December 7, 2025 – Ghost stories usually don't make good movies, but I was surprised how good this one was until the end, when I saw it was directed by Steven Soderbergh. That explains it. He's just one of the best, always has been.

A family moves into a creepy old house that always seems dark, even with a lot of lights on. A troubled young girl, Chloe (played by Callina Liang of “Bad Genius”) moves into a haunted room while trying to get over the trauma of two of her friends dying mysteriously. Think you know where this is going? Hold on, there are some surprises ahead.

Chloe's domineering mother Rebekah (Lucy Liu of “Red One”) clearly favors her son, Tyler (Eddy Maday) over Chloe, much to the dismay of their father, Chris (Chris Sullivan of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”) who is under a lot of stress. Chris fears his wife is involved in something illegal which is going to pull the whole family down with her.

Rebekah and Tyler are both jerks who enjoy putting other people down, while Chris and Chloe both just suffer and keep their heads down. Strange things begin happening in Chloe's room. Things start moving around, as if being carried by invisible hands. Even before the family moved in, one member of the painting crew, sensing something, refuses to enter Chloe's room.

Chloe doesn't say anything at first. She notices that some things are not where she put them, but doesn't see anything directly until one day she and a friend, Ryan (West Mulholland of “Dark Harvest”) are about to have sex in her room when suddenly the clothes rack in the closet crashes to the floor. Chloe senses a presence in the room and thinks it is the spirit of her dead friend, Nadia.

Soderbergh uses the camera often to present the ghost's point of view. This gives the viewer more of an idea about what is going on. It becomes clear that this ghost is benevolent and it is intent on protecting Chloe. When the family witnesses inexplicable events in Tyler's room, Chris calls in a psychic, Lisa (Natalie Woolams-Torres of “First Reformed”) who agrees with Chloe that there is an otherworldly presence in the home.

While Rebekah and Tyler continue to ridicule Chloe, despite what they have witnessed, Chris takes her aside and tells her that he believes her, which is a great comfort to Chloe. There is talk of abandoning this haunted house, but ultimately, the family decides to stay, and Chloe insists the ghost means no harm.

Chloe's beliefs are put the test and Tyler turns out to be a good brother after all. There is a haunted closet, a haunted mirror and danger from an unexpected quarter. There is a deadly confrontation in the house, as things go from just being strange to terrifying all of a sudden.

Soderbergh's pacing is perfect in this movie and his camera work really helps tell this story, even though I found many scenes to be so dark it was difficult to see what was happening. The acting is excellent by the entire cast. If you like ghost stories, and even if you don't, this is a good one. It rates a B.

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