Twenty Two Presence

Year: 2023

Duration: 74 min

An unnamed young girl (Nora Woolsey) watches an old television programme via a projector and laptop in a theatre. 'Ghosts Of Hollywood Past' is a cheap, late night supernatural TV series presented by Psychic Investigator Dale Torrance (Al Carretta) and his actress co-host Taryn Spring (Freya Parsons). Eating chocolate and crisps, the girl is enamoured with the show that details Taryn and Dale's kidnapping and the retelling of stories associated with Jean Harlow and the disappearance of the actress who portrayed her on Dale's show.As partial credits begin to roll, Dale Torrance addresses his research team via webcam. Dale is clearly a few years older than he was in the television show excerpts and tells his online audience to scrutinise every word his subject says. The young girl appears on a television screen in an interview format and begins to make key statements about her life. The researchers; Sam Ford (Cameron Vince) and July (Emma De Ouse), consume and dissect every word as Dale determines the core facts; the girl was abducted at age three and has led a complex life ever since.Over a zooming map, the credit sequence rolls to indicate the girl has spent her life on the move around Europe from a start point in the South coast of England in 2007. As the credits close, a title card indicates '16 years later' and the girl begins a one on one interview with Dale that pulls the situation into focus. The girl presents memory cards with a diary and pictures, details her former nicknames and explains the abuse she suffered before the age of ten, including a paramount detail; her eye was cut out by her captors before she was six, she has a glass eye but has hidden the injury behind swept hair.With Dale having established the validity of the girl's claims from the memory cards presented in the first interview, his producer, Holly March (Charlotte Reidie) settles the girl at a hotel in Camden pending more rehearsal interviews and scrutiny. From here, Holly details how the next few days will unfold. Ultimately, the girl will be presented before a live TV audience if her claims are verified. Dale and the researchers continue their detailed interview with the girl. Doctor Hal (Sean O'Grady), a psychologist, asserts his professional observations and in review, Dale reminds everyone via a webcall that the girl is only to be called 'Presence' even though they know her real name.As planned by Holly, Dale and Presence go to a park that might have been her childhood favourite. The highly intelligent Presence knows instantly that they have taken her to the wrong park deliberately. Learning of the developments, the potential Mother (Zara Hadeshian) of Presence gets in touch, eager to know what is happening. Dale explains everything he knows and invites her to an interview where he will present the case and potentially introduce her to Presence. As the researchers prepare for the Mother's arrival, Presence offers up another memory card with more pictures. Holly meets with Presence again knowing that the meeting hinges on what Rick (Paul Kelleher), the former FBI data analyst thinks of the case. Meeting with Dale, Rick explains that he is blown away by the consistency of the evidence presented and identifies the scenarios that lock down the likely truth of the situation. Presence, growing in confidence, unashamedly acknowledges to Holly she chose Dale over other journalists because she watched his TV show in Poland and knew he would listen to her.Not impressed by this, Holly takes a stern approach with Presence who reveals that she knows something that would be of great interest to Dale. Pushing her to reveal what, Presence explains that her Polish mother's friend was the actress who played 'Jean Harlow' in Dale's show but disappeared after undergoing heavy plastic surgery. Holly understands the significance of this information in relation to Dale's actual kidnapping years previously but can't alert Dale in time as the interview with the Mother is about to begin.Dale presents the case of Presence to the Mother and talks her through the evidence, which includes photographs of her family and her husband at the time of the disappearance. Stating that he doesn't believe the girl to be her missing daughter, Dale also acknowledges that truth is stranger than fiction. Drawing a quick conclusion to the emotionally charged meeting, Dale asks the Mother to answer one key question. With most elements aligned, Dale exits the interview to question Presence who gives identical answers and reasoning as the mother. After an awkward pause, the red studio curtains are drawn back for Presence to come face to face with her Mother.

Genre: Action   Drama