Mark Kermode reviews Presence - Kermode and Mayo's Take

[@Rorykdy]

Loved it. The ending was incredible and the actors all nailed it. Been craving a good spooky house film that didn't fall back on the old tropes and actually satisfied me and this one did just that.

[@Irish_Soc]

I was honestly blown away by the acting chops of the father, Chris Sullivan - he was pretty devestating as a well-meaning dad who is watching his family fall apart and unable to do anything to stop it. As for the ending, I think it recasts the entire film preceding it in a much more melancholic, moving light that gives the film a lot more heft than one originally thinks while watching it.

[@gingersupersaiyan]

Head and shoulders the best performance. Except for the presence of course

[@brocoolhurst]

Lean, well shot, great resolution and interesting family dynamics. No masterpiece but was hooked for the runtime and enjoyed the exploration and POV a lot

[@blakemeads9225]

I just got back from seeing it, and honestly, I kinda loved it

[@wholelottanothing2]

@blakemeads9225 nice try Hal

[@t-viv5565]

Same, my film group has run the gamut of mixed opinions on this but I was on the edge of my seat throughout, I can understand looking at the POV aspect as a gimmick but I thought the voyeuristic approach gave the whole thing a vicarious thrill that you wouldn't have if it had been made in a more traditional way.

[@buxycat]

I can always feel a presence; it's a gift.

[@tangerinemisfit]

I saw this today. It’s not a horror. It’s a drama viewed through the eyes of the ghost. It’s a slow burn, but if you pay attention the ending is very rewarding

[@ThomasKirby-ub4vy]

Zone of interest if directed by Emmanuel lubezkci

[@ElementalWhispers]

I saw it as a pre-screening and I enjoyed it but it felt more like a drama about family dynamics than a ghost story.

[@ashleybrooke2087]

It's a ghost story in the same way A Ghost Story is a ghost story where it's more a reflection about life than a meditation on what comes after.

[@collopyj]

Why are they all sitting on the same side of the table?

[@jimashley754]

So the ghost can film them

[@conormartin3015]

It’s the staging.

[@RomanSpecter]

​@@jimashley754No spoilers!

[@ihaasakker]

I thought the same. 😂

[@t-viv5565]

I mean it's no different to the same kind of scene being run in a stage play. Do people really have such an issue with suspension of disbelief over such minor things?

[@lzbgenna]

Saw this one on an advanced screening three days ago and was sorely disappointed. I do not feel that this should be classified as horror at all and that the trailer was very misleading. It's not scary, and it was kind of dull at points. To Mark's point about Sodenbergh experiments, I think the most interesting bit is the way the camera movements are used to express emotion and intent. You understand completely what the Presence character's motives and objectives are, without it uttering a single word and with barely any sound.

[@ashleybrooke2087]

It's definitely not a horror movie. Just because it may have supernatural elements in it doesn't make it horror. The marketing was a tad misleading.

[@jneilson7568]

Wasn't a typical horror, it'd be a challenge for anyone to get particularly scared of this (especially given how misleading the trailers are), but it was a wonderful, unusual family drama with a surprisingly sharp edge.

[@ashleybrooke2087]

Without giving anything away, I will say that this movie isn't a horror movie despite how it's billed.

[@baxterbasics]

Please tell us where Mark got his 'Bailey Bros Building and Loan' top from!

[@ryanoliveira8851]

Quite enjoyed this one.

[@OvidusNaso]

Steven Soderbergh really is the great metteur-en-scène of the 21st century

[@charlesanderson5816]

I saw the film at the Sitges Film Festival in October. It had been chosen to open the festival with Stephen Sodenbergh in attendance I found the film to be of limited scares, a film with ideas and plot that has seen before and more a family drama with some scares. Too much POV camera work that got boring very quickly.

[@EppyGibbon]

I saw this a few days ago and was very disappointed by it. I agree there are some good ideas but I found all the different elements to be very shallow and the characters to be annoying to varying degrees. It didn't help that it gave me mild motion sickness, and because it was a 'secret screening', I hadn't prepared for that - I should have sat as far to the back of the screening as possible.

[@jeffreymiller9438]

Waiting for 'Black Bag'

[@motojojo_]

I agree with Mark. This is more a film for the geeks who like the experimental. It's interesting (the POV cam work is pretty cool, would like to see behind the scenes footage), but it's not engaging enough to give weight to the story.

[@nikmachen6561]

I saw this earlier in the week and didn't love it. The camera concept was a cool idea, but I found it nauseating at for the first 15 minutes or so. The plot is thin with barely fleshed out characters and I left feeling like it is a film that would do well with teenagers despite (possibly because of) its lack of depth. Indeed, I showed the trailer to a class and they thought it looked awesome. I'm not sure it was worth putting on the big screen when the writing was more suitable for Netflix.

[@m081113]

1:37 That's how long it takes y'all to actually start talking about the film that the title of your video is supposed to be about???

[@nevem5010]

👍

[@markatkinson167]

It's a nice concept, quite watchable. Not particularly thrilling though.

[@BrannenHarries]

Brilliant stuff chaps....Claudia winkleman absolutely ruined the movie review on the BBC ruined it...👍🏾

[@louiserylance2543]

It was rubbish and I'd not recommend this film

[@kermodeandmayostake]

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