Presence (2024 film)

The house feels lived-in place; eighty minutes with it and you’d swear you could get to the bathroom with the lights off. The family feels like real people, kind in parts and jerks in others, always curious, despite whatever they might say. The cinematography seamlessly sells the narrative, but it’s the mystery of what’s going on, why the title character is doing what it’s doing, that kept me captivated, the answers coming in foreshadowing (prophecy?) that feels opaque in the moment and crystal-clear in retrospect. Haunting, harrowing stuff, so long as you’re not expecting a horror film, because it isn’t.

8