Why The Movie Presence Was So Good
Don’t read this blog if you haven’t watched Presence already.
Chances are, this blog may have a couple of spoilers.
I’m going to write it in a way that doesn’t have spoilers.
But if it does, oh well.
Seriously, don’t read this!
I watched Presence recently.
That movie was awesome.
I’ll be real.
I had a bunch of preconceived notions about the movie before even watching it.
The Preconceived Notions of Presence
I thought two things:
- It was going to be like Paranormal Activity.
- It was going to be terrifying.
Was it kind of like Paranormal Activity?
A little bit here or there.
But the two movies definitely had their own identities.
Actually, they were more different than similar in my opinion.
Other than the part with the mysterious force, there were many differences.
Also, the movie is branded as a horror film.
It’s not.
It’s more of a family drama with horror elements in it.
When you perceive it as a family drama with a ghost, that’s when it begins to make more sense.
I thought:
- Why would they market it as a horror film?
The people I went with said they were scared while watching it.
So, I won’t say it wasn’t scary at all.
But if you were to go in without any preconceived notions, I think you would realize it was not meant to be terrifying.
A Few Things I Loved About Presence
The first thing I liked a lot was the camera movements.
This was a hot topic.
Basically, we are watching this movie from the lens of the presence that is in the house.
Some people said the abrupt camera angle switches made for a poor movie experience.
I felt the opposite!
The unique camera angles made the movie feel fresh and unpredictable.
The other thing I liked about it was that the movie wasn’t long.
Around 1.5 hours.
I miss the era of short movies.
Something about short movies allows great ideas to truly shine.
Presence didn’t have too many conflicting ideas.
It was tight storytelling through and through.
A family is struggling to live in a house that has a possible supernatural presence.
What made it unique was that besides the problem with the presence, there were also internal conflicts among the family members.
It made everything more relatable.
Another part of Presence that was great was the characters.
Each of them had depth!
- The sister was a girl struggling with depression after the death of her friend.
- The father was a flawed man doing his best to make ends meet.
- Lucy Liu played a cold mother who clearly showed favoritism.
- And the son was a douchebag who had a desperate desire to be accepted.
The family dynamics made everything raw and real.
What I Loved the Most
This is where there is going to be a massive spoiler.
So please stop reading if you plan to watch the movie and have not watched it yet!
In the ending, there was some debate about who the presence was.
I recall in the last scene when Lucy Liu was looking at the mirror.
And she clearly saw her son.
The son who just died saving his sister.
The son that she clearly showed favoritism toward.
And the son who may have been the presence all along?
After watching the movie, it was hinted that the brother was the presence all along.
A force stuck in time.
Some people disagree with this.
They said there were multiple presences throughout the movie.
But something about the brother being the presence made the most sense.
When we see Lucy Liu break down into tears after seeing her son, it was heartbreaking.
I felt strong sensations in my chest.
If you were ‘eh’ about the entire movie, the last scene will immediately switch your perception to favorability.
It was one of the most raw moments I saw in theaters.
Especially as you watch the movie, it’s clear that Lucy favored her son.
The complex dynamic of the son and mom made that last scene heartbreaking.
Lesson on Finishing Strong
There are few movies that have such a strong ending that it has the power to switch the audience’s perception of the entire movie!
A few other movies that come to mind are Shutter Island and Lucky Number Slevin.
The endings are so shocking that they make you want to connect the loose ends throughout the film.
That’s what happened with me and this movie.
I wasn’t fully bored throughout the movie.
But I wasn’t super engaged either.
The ending made me become an advocate for this movie.
After experiencing a strong ending with this movie, it made me understand the value of finishing strong.
A lot of storytellers go with the “And they lived happily ever after” route.
That’s fine.
But you can also take a risk.
You can introduce your highest moment of tension at the end.
I would say this is a storytelling super move.
It forces the audience to connect dots.
Even if the dots weren’t there.
When you wow them at the ending, they want to revisit the beginning and middle to see things connect.
Once I saw my perception flip so quickly at the end of this movie, it made me realize that you never want to give up on your story.
At the end is when you can reel everyone back in.
Including yourself.
For more insights into storytelling, check out the Art & Science of Storytelling book
✨Ebook
✨Paperback/Kindle
✨Audiobook
– ArmaniTalks 🎙️🔥
