Steven Soderbergh’s new horror film ‘Presence’ gave me a headache

Filmmakers have parsed the zombie genre from seemingly every angle possible. George A.

Now that Steven Soderbergh’s three-year overall deal with HBO is over, he’s free to work with any studio he chooses. And the filmmaker is doing just that, in his usual workaholic way, as Deadline reports that Focus Features outbid everyone for “Black Dog,” Soderbergh’s upcoming spy thriller with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender.

EXCLUSIVE: Focus Features has won a bidding battle for Black Bag, a package for a spy thriller film that Steven Soderbergh will direct this summer in Europe from a David Koepp script, with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender attached to star. Casey Silver and Greg Jacobs are producing.

Everyone loves a what if, us especially. We all like to dream about the greatest projects never made, right? Well, here’s one more to add to that pile.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Presence,” a twisty new thriller that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, has sold to Neon. The movie, which is directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, puts an inventive spin on the haunted house genre. It unfolds from the perspective of the spectral entity and is primarily interested in dramatizing the issues of the people living in the home, who seem to be grappling with a lot of interpersonal problems.

The first of many misdirects of perspective occurs in the opening shot of “In a Violent Nature.” The film opens with off-screen voices in discussion as the camera fixes its glance on what appears like a slipshod frame of a tree branch in the forest. It’s an image that feels haphazardly put together, and combined with the disembodied dialogue, filmmaker Chris Nash primes the audience to perceive the scene as something akin to a DIY YouTube video.

You’ll remember during the pandemic, Steven Soderbergh revealed he wrote three scripts in a three-month blaze at the beginning of lockdown. One of them was a sequel to “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.” READ MORE: Steven Soderbergh Has Written A ‘Sex, Lies & Videotape’ Sequel; Says George Clooney & More Set For ‘Kill Switch’ Well, it’s not happening, and in a recent Variety article, Soderbergh said while he got actors like Andie MacDowell and Laura San Giacomo to agree to return, he feels like the idea has missed its moment and he’ll likely turn it into a novel instead (which would be his first).

Every so often, a film comes along that, as if out of nowhere, leaves an unexpected impression and a need to find a moment to take in all that was witnessed fully; it’s a phenomenon that can come from any genre, any type of project, any filmmaker or subject, from battles in a galaxy far, far away to the intricate life story of a media tycoon. Sometimes, the smallest forms of art end up being the most effective, with “Sugarcane” a perfect example of how to draw in an audience to the film’s powerful message with moments as shocking as any entry into the world of horror.

We’ve confirmed that a new Jurassic World movie, a complete reboot, is being fast-tracked at Universal with the franchise’s original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp. He adapted the first two movies from 1993 and 1997’s The Lost World from Michael Crichton’s novels.

told People magazine at Sunday night’s Sundance Film Festival premiere of the new documentary, “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.““And what sticks with me most,” he said, “was after that incredible warm welcome and that very long standing ovation that he received, his introduction — he followed it up with a wonderful speech about how cinema and movies are at their best when they not only entertain, but they inform and educate and address issues.”Among those in the audience applauding the “Rear Window” actor that night were Tom Hanks, Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, John Travolta, Meryl Streep, Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage.Reeve also remembered how clips from movies including “Coming Home” and “Terms of Endearment” addressed important human issues.“So that’s always stuck with me,” he told People.

An exploration of the generational trauma surrounding the “stolen generations” of Aboriginal children by the Australian government, Jon Bell’s feature debut “The Moogai” fits all the criteria of what we would, perhaps pejoratively, describe as “elevated horror.” A fraught term, and one that would need more than the length of this review to dive into, it nevertheless seems apt for a film that so blatantly makes its subtext into text.

PARK CITY – The grass isn’t always greener is an axiom that has driven horror movies or “almost” horror movies since the silent film era. It’s no surprise then, that Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” is clearly inspired by the noir thrillers of a time gone by.

Since returning from his announced retirement from feature filmmaking, Steven Soderbergh has been on a tear of productivity unmatched since the heyday of Hollywood’s studio system. His quickie projects might feel like slight exercises in style or storytelling, but they have never felt disposable.

David Schwimmer has never been known for his movies. Perusing the “Friends” star’s film resume is quick — and painful. There’s “Six Days Seven Nights,” “The Laundromat” and “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” among other screen non-classics.But the actor’s undeniable charisma and uniqueness are finally put to proper full-length use in the demented “Little Death,” which has its world premiere Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival.

Stephen Rodrick The not-so-secret fact about premieres is that the actors rarely watch, usually ducking out when the lights go down. They spend the film’s duration smoking cigarettes and reciting the cinema’s version of the serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, i.e. the director’s predilection to use my worst take.” That was not the case at Sundance’s world premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” a ghostly thriller about the Payne family, a bougie clan with a significant number of problems including a spectral, uh, presence that could be friend or foe.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and penned by David Koepp, the haunting psychological thriller Presence follows a fractured family as a mysterious supernatural force infiltrates their new home that has taken interest in their daughter Chloe. The film is written by David Koepp and stars Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, and Julia Fox.An unsettling presence permeates the home of Chris (Sullivan) and Ruth (Liu)  before they even move in. This supernatural entity is a witness to the family’s most vulnerable moments. It has a particular focus on the couple’s young daughter Chloe (Liang), who is always at odds with her mother and Brother Tyler (Maday). However, the young girl is in mourning because of her two girls, one of them her best friend Nadia, died recently.  

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Presence,” a ghost story directed by Steven Soderbergh, is set entirely inside a lovely, renovated, 100-year-old suburban home, and before the characters even have a chance to move in, the place is already occupied. The camera literally seems to be peering at things, staring out the second-floor windows, then coming down the stairs to witness the arrival of a harried real-estate agent, then the family of four she’s about to sell the house to. Darting from room to room in an unbroken wide-angle-lens shot, the camera gives us an impromptu tour of the house, letting us drink in the crisp mint-green walls, the vintage wood that lines everything (windows, doors, stairway, fireplace), the ancient smoke-glass mirror and polished oak-board floors and elegant sprawling kitchen.

Well, the Steven Soderbergh/David Koepp relationship continues. After writing the surveillance thriller, “Kimi” and the upcoming ghost movie “Presence” which will premiere at Sundance soon, screenwriter David Koepp (“Jurassic Park,” “Carlito’s Way”) has penned yet another film for director Steven Soderbergh.

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender are set to co-star in a spy thriller!

It all seems so idyllic at first and sensible, too. Mother of four Maria Gros Vatne narrates the opening minutes of “A New Kind of Wilderness” as the documentary shows videos and still photographs of her husband and kids romping through Norway’s unassuming fields, streams, and woods.