Steven Soderberghnever appears on screen inPresence, but he essentially plays the main character.

Here, he does the same, butPresencedoesnt just place him in the middle of the action.

Instead, his cameraisthe action, watching and influencing the Payne family like a particularly nosy roommate.

A still from Presence by Steven Soderbergh

Callina Liang in ‘Presence’.Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Part of the fun is watchingPresencesplotunfold slowly, like leafing through a carefully curated family photo album.

Soderbergh and writer David Koepp drip-feed revelations about the Paynes' past.