“PRESENCE: the new film from Steven Soderbergh – new teaser out now!” the subject line from Gofobo Screenings read.
“Is it a horror movie?” I wondered. It sounded like it had the potential to be, so I clicked to read the synopsis and decide from there if I wanted to watch the teaser.
The synopsis instantly made me think, “Sounds like Poltergeist.”
It read: “A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone.”
Absolutely nothing happens in the teaser. That I can see. I’ve watched several times for clues, to spot a reflection in one of the windows or see a shape or something moving in the shadows.
All that happens is the focus shifts from looking down at a grassy curb to inside an upstairs room in a house while movie titles appear. Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Traffic. Out of Sight. Magic Mike. Erin Brockovich. Contagion. Unsane. Ocean’s Eleven. Then Presence fills in the final center spot. All movies that Soderbergh directed.
Nothing unsettling about that, right? So then, why was I filled with so much dread and suspense watching it?
The music had a lot to do with it. And maybe the slow, deliberate motion of the camera.
Learning About Presence from Comments
It felt like a brilliant teaser. Was it? I skimmed the comments for validation. Yes. Others were smitten with it too.
But I learned a few other things from the comments, including that Presence is from Neon, the same studio behind the horror hit Longlegs.
Also, according to @lil_nameless59, who “read an article” about the movie, “apparently it’s a film from the ghost’s perspective.” So maybe it will be more like A Ghost Story than Poltergeist?
And @filmobsessednerd praised the movie’s writer and director. “You got Soderbergh directing and then you have David Koepp. The man who wrote films like the original Jurassic Park, the original Mission Impossible, War of the Worlds, Spider-Man and so much more.”
Yes. Between the two of them, they have the potential to have crafted a great movie, so why did the very end of the trailer give me reservations?
The release date. January 2025.
Wait. Not Halloween time? WTH?
Also, January? WTH?
It’s not uncommon for horror movies to release in January, but typically ones released in that month are jinxed to stink. Not always. Some goodies have come out then too. I’m hoping Presence will join that list.
Until we get the chance to watch and find out, I’ll look forward to more teasers and trailers. What about you?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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This first trailer has me curious, but I’m not spooked or anything. I wonder what the next trailer will be like…
Also like the angle that The Others revealed it had.
I am genuinely looking forward to this! I love a good ghost story.
yes, I’m looking forward to watching this one. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a good scary movie.
RIGHT?! I’m with you, Priscilla. SO curious to see what they’ll do/reveal in the next trailer.
HI Luciana! I sure hope it is scary because I agree with you. There have been some good horror movies lately, but they’re been more cute or with humor. But there hasn’t been a true, scary, chilling, haunt-you-for-days-after kind of movie in a long time. At least, if there has been, it’s not springing to mind. lol
THE OTHERS!!!!!!!! Blast it all! I KNEW there was another movie from the ghost’s perspective that I was forgetting! And that one definitely had some freaky moments! (I never saw A Ghost Story for some reason. I think I saw a review that made me think I wouldn’t like it. Something about it was more sad than spooky and about lost love. Did you ever see it?)
If it’s the same one I remember, A Ghost Story was about a vengeful young woman’s ghost, coming after the (by then) old men who didn’t save her from drowning in a car accident, when they could have and should have. I haven’t seen it since those first few years since it came out.
VERY similar names! The story about the vengeful woman was Ghost Story, based on Peter Straub’s book. (That was SUCH a good book and movie too. Especially considering it was adapted from a book and we all know that doesn’t usually work well. lol Like you I haven’t seen it in years, but now that you’ve reminded me about it, I want to find it!)
A Ghost Story was a 2017 movie starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. No vengeful spirits, though. Just a husband and wife separated by death and having to grapple with their new reality apart from each other, while still loving each other. It sounds too sad. But apparently it was good. It has high ratings.
Okay! I know which one you’re talking about! I need to see that one.
If you do, let me know how it is and if it’s too sad.