Presence ending explained: Who exactly was the Entity?

Steven Soderbergh's Presence is a supernatural thriller about a family that discovers a mysterious presence in a suburban house they move into. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was released in US theaters on January 24, 2025.

Soderbergh directed this blend of horror and thriller based on a screenplay by David Koepp. The film takes place mostly in a single location and has a fairly small cast that includes Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, and West Mulholland. Besides them, Julia Fox, Lucas Papaelias, Daniel Danielson, and Jared Wiseman appear briefly in the film.

The film's official logline on IMDb reads:

"A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs."

In the film, the camera tracks the characters around the house, indicating a presence behind it, looking into their lives.

The ending shows Rebecca, Chris, and Chloe moving out of the house in the wake of Tyler's tragic death. Just before they leave, Rebecca looks into the mirror and finds Tyler peeking back at her. Let's decode this ending, which left some viewers confused.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Steven Soderbergh's Presence. Reader discretion is advised.

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What is the story of Presence?

Presence follows the Payne family after they move into a house in the suburbs. The family includes Rebecca (Lucy Liu), her husband Chris (Chris Sullivan), their daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), and their son Tyler (Eddy Maday).

Shortly after their arrival, they sense a mysterious presence around them. Chloe assumes that it is the spirit of Nadia, her close friend who recently died, being short of breath. Tyler's friend, Ryan (West Mulholland), is the only person who frequents the house besides the family.

Ryan gets into a relationship with Chloe. He soon shows his true colors when he spikes a drink meant for Chloe. However, the supernatural entity knocks that drink to the ground, protecting Chloe.

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What happens to Tyler and Chloe toward the end?

Ryan decides to visit the house when Rebecca and Chris go on a business trip together. Chloe tells Ryan that Tyler will also be home. Still, Ryan shows up at the house and adds a pill to Tyler's drink to make him fall asleep. When Tyler loses consciousness, Ryan goes to Chloe's room with an adulterated drink.

Chloe wants to talk to Ryan about her discomfort with their physical relationship. After taking the drink, Chloe also loses consciousness. Ryan tries to suffocate her with a cellophane. While doing so, he ends up revealing that he killed Nadia.

As it happens, the entity wakes Tyler and makes him go to Chloe's room. Tyler rushes there, and moments later, the entity throws him and Ryan out of the window, leading to their sudden deaths.

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Who is the supernatural Presence in the house?

In the end, the Payne family is on their way out of the house. They decide to relocate after Tyler's unfortunate death. Shortly before they leave, Rebecca looks into the mirror and gets terrified as she sees Tyler looking back at her.

The ending reveals that the entity in their house has been Tyler himself. It takes the viewers back to something that a medium told the family after visiting their house. The medium revealed that past and present co-exist in the spiritual realm.

So, Tyler followed the family around the entire time they lived in the house. He tried to protect Chloe from the other realm. His presence acted as a warning for the family of the danger lurking around them. In this case, the danger was Tyler's friend, Ryan.