Presence Ending Explained

With a startling revelation of the ghost's true identity, Steven Soderbergh's genre-bending supernatural thriller Presence offers an avant-garde look at a haunted house from the viewpoint of the spirit doing the haunting. The movie Presence, which is currently showing in theaters, follows a family as they move into a new home through the eyes of an enigmatic presence that is already there. Every major member in Presence's cast is shown to be coping with their own anxiety, particularly Chloe (Callina Liang), the daughter, who is coping with the recent overdose deaths of two of her friends.

As more details about each family member become available, the entity's meddling in the home intensifies, yet it is eventually shown to be protective of Chloe in particular. Eventually, Chloe starts an affair behind closed doors with Ryan, a friend of her brother Tyler's who appears to be a well-liked athlete in the school system. Ryan tries to drug Chloe in her room (presumably to sexually attack her) before the thing knocks her drugged drink to the ground, exposing his evil intentions.

When parents Chris and Rebekah depart for a work trip over the weekend, the tension in the house increases to the point where Chloe invites Ryan to spend the night. The real horror starts when Ryan gives her brother Tyler pills so that he and Chloe can spend time together without interruption. Ryan's actual intentions are eventually exposed as he persuades Chloe to drink a tainted glass of vodka to help her unwind. This leads to a dramatic and breathtaking encounter with the creature in the house before its identity is finally disclosed.

The Complete Explanation of the Ghost's Identity in Presence

In the film's last scene, after the family has packed up and moved out, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) spent some time alone herself in the house and eventually realizes that there is an entity. The spirit is identified as her son Tyler (Eddy Maday), who perished tackling Ryan (West Mulholland) out of the second-floor window while attempting to save his sister's life. She follows it into the living room and stands in front of the antique silver mirror. Screaming in pain and sorrow, Rebekah collapses on the ground and cries that Jesus "came back to save her."

It is hinted that Tyler was the ghost the entire time, even though Chloe thought it was the spirit of her deceased companion Nadia. When Lisa, the medium, first visits the house, she gives some explanation because she and her husband observe that in their experience as "second sight" people, ghosts or entities like the one in the house frequently don't know who they are, why they manifested, or what time period they are in.

They can shift throughout time, and Lisa subsequently observes that the ghost seems to be there because of an impending event that hasn't transpired yet. She adds that it has to do with a window, but she is unable to elaborate. It is implied that the ghost first realized its own identity and purpose when it frantically wakes the drugged Tyler at the end of Presence. It also realized that Tyler had to die in order for the ghost to be created to wake him.

The audience must discover the identity of the ghost in order to properly comprehend this mind-blowing contradiction. A closer look reveals hints regarding the ghost's identity throughout, chief among them its protectiveness of Chloe and its violent destruction of Tyler's room when he is entertaining the family with his nasty trick on his classmate Simone. Tied only to the feelings and relationships from his mortal existence, the ghost is a guilty version of Tyler himself; he feels protective of his sister because of how cruel and aloof he was to her, and he is unhappy with himself for his cruelty.

The Twist of Presence's Serial Killer Explained

Because of how skilled and prepared he is at drugging Chloe, Tyler's pal Ryan comes across as dubious from the outset. When his goals are first revealed (when he drugs Chloe's drink in her room), he seems to be a horrible person who routinely sexually attacks girls. The link between Ryan's drugging of Chloe and her friends' drug overdoses is obvious to astute viewers. His true character is shown, though, when he eventually manages to drug Ryan and Chloe.

Ryan was not only indirectly responsible for Chloe's two friends' deaths, but he was also responsible for their murders. It turns out that Ryan is a serial killer who poisoned both females before suffocating them while they were unconscious. He got away with it because, to a coroner, it looked like the girls' breath had given out due to the medicines' interaction with their systems. He tries to kill Ryan and save Chloe by doing the exact same thing to her before Tyler's ghost awakens his physical body.

How Tyler's Spirit Remains Alive Before His Death

When Chris (Chris Sullivan) first brings Lisa into the house, Lisa, who has had a psychic gift all her life, shares some generic notes from her encounters with creatures. According to her, the ghost might not even know what it is, who it is, or when it is found. They may be from the past, present, or future, and they may not fully understand their purpose. The ghost in Tyler's case is his future deceased self who was transported back in time to live in the house in order to keep his sister safe from Ryan.

There is never any in-depth analysis of the metaphysical dilemma of a ghost essentially acting to assure its own future creation, and it is not meant to be. The strength of Tyler's guilt and need to make amends for the harm he had caused to his sister and others—rather than the pseudo-science underlying the ghost's origin—is what matters. There is no need to explain the mechanics of time travel itself. It's actually possible to interpret Tyler's ghost as an expression of his regret and sorrow, creating the illusion that he is simultaneously two different people.

The Reasons Behind Every Family Member's Extreme Stress

There are many hints regarding plot and character specifics because the story is delivered in fragmented pieces, but the whole picture is rarely disclosed. There is always a lot of tension in the house because each family member has their own unique stressor. Rebekah is probably implicated in fraud or embezzlement at work since she is desperate to close on the house and tells Tyler intoxicatedly that you may "go too far for the ones you love."

Chris's request for legal counsel regarding a spouse's responsibility for their partner's legal issues suggests that he is aware of his wife's illegal actions and is on the verge of divorcing her. Selfish and harsh, Tyler is mostly focused on his own social status and how his sister's strange behavior and mourning affect it. Chris is also concerned about Chloe's withdrawal and isolation as a result of her ongoing grief at the loss of her best friend. When the family moves into the haunted house, they are at a breaking point because of everything that has happened.

What Steven Soderbergh Has To Say Regarding the End of Presence

When it comes to deconstructing Presence, director Steven Soderbergh's viewpoint is especially helpful because of his distinctive filming technique and camera position. In an interview with Rue Morgue, Soderbergh discussed how hard it is to categorize Presence into a specific genre because the film and its conclusion don't always offer the kinds of thrills that are usually associated with traditional horror.

The combination of family drama and supernatural dread is what actually pushes Presence into the horror category, despite the fact that it lacks the clarity necessary to be neatly categorized into genre lines. The story's themes are undoubtedly characteristic of horror films, as are the startling revelations regarding Ryan's and the ghost's identities. Though they aren't explicitly stated, there are horror aspects throughout the film.

The True Significance Of The End Of Presence

Fundamentally, Presence explores the enduring nature of trauma and loss as well as the extensive effects of how they are handled. Since she experienced actual trauma from the death of her friend Nadia, Chloe's sensitivity to the spirit is instantaneous. Until they witness the spirit causing bodily harm, the rest of her family is less sensitive. Rebekah's eventual ability to see Tyler also connects to what Lisa initially informed them about ghosts: Rebekah ultimately went through actual trauma as a result of Tyler's passing, thus she is able to see it.

On the other hand, Presence also highlights the value of showing love and support to people who are struggling, as it is sometimes the only thing that can genuinely offer them peace. Knowing what actually happened to her friends and knowing that the person responsible cannot harm her or anyone else gives Chloe some measure of peace, while Tyler's spirit ascending to the sky at the end of the film suggests that his soul is at rest. As retribution for keeping her distance from Chloe when she most needed her, Rebekah concludes the film overcome with grief.