Presence is a fresh take on the haunted house genre - seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech

Film review: Presence (15) - seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech

Starring: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, West Mulholland and Eddy Maday

Director: Steven Soderbergh Run time: One hour, 25 minutes

Director Steven Soderbergh’s fresh take on the haunted house genre certainly makes for an interesting film.

‘Presence’ is seen through the eyes of whatever is occupying the house, as it flits from room to room observing the family living there.

The family in point are dysfunctional to say the least. They have moved into the suburban home at the wish of mum Rebekah (Lucy Liu), who will do anything to get her favourite child, the bratty teenager Tyler (Eddy Maday), into a school where he can excel at his swimming.

Meanwhile, she’s drinking far too much and doing shady deals to afford the new home, much to the distress of long-suffering husband Chris (Chris Sullivan) who also starts to hit the bottle.

And then there’s the teenage daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), close to her doting dad but depressed and suffering after two of her friends died suddenly, seemingly after experimenting with drugs.

The family is falling apart and it is all observed by the ‘ghost’, with dark screens separating each observation.

Chloe is first to realise that they are not alone in the house but, after initially doubting her, the rest of the family soon see enough to know she is telling the truth.

So far, so good, but the film does have some failings. A supernatural scene early on goes against the grain of the general subtlety of this story, and the characterisation is too black and white, with mum Rebekah and son Tyler being horrible individuals, whereas Chloe is gentle and kind and her dad almost saintly.

However, as Chloe starts to get romantically entwined with Tyler’s new best friend Ryan (West Mulholland), the plot spirals into an unexpected climax which ends up giving us a good idea who the ghost actually is.

Just like the supernatural scene earlier, the ending doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the film, but with some good acting, particularly from Callina Liang, this is well worth a watch.

Rating: 7/10