Being on long flights is usually my opportunity to catch up on recent releases I’ve missed. So I was delighted to see that these two films were available on my Delta flights to Lisbon and my return flight from Porto back to Minneapolis.

PRESENCE

A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs.

As many of you readers know, I’m not much into horror films, but this one came highly recommended by my fellow critics (thanks, Kyle and Brian!). Plus, the fact that it’s directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by David Koepp (the team behind Black Bag) made it all the more appealing.

The trailer seems like your average horror flick, but it’s actually a gripping psychological drama filled with mystery and supernatural elements. What’s unique is that the film is shot entirely from the ghost’s viewpoint, observing the living as they first discover the suburban home and move in. It’s as much a story of a fractured family as the teen girl Chloe (Callina Liang) is reeling from the trauma of losing two of her closest friends. While her dad (Chris Sullivan) is empathetic, her ambitious mom (Lucy Liu) is oblivious to her pain as she’s too busy lavishing her adulation on he favorite son, Tyler (Eddy Maday), a bullish high school swimming champ.

In just 85 minutes, Soderbergh uses plenty of single-take shots that create an eerie, unsettling vibe. Instead of relying on quick scares, he pulls you into the characters’ struggles. It’s not scary in the usual way, but it shows how much more terrifying human evil can be compared to ghosts. It tackles serious issues like teen mental health and the fentanyl epidemic without making it heavy-handed. Just like Black Bag, the slow-burn pace works well as the script is well-written, and I was quite taken by the father-daughter relationship depicted here.

Presence turns out to be quite haunting, but not in the way I expected, and that finale made me gasp. It’s a thought-provoking film that leaves a lasting impression for days, even weeks after I watch it. I have friends who have teen daughters, and it certainly made me think about them and their well-being growing up in the social media age.

Fans of horror movies might be disappointed and find the marketing is misleading, but I think Soderbergh and Koepp creatively incorporate supernatural elements to address relatable and significant human concerns. I love it when filmmakers turn a genre film, especially the tried and true haunting house movies, on its head and create something unique. Glad I saw this one, it’s my kind of horror movie, nary of unnecessary gore or cheap jump scares, but haunting in the best possible way.

INHERITANCE

When Maya learns her father Sam was once a spy, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an international conspiracy.

Phoebe Dynevor proves she’s quite a versatile actress as she constantly tries not to be typecast in costume dramas after being the lead in Bridgerton season 1. She’s not the most charismatic performer, and Maya is not exactly a sympathetic character, yet I was pretty curious about her journey. Billed as an espionage thriller, it’s actually more of an action mystery with some father-daughter dynamic. Rhys Ifans understands his assignment as a master manipulator who definitely would NOT win the ‘father of the year’ award.

I’ve never really liked the hand-held filmmaking style, but it didn’t bother me this time. I found out after watching this that director Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless) shot this entirely on an iPhone, which explains some of the lighting issues and the raw, slightly rough look of certain shots. The globe-trotting aspect is fun to watch–exploring the pyramids in Egypt, riding a train through India, and wandering the streets of South Korea, without the glamor of super-spy movies like Bond or Bourne movies. The extended motorcycle chase does remind me a bit of those action franchises; it’s perhaps the most unrealistic bit of the action scenes.

The guerrilla filmmaking style is especially effective in the India sequences, where pedestrians stare at Maya as she walks by. That really adds to the authenticity and places you in her shoes, feeling the constant gaze of others constantly. Dynevor has that chameleon look about her, where at times she reminds me of Keira Knightley or Felicity Jones. I think it works in her favor as she’s more of an ‘every woman’ type who can disappear into various roles.

The mystery about who Ifans’ character is rather predictable as the movie went on, but the twists and turns were still fun to follow. The ending is pretty satisfying in a deliberate ‘wish fulfillment fantasy’ type. I wouldn’t go see this in the theater, but not a bad watch on a plane or on VOD.

Have you seen PRESENCE and/or INHERITANCE? I’d love to hear what you think!

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