Why is “Presence” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, drug material, language, sexuality and teen drinking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes teens having sex, a few flirting and kissing scenes, two teen boys dying after falling through a window, a teen boy drugging other teens, discussions of the death of two teens, discussions of cruel practical jokes, discussions of a woman’s illegal activity, several scenes of unexplained activity in a house, several arguments and over 40 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When a family moves into a new house, the teenage daughter (Callina Liang) begins to sense a peculiar presence and tries to convince her other family members to listen to her concerns. Also with Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, West Mulholland, Lucas Papaelias and Eddy Maday. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. [Running Time: 1:25]

Presence SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A teen girl straddles and thrusts on a teen boy in bed (in a blurry distance view) and we hear them moaning; we later see the teen boy shirtless when he gets out of bed (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). A teen girl kisses a teen boy and she cries; he embraces her, they kiss passionately, remove their shirts (both are wearing tank tops) and continue to kiss until they are interrupted by a shelf and rod in the closet crashing to the floor. A teen boy kisses a teen girl and tells her, “I think I’m in love with you,” they kiss and lie back on the bed. A teen boy gives a teen girl a drug in her drink and she falls asleep; he makes sexual remarks to her and lies on top of her while she is on the bed (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A teen girl wearing a cropped top (we see her bare abdomen and cleavage) lies on her bed in her room and a teen boy lies next to her while they talk.
► After having had sex a teen boy tells a teen girl that he could “go again”; she declines. A teen girl invites a teen boy to her room after drinking a glass of liquor and they go upstairs together.
► A teen girl wrapped with a towel walks out of her bathroom (we see her bare shoulders and cleavage).

Presence VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – Lights flicker in a house and high-pitched whistling sounds in a teen boy’s ears waking him from a stupor; he charges up the stairs and confronts another teen boy with his sister, lunges toward him and they both crash through a window (we see them lying twisted on the ground below and understand that they are dead).
► A teen boy gives a teen girl a drug in her drink and she falls asleep; he makes sexual remarks to her and lies on top of her while she is on the bed and places a piece of plastic across her mouth and nose a few times while talking about having done this with two other girls (both of whom are dead); he talks about them overdosing and that they just stopped breathing.
► Items are knocked off a shelf, thrown around a room and a mirror shatters and people yell in fear while they see it happening. A teen girl cries and lies in her bed, gets up with a start and moves toward her closet and calls out a name (we do not see or hear anything). Books and binders close and move through the air and a teen girl gasps when she comes into the room to find them stacked neatly on a desk. A bedroom door closes by itself. While painting a room alone, a man tells another man that the man that was supposed to be helping him won’t come into the room. A woman comes to a house and gasps deeply when she walks through the front door; she describes sensing that something happened to a presence and it probably happened in the house. A woman screams and collapses crying when she sees a reflection of her dead son in a mirror.
► A teen boy puts a drug in a teen girl’s juice and stirs it with her finger; the glass falls off the table and spills before she drinks it. A teen boy puts a drug in another teen boy’s drink and we see him sleeping later (sedative). A teen boy describes a practical joke that he and his friends played on a teen girl and we later hear that the girl ended up in a psychiatric hospital. A teen boy says that he carried a razor blade in his glove for 6 months (implying that he was considering suicide). A woman tells a man that something bad is going to happen and he is dismissive and tells her to leave. A teen girl looks at a closet and seems to think she sees someone or senses something behind the doors.
► Teen siblings argue bitterly in several scenes and the teen girl tells her teen brother, “I hate you.” A man yells at his family members when they are arguing and says, “I will not live like this.” A husband and his wife argue in several scenes. A man argues with his teen son about the way he treats his sister. A teen boy makes a dismissive remark about his teen sister’s “dead friend thing.” A man says that he has asked a woman with “second sight” to come to their house and see if she has any explanation for what is happening and his family members are upset. A woman insists on moving her family to a school district for the advantage of their teen son, overlooking the wishes of her teen daughter. Several discussions refer to a woman having done something wrong (it is not made clear what she has done) and the legal implications for her husband and family. A woman tells her son, “It’s OK to go too far for the people you love.” A woman tells her son how devoted she is to him and she is dismissive when he asks about his sister. A husband tells his wife several times that she has two children when she seems to only be concerned about her son. A man asks someone over the phone about what the legal implications are for a person if their spouse is doing something not exactly legal. A woman says they cannot go back into their house and says they are not safe after an unexplained incident. A teen boy talks about feeling so alone and a teen girl consoles him. A teen boy asks if a teen girl committed suicide and a teen girl says that she thinks she took some bad drugs. A teen girl describes what it is like to know someone that died. A man says, “I’m coming apart.” A teen boy says of another teen boy that he has a mean streak. A teen girl says that she thinks her dead friend is there with her. A woman describes being sensitive to things out of the realm of others’ understanding.
► A teen girl picks at her nails and we see blood on her thumb. A woman says that she has a virus on her computer and we see her seemingly deleting items.

Presence LANGUAGE 9

 – About 44 F-words, 1 obscene hand gesture, 24 scatological terms, 7 anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (insane, you’re a mess, dude, weird, stupid, idiots, freaks, stud), exclamations (sucked, you’re fooling yourself, you’re so cool, oh please, shut the [F-word deleted] up), 11 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, Christ, experience God, Jesus, God). | profanity glossary |

Presence SUBSTANCE USE

 – A drug is shown on a piece of foil and we understand that a teen girl and a teen boy have taken some when she remarks that it is really strong, a teen boy puts a drug in a teen girls juice (a couple of times) and stirs it with his finger (she does not drink it in one scene), a teen boy talks about “synthetic fentanyl,” and a teen boy puts a drug (sedative) in another teen boy’s drink. A woman drinks a glass of liquor, a man and a woman drink glasses of wine in several scenes, a teen girl offers a teen boy a drink and he declines, a woman drinks a glass of whiskey and a man drinks a glass of wine, and a teen girl pours a glass of liquor and drinks it. A woman smokes a cigarette and a man shares it with her.

Presence DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Death of a friend, death of children, grief, favoritism, murder, rape, mistakes, reality, trauma, religion, mental health leave.

Presence MESSAGE

 – Some wicked things are inescapable.