Warning: This Article Contains Major SPOILERS For Presence.

Steven Soderbergh’s newest movie, Presence, follows a family who come to believe that their house is haunted. Upon the Payne family moving in, it becomes clear that the daughter is coping with the death of her friend and that her mother and brother are largely ambivalent toward her feelings. Only her father truly attempts to connect with her and understand her loss. Presence‘s cast is led by Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as two parents who struggle to find the best ways of communicating with and caring for their children while becoming increasingly aware of a supernatural presence.

Interestingly, Presence is sH๏τ entirely from the perspective of the ghost, giving it a very fractured and invasive quality. The ghost watches from windows and closets as the family lives their lives, sometimes intervening to aid the daughter. While Presence is well-acted and interestingly sH๏τ, it has received differing reviews from audiences and critics. Presence unfolds slowly and does not explain every detail of the characters’ lives, building suspicion. The decision to film from the point of view of the ghost takes away the potential for big jump scares, but Presence‘s shocking ending is haunting in its own way.

Audiences Are Disappointed By Presence’s Lack Of Scares

Audiences Expected More Horror Elements

While Rotten Tomatoes’ critics’ score shows that Presence is a very good movie, it is simply not a very good horror movie. Though most audiences went in expecting the movie to be scary, in reality Presence is more of a family drama than a horror film. Despite the ghost causing a bit of commotion, for the most part, the characters are still focused on their own lives and concerns, many of which are never fully explored due to the narrative style.

Throughout Presence, the ghost overhears conversations between different characters, making the true focus of the movie their daily lives. In particular, both parents, played by Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan, have problems of their own as they do not always get along and Liu’s character seems involved in something illegal. Likewise, the two teenage children lead their own lives, and the ghost feels more like a spectator than an actual part of that. As a result, Presence is simply not as scary as viewers wanted it to be.

Presence’s Audience Score On Rotten Tomatoes Is The Result Of False Advertising

Neon’s Trailer Advertised Presence As A Horror Movie

The primary reason why Presence‘s Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 56% compared to the critics’ 88% score is that the movie was not marketed correctly. The distributor Neon released a trailer for Presence that was very clearly playing up the haunted house angle, but for audiences, Presence was something entirely different. Presence’s trailer is incredibly creepy and insinuates that the movie’s ghost will be malicious and that the family will be in danger rather than the ghost protecting them.

While audience reviewers noted that the film was not scary at all and the story itself was quite bare, Presence is certainly still worth watching. It is completely understandable that audiences were disappointed with the lack of jump scares and more sinister moments, given that Presence was marketed as horror. However, the movie still presents an interesting vision from a well-known filmmaker that serves as an unusual exploration of love and grief. Despite the low audience score, Presence is an entertaining film that still includes a few good twists without being a traditional horror movie.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes