Horror fans feasted well in 2024 with the year capped off by the release of Nosferatu (even if UK viewers had to wait until New Year's Day), and we haven't had to wait too long for the first stand-out horror of 2025.
Presence, the first of two movies from Steven Soderbergh this year (because we deserve a treat), flips the haunted-house genre on its head. Instead of being creeped out by a creaky door opening or a noise in a dark corridor, we – the audience – are the ghost opening the door or making the noise.
Told entirely from the first-person perspective of the ghost, Presence is an innovative take on a classic horror set-up. Most impressively though, despite some script wobbles, it proves to be more than just a gimmick.
After a ghostly tour of an empty house, we meet the new family moving in: Rebecca (Lucy Liu), Chris (Chris Sullivan) and their two teenage children Tyler (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang).
On the surface they're a perfectly normal family, but like any family they have their issues. Rebecca is involved in something dodgy at work and Chris isn't quite sure whether to cut his losses and run. She also spends all her parenting energy on aspiring swimmer Tyler and uses a 'get over it' policy for Chloe, who is grieving the recent loss of her friend.
Their background isn't completely filled in and what information we do get comes from brief snapshots. The first half of Presence has a succession of short scenes with no distinct time period attached (some might be the same day, others a different week), which can be disorienting as a viewer.
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What you come to realise though is that here is where the format and the storytelling are working in tandem. The anonymous ghost haunting this house is "confused" and doesn't see time as linear; past, present and the future for the ghost could be the same and since we're in its perspective, we're also intentionally disoriented.
Scenes get longer as Presence plays out in a series of long takes, with Soderbergh – who was also the cinematographer and the editor on the movie – never breaking the rules of the concept. It might seem odd that the ghost has to go around doors rather than through them, but it's a minor quibble you'll allow for the spell it weaves.
We can already picture those questioning Presence's position as a horror movie as it certainly won't be the scariest movie released this year. Its horrors are subtle and more existential, an exploration of grief and the weight it holds as well as the terrifying idea of being forgotten once you die.
The script from David Koepp – who also worked with Soderbergh on 2022's excellent Kimi and the upcoming Black Bag – could be sharper. After mostly leaving us to connect the dots, the finale sees one character deliver an exposition-heavy monologue. Conversely, you might also wish for more elaboration on the ghostly rules.
Where Presence's script absolutely works is in layering-in details that will warrant repeat viewings once you know everything. Its heartbreaking finale will initially haunt you, before leading you to view events from a different angle on a second watch.
So while it might not appease those looking for a jump-scare, haunted-house movie, Presence is another formally inventive and unique offering from Steven Soderbergh that lingers longer than any traditional scare-fest would.
Presence is out now in cinemas.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
