Skip to main content
Presence film image; three people standing in doorway looking at one person in a room

Moving into their new home, the members of the Payne family are saddled with considerable baggage. With legal trouble already looming due to her workplace misconduct, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) is called out by her husband Chris (Chris Sullivan) for the overt favouritism she bestows on their competitive, callous son Tyler (Eddy Maday). Meanwhile, daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) is left to languish in solitude as she grieves a close friend’s overdose death and questions the intentions of a new admirer (West Mulholland). With tensions simmering and melancholy assuming a stranglehold, things start to go bump in the night…

In this, his inspired first foray into ghost stories, the ever-innovative Steven Soderbergh shoots every scene from the perspective of a spectral interloper. As the camera glides through hallways, sweeps down staircases, and floats into bedrooms, a viewer is consumed by the eerie sensation of being disembodied. And as we join this phantasm in surveilling the Paynes, we come to understand what truly haunts us…

 

Supported by

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, Julia Fox

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2024

Language

English

Film Contact
19+
85 min
Horror & Sci-Fi Legendary Filmmakers
Extension 765

Book Tickets

Friday September 27

9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance
The Rio Theatre
Book Now

Sunday September 29

4:00 pm
Hearing Assistance
The Rio Theatre
Book Now

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

David Koepp, Corey Bayes

Producer

Julie Anderson, Ken Meyer

Screenwriter

David Koepp

Cinematography

Peter Andrews

Editor

Mary Ann Bernard

Original Music

Zack Ryan

Steven Soderbergh headshot; Presence director

Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognition with his directorial debut, sex, lies, and videotape (1989), which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Later films include Kafka (1991), The Limey (1999), Erin Brockovich (2000), Traffic (2000) (Oscar, Best Director), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Solaris (2002), and Magic Mike (2012).

Filmography: sex, lies, and videotape (1989); Erin Brockovich (2000); Traffic (2000); The Informant! (2009); The Laundromat (2019).

Altered States

See more films in this series

Timestalker

Dir. Alice Lowe
89 min

Inspired by old Hollywood’s grand romantic epics and paying homage to costume dramas, speculative fantasies, swashbuckling adventures, and 80s music videos, Timestalker is both a giddy genre confection and a heartfelt tale of hard-won empowerment.

The Rio Theatre International Village 10
Dream Team
Dream Team film image; man looking at a woman while she looks away

Dream Team

Dir. Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn
91 min

Two Interpol agents investigate mysterious deaths caused by poisonous gas-emitting coral in this campy homage to 90s basic cable. It unfolds as a bleary-eyed binge of a six-episode season, complete with ever-changing title sequences.

The Rio Theatre

Presence

Dir. Steven Soderbergh
85 min

When a family moves into a new home, tensions simmer, melancholy takes a stranglehold, and things go bump in the night... Steven Soderbergh re-imagines the haunted house film by shooting every eerie scene from a spectre's viewpoint.

The Rio Theatre

Rock Bottom

Dir. María Trénor
86 min

Inspired by the musician Robert Wyatt and the recording of his 1974 classic of the same name, Rock Bottom is a psychedelic, animated musical odyssey about a drummer reinventing himself after an accident that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre Fifth Avenue Aud 3

Else

Dir. Thibault Emin
100 min

Anx and Cass are forced into lockdown together in Anx’s apartment to avoid a mysterious virus which causes people’s bodies to painfully fuse with whatever they are touching. Else is a grotesque, apocalyptic body horror that's bound to get under your skin.

International Village 9 The Rio Theatre

Párvulos

Dir. Isaac Ezban
119 min

Years after a viral zombie outbreak, three young brothers are forced to fend for themselves in a remote cabin in the woods. Isaac Ezban (The Similars) presents a gory, coming-of-age fable with a warm heart and a dark twist, destined to be a cult classic.

The Rio Theatre International Village 10
40 Acres
40 Acres film image; woman walking through tall corn field

40 Acres

Dir. R.T. Thorne
108 min

A band of bloodthirsty cannibals threatens a family of farmers living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland in rural Canada. R.T. Thorne’s feature debut is a thrilling, crowd-pleasing genre gem with a standout cast of Black and Indigenous actors.

The Rio Theatre International Village 9
Fréwaka
Fréwaka film image; woman with blood on her face looking off into the distance

Fréwaka

Dir. Aislinn Clarke
103 min

A Dublin nurse is sent to a remote Irish village to care for a reclusive woman. Haunted by a dark past, her night terrors invade her reality. Aislinn Clarke delivers a chilling, feminist folk horror that favours atmosphere over jump scares.

The Rio Theatre

She Loved Blossoms More

Dir. Yannis Veslemes
86 min

Three brothers unleash cosmic horror when they build a time machine out of their mother's wardrobe to bring her back from the dead. Veslemes’ surreal body horror is a hallucinatory freak show with a pitch-black sense of humour and skin-crawling visuals.

The Rio Theatre International Village 9

Rita

Dir. Jayro Bustamante
107 min

Based on a real tragedy, this magical realist fantasy from the acclaimed director of La Llorona follows Rita, a thirteen-year-old Guatemalan runaway determined to escape from her abusive home life and the inhumane conditions of a children’s shelter.

The Rio Theatre International Village 9