to me. This is definitely a special kind of horror for parents.