Steven Soderbergh's genre-blending films, from 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' to 'The Girlfriend Experience' and 'Presence,' have redefined cinema.

The entire film is shot entirely from the ghost's point of view, the audience haunting a family that has recently moved into a New Jersey home, not realizing that something was already living there. Critic Sean Burns says it's a great gimmick,

The camera is the ghost in Steven Soderbergh’s chillingly effective, experiential haunted house drama “Presence.”

The inventive director embraced POV filmmaking on "Presence," his haunted-house film shot from the spirit's perspective.

The intimate supernatural drama stars Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as homeowners with an unexpected houseguest. With Presence, Steven Soderbergh Resurrects the Ghost Story: Review

"I always operate the camera, but this was next level," the director says. "I’m really in there with the actors."

In his nomadic career, Soderbergh has been a big-screen name happy to work for Netflix and HBO. Presence, though, is clearly made to be watched in the cinema, with a crowd, preferably while being under 19.

“Presence” is a beautifully executed vision of a rather mediocre script. What makes it interesting is the POV “gimmick,” which Soderbergh demonstrates as a legitimate mode of cinematic storytelling. His camera movements take on such a human quality that we become emotionally connected to it as another character in the story.

What if a ghost could tell its own story but not speak? That is the wildly compelling premise of Presence. Director Steven Soderbergh reteams with Kimi screenwriter David Koepp for an unconventional haunted house story, creating a film that is sharply funny, beguiling, a bit chilling, and ultimately sweet.

"Presence" is the kind of movie mindbender that sneaks up on you and leaves you thinking long after it's over, according to film critic.

Presence is out now in cinemas, and Steven Soderbergh's innovative haunted house chiller is the first great horror movie of 2025.