Justin Chang

There's nothing prurient about these moments. On the contrary, what you feel is the ghost's enormous concern for Chloe. Soderbergh's camera movements are so delicate and expressive, he can convey empathy with a mere twitch or shudder, or rage with a sudden, violent lurch. Before long, we realize that the ghost isn't trying to scare this family. It's trying to warn them.

There's nothing prurient about these moments. On the contrary, what you feel is the ghost's enormous concern for Chloe. Soderbergh's camera movements are so delicate and expressive, he can convey empathy with a mere twitch or shudder, or rage with a sudden, violent lurch. Before long, we realize that the ghost isn't trying to scare this family. It's trying to warn them.

There's nothing prurient about these moments. On the contrary, what you feel is the ghost's enormous concern for Chloe. Soderbergh's camera movements are so delicate and expressive, he can convey empathy with a mere twitch or shudder, or rage with a sudden, violent lurch. Before long, we realize that the ghost isn't trying to scare this family. It's trying to warn them.

no American director is churning out independent movies as deftly and resourcefully as Steven Soderbergh. This is his latest collaboration with the veteran screenwriter David Koepp, whom he last worked with on the home invasion thriller Kimmy, which ingeniously reinvented Hitchcock's rear window for the age of Alexa and COVID.

no American director is churning out independent movies as deftly and resourcefully as Steven Soderbergh. This is his latest collaboration with the veteran screenwriter David Koepp, whom he last worked with on the home invasion thriller Kimmy, which ingeniously reinvented Hitchcock's rear window for the age of Alexa and COVID.

no American director is churning out independent movies as deftly and resourcefully as Steven Soderbergh. This is his latest collaboration with the veteran screenwriter David Koepp, whom he last worked with on the home invasion thriller Kimmy, which ingeniously reinvented Hitchcock's rear window for the age of Alexa and COVID.

Like Kimmy, but in a completely different way, Presence makes brilliant use of spatial confinement and extracts maximal tension from a minimalist premise. As ever, Soderbergh seems to have approached this material as a technical challenge, a problem to be solved. How do you make a movie entirely from a ghost's POV?

Like Kimmy, but in a completely different way, Presence makes brilliant use of spatial confinement and extracts maximal tension from a minimalist premise. As ever, Soderbergh seems to have approached this material as a technical challenge, a problem to be solved. How do you make a movie entirely from a ghost's POV?

Like Kimmy, but in a completely different way, Presence makes brilliant use of spatial confinement and extracts maximal tension from a minimalist premise. As ever, Soderbergh seems to have approached this material as a technical challenge, a problem to be solved. How do you make a movie entirely from a ghost's POV?

Soderbergh is mentioned in interviews that he wore martial arts slippers so as to muffle his footsteps as he chased his actors around the house with his camera. I'm not usually big on behind-the-scenes documentaries, but Presence is one movie I'd make an exception for. But while Soderbergh may be flexing his technique, Presence never feels like a mere exercise.

Soderbergh is mentioned in interviews that he wore martial arts slippers so as to muffle his footsteps as he chased his actors around the house with his camera. I'm not usually big on behind-the-scenes documentaries, but Presence is one movie I'd make an exception for. But while Soderbergh may be flexing his technique, Presence never feels like a mere exercise.

Soderbergh is mentioned in interviews that he wore martial arts slippers so as to muffle his footsteps as he chased his actors around the house with his camera. I'm not usually big on behind-the-scenes documentaries, but Presence is one movie I'd make an exception for. But while Soderbergh may be flexing his technique, Presence never feels like a mere exercise.

That's mainly due to the fine actors, especially Kalina Liang as the sensitive, troubled Chloe. and Chris Sullivan as a loving family man trying to keep the peace in a frightening situation. Their performances are haunting in every sense of the word.

That's mainly due to the fine actors, especially Kalina Liang as the sensitive, troubled Chloe. and Chris Sullivan as a loving family man trying to keep the peace in a frightening situation. Their performances are haunting in every sense of the word.

That's mainly due to the fine actors, especially Kalina Liang as the sensitive, troubled Chloe. and Chris Sullivan as a loving family man trying to keep the peace in a frightening situation. Their performances are haunting in every sense of the word.

In the many beautifully observed working-class dramedies he's made over the past five decades, the British writer and director Mike Lee has returned again and again to one simple yet endlessly resonant question. Why are some people happy while others are not? Why does Nicola, the sullen 20-something in Lee's 1990 film Life is Sweet, seem incapable of even a moment's peace or pleasure?

In the many beautifully observed working-class dramedies he's made over the past five decades, the British writer and director Mike Lee has returned again and again to one simple yet endlessly resonant question. Why are some people happy while others are not? Why does Nicola, the sullen 20-something in Lee's 1990 film Life is Sweet, seem incapable of even a moment's peace or pleasure?

In the many beautifully observed working-class dramedies he's made over the past five decades, the British writer and director Mike Lee has returned again and again to one simple yet endlessly resonant question. Why are some people happy while others are not? Why does Nicola, the sullen 20-something in Lee's 1990 film Life is Sweet, seem incapable of even a moment's peace or pleasure?

By contrast, how does Poppy, the upbeat heroine of Lee's 2008 comedy, Happy Go Lucky, manage to greet every misfortune with a smile? Lee's new movie, Hard Truths, could have been titled Unhappy Go Lucky. It follows a middle-aged North London misanthrope named Pansy, who's played in the single greatest performance I've seen this year by Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

By contrast, how does Poppy, the upbeat heroine of Lee's 2008 comedy, Happy Go Lucky, manage to greet every misfortune with a smile? Lee's new movie, Hard Truths, could have been titled Unhappy Go Lucky. It follows a middle-aged North London misanthrope named Pansy, who's played in the single greatest performance I've seen this year by Marianne Jean-Baptiste.