Presence ending explained: who was the ghost?

Lucy Liu and Julia Fox lead director Steven Soderbergh’s supernatural thriller Presence.

The film follows a family of four who move into a suburban house and become convinced they’re being haunted by a poltergeist, referred to as the presence.

Other cast members include Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Lucas Papaelias, West Mulholland, and Eddy Maday. The film is written by David Koepp, who previously collaborated with Soderbergh on 2022 thriller Kimi.

Presence is filmed from the perspective of the poltergeist in a series of long takes, as it observes the growing paranoia around the household.

What happens at the end of Presence?

‘Presence’ CREDIT: Neon

In the film, we see Chloe (Caillina Liang) form a romantic relationship with her brother’s friend Ryan (West Mulholland). The latter, however, doesn’t have the best intentions, as we see when he tries to spike Chloe’s orange juice, with the poltergeist preventing her from drinking it by knocking over the glass.

Chloe, who is still unaware of Ryan’s actions, invites him to stay the night while her parents are away at a conference. They are hoping for some time alone, but Chloe says her brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) will still be at the house. Ryan assures her though that he has a plan.

On the day, Ryan shows up at the house and pretends he’s just visiting Tyler. After a few drinks, Ryan puts Ambien in Tyler’s drink so he loses consciousness. When he’s out, Ryan heads up to Chloe’s room, and manages to spike her drink successfully this time.

In a bleak scene, the poltergeist watches as Ryan, who has obstructed Chloe’s breathing with plastic wrap, confesses that he’s the one responsible for the deaths of her best friend Nadia and another girl from the neighbourhood, with Chloe set to be his next victim.

The poltergeist rushes downstairs and shakes Tyler awake. Tyler immediately understands that his sister is in trouble and runs upstairs to the room, only to find Ryan standing over his sister’s unconscious body.

In his desperate last act, Tyler tackles Ryan through the window and they both fall to their deaths, saving Chloe in the process.

In the final sequence, we see grieving Chloe and her parents Rebecca (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan) preparing to move out of the house. Just as they’re about to leave, Rebecca looks into the mirror and sees Tyler staring back at her, causing her to scream.

It’s at this point we discover Tyler was actually the poltergeist in the house. Earlier in the film, we hear medium Lisa (Natalie Woolams-Torres) explain how time works differently in the spirit world, with the presence in the house possibly tied to a past or future event. As such, it’s implied Tyler’s ghost went back in time to prevent her sister’s death.

This idea opens up a whole bunch of paradoxical loop holes, but it basically serves as a redemption arc for Tyler’s character.

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