Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Steven Soderbergh’s Presence is a haunted house story with a twist, it is told entirely from the spirit’s perspective, as we watch the camera floats through the house, watching events unfold without revealing the ghost’s true identity until the final moments.
The film has been getting mixed reviews, and some of it because of the misleading marketing Neon did with the film, attempting to make out it was something it clearly isn't.
The film centers on a family of four who moves into a new home, where the teenage daughter, Chloe is the only one who senses the spirit’s presence.
She believes it could be the ghost of her close friend Nadia, who recently died under tragic circumstances, but, as the story progresses, small clues hint that there’s more to this haunting than it first appears.
The Truth About Ryan and the Ghost’s Role
Chloe becomes close to Ryan, who is a friend of her brother Tyler, and their relationship quickly turns romantic, but something feels off about Ryan and it is later revealed that he’s far from the charming, trustworthy guy he pretends to be.
In one scene, Ryan attempts to spike Chloe’s drink at a party, and just as she’s about to drink from the tainted glass, the ghost intervenes, knocking it over and preventing her from being drugged, and though Chloe doesn’t realize what happened, this moment shows that the spirit is watching over her.
Still unaware of Ryan’s true nature, Chloe invites him to stay the night while their parents are away, but she's slightly worried about how her brother Tyler will react, but Ryan assures her he has a plan.
That night, he visits under the guise of hanging out with Tyler, and as they listen to music and drink, Ryan secretly drugs Tyler, rendering him unconscious before making his way to Chloe’s room.
At this point, Ryan reveals his terrifying secret, he was responsible for Nadia’s death, as well as the murder of another girl.
And now, Chloe is his next target.
Tyler’s Sacrifice and the Final Twist
Just as Ryan is about to harm Chloe, the ghost takes desperate action as it violently shakes Tyler awake, jolting him into action.
Despite being groggy from the drugs, Tyler immediately senses that something is wrong, and he rushes upstairs and finds Ryan standing over his unconscious sister.
Without hesitation, Tyler attacks Ryan, tackling him and sending them both crashing out of a window as they fall to their deaths, but in doing so, Tyler saves Chloe’s life.
The story then jumps forward in time where we see Chloe and her parents are preparing to leave the house, trying to move on from the tragedy.
But just as they’re about to go, Rebecca glances into a mirror, and lets out a terrified scream, as in the reflection, she sees her son Tyler.
This is the moment when the truth is finally revealed: Tyler was the ghost all along.
What It All Means?
Earlier in the film, a psychic medium had explained that time doesn’t work the same way for spirits. Tyler’s ghost had essentially traveled back in time to prevent Chloe’s murder.
While alive, he wasn’t the best brother, he could be cruel, dismissive, and distant, but in death, he found a way to redeem himself by saving her.
Rebecca’s sudden ability to see Tyler’s ghost also ties back to the medium’s explanation as well.
The psychic had mentioned that people who have experienced trauma are more likely to see spirits, and as losing her son was an incredibly painful experience, and this grief makes her more receptive to seeing his ghost.
While Presence plays with supernatural elements, its core themes are deeply human, and the film explores guilt, redemption, and the bonds between family members, and while some things are left ambiguous, it has certainly encouraged a lot discussions about the film!
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