Presence

2024

★★★ Liked

Interesting as a double feature with Black Bag in that both are genre-based domestic dramas built on familial trust and possible betrayals. This one has more formal trickery thanks to the POV camerawork, but it’s also got way too many subplots for my taste. A low-key horror story about a wayward spirit is more than enough, especially when you’re telling that story from the perspective of the ghost. The melodrama about the mom who seems to detest her daughter, the sleazy boyfriend, the OJ, it all seemed to clash with the naturalistic vibe of the floating camera. It’s a fairly engaging experiment, but Black Bag is more of my bag. And in of this style of first-person cinema, give me Nickel Boys any day.

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