Presence Blu Ray Review (Decal Releasing)

Presence is a 2024 supernatural horror film shot, edited, and directed by Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Black Bag, Ocean’s Trilogy, Logan Lucky, The Limey, Out of Sight, Contagion, The Informant!, and The Good German). It was written and produced by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Black Bag, Indiana Jones franchise, The Mummy, Spider-Man, Death Becomes Her, Carlito’s Way, Mission Impossible, The Shadow, Panic Room, and Snake Eyes). The budget was $2,000,000 and it grossed $10,553,434 at the box office!!!! It moves powerfully through the house, uneasy and unseen leaving confusion all over the place. Witness the most painful and unguarded moments of this troubled family which includes Rebekah (played by: Lucy Liu from Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels franchise, City of Industry, Gridlock’D, and Payback), Chris (played by: Chris Sullivan from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, This is Us, Stranger Things, and The Knick), Chloe (played by: Callina Liang from Bad Genius), and Tyler (played by: Eddy Maday from The Madison). It’s growing urgency keeps getting stronger and more dangerous, the Presence gradually pieces together what it needs to do!!!! Steven Soderbergh has always been an interesting director. He’s never afraid to try different sub-genres and test new stuff out. I respect that he does a smaller film like this then goes right into a big budget feature like Black Bag. This was estimated at $2 million and his project that went right into after this costed around $50 million, that’s a huge difference. He still goes back to the independent scene despite being one of the biggest names in cinema, that’s awesome to see. Presence was written by the talented David Koepp who has wrote some real classics over the years. The sharp dialogue and family dynamic really drives this one. Veteran actress Lucy Liu as Rebekah is trying to keep this family together despite some past traumatic issues and their current odd situation. This is a more mature role for Liu, I haven’t seen her play a mother much in her long career. She shows a different side of her acting skills in this and it’s refreshing. Chris Sullivan as Chris always acts like everything is okay but he’s really falling apart. He considers leaving his wife after dealing with some chaotic moments caused from sad events from before. He discovers more about himself and he wants to fight for his family after they are stalked by something supernatural. Callina Liang as Chloe has been a mess since her painful experience. She hasn’t been the same and she can’t shake it off. Eddy Maday as Tyler kinda has been ignored since his sister has so much attention on her so he drifts away from everyone while having his own stuff to deal with. West Mulholland (Animal Kingdom and Dark Harvest) as Ryan really stands out as the sleaze bag with no morals using whoever for his own twisted entertainment. The rest of the supporting cast includes Julia Fox (Uncut Gems), Benny Elledge (Happy!), Lucas Papaelias (School of Rock), Natalie Woolams-Torres (Dead Ringers), and Nathaly Sabino (Drowning: On Tour). Presence takes some time to develop and build it’s suspense. I wish more of it was like it’s finale because it’s a little slow before all of that. It honestly would have been much better as a short but it doesn’t drag too much considering most of the crazy moments are towards the end. It has some twists that add to it’s consistent tension. The ending could have been executed better but I understand why it was done, lots of people like to have their own interpretation of things. Presence had potential to be something more than it’s final result but it’s still worth checking out especially if you are into ghost and supernatural horror. It’s currently on Hulu for streaming if you are curious about it. Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Decal Releasing! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks fantastic on blu ray, I can only imagine what it’s 4K looks like but unfortunately I didn’t get that one for coverage. It’s basically in one main location for the most part, stylish cinematography and excellent production design shine here when it comes to the visuals. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English: Dolby Atmos on the disc. The audio is top notch for this supernatural feature. The sound design and score just elevates it’s mysterious atmosphere. All of the dialogue is sharp, the thrills are elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. Unfortunately, there’s no special features on this home video release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!