Movie · 2025 · Drama, Horror, Thriller · 1h 24m · R · English
Curator score: 2.8/10 (303.7K ratings)
In this house there is a presence.
Overview
A couple and their children move into a seemingly normal suburban home. When strange events occur, they begin to believe there is something else in the house with them. The presence is about to disrupt their lives in unimaginable ways.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.8/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.95/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Steven Soderbergh
Production
Extension 765, The Spectral Spirit Company
Cast
Callina Liang, Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, Julia Fox, Lucas Papaelias, Natalie Woolams-Torres, Benny Elledge, Daniel Danielson, Jared Wiseman, Robert M. Jimenez, Nathaly Sabino, Abigale Coakley, Steven Soderbergh
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
An inventive, formally playful haunted-house thriller that’s more interested in grief, family tension, and perspective than in jump scares. It’s a smart experiment with a strong central conceit, but the deliberately restrained scares and uneven emotional payoff will leave some viewers underwhelmed.
Best for
Viewers who like high-concept horror experiments
Fans of slow-burn supernatural dramas
People interested in films about family dysfunction and grief
Audiences open to mood and perspective over plot mechanics
Skip if
You want a heavily frightening or high-body-count horror movie
You prefer straightforward ghost stories with clear rules
You’re looking for a tightly conventional thriller payoff
You dislike experimental formal choices or subdued pacing
Overview
Presence turns a familiar haunted-house setup into a formal exercise in point of view, using its ghostly vantage to make the home feel intimate, invasive, and strangely sad. Steven Soderbergh’s control of space and movement gives the film a clean, watchable surface even when the story is intentionally withholding. The result is less a roller-coaster scare machine than a tense domestic mood piece with a conceptual hook.
Worth noting
What lingers most is how the film frames family life as something already haunted by grief, secrecy, and emotional neglect. The supernatural element becomes a way to observe damage rather than simply trigger shocks. That makes the movie feel smarter than its marketing suggests, but also less satisfying if you’re expecting a more forceful horror payoff.
Bottom line
For viewers on its wavelength, it’s a neat, compact experiment with real craft and an unusual emotional angle. For others, the restraint may read as thinness. It’s a good example of a movie that is easier to admire than to love, though the premise and execution are distinctive enough to make it worth a look.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Ian (3★) · 9394 likes
scariest part is that mother-son relationship 🤢
kyle (3★) · 7959 likes
the presence gay as hell hiding in that closet.. you are SEEN #ItGetsBetter
-ˏˋ mak ˊˎ- (1.5★) · 5615 likes
let us not forget the scariest presence of all: boy moms and blonde men
zoë rose bryant (4★) · 3710 likes
finally a horror movie that understands nothing is scarier than a teenage boy