The Invisible Man Movie Review

This is an article “The Invisible Man” by Marc Primo

Release date: 28 February 2020 (USA)

Director: Leigh Whannell

Language: English

Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Nervous Tick, Goalpost Pictures

Producers: Jason Blum, Kylie du Fresne

SPOILER ALERT-- After escaping a traumatic and abusive relationship, Cess Kass (Elizabeth Moss) finds herself eluding an invisible stalker in this retelling of the H.G. Wells classic. Saw and Insidious fans can rejoice with The Invisible Man as director Leigh Whannell successfully infiltrates our brains all over again to draw paranoia and fear, steering us to the point where we feel something that isn’t there. It’s topnotch horror indeed, and in the truest sense or form as audiences are taken into a world where emotional rollercoasters and tension-filled scenes abound.

This time around, the film combines some familiar elements from the classic science fiction novel with current social issues on abuse. Protagonist Cess is running away from her mad scientist boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), ending up in the residence of her old friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter Ashley (Storm Reid). Peace of mind, however, is far away for both Cess and the audience as news of her boyfriend’s suicide and a multi-million inheritance disrupt her whole world. One condition stands though, in that before she gets her hands on the dough, Cess must prove that she is mentally stable. The question is how, when a string of paranormal incidents take place one after another, involving a presence that cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Things take a turn as Cess convinces herself that her ex-boyfriend faked his own death and figured out a way to become invisible, allowing him to stalk her and make her life a living hell. Somehow, the plot is easily digested by audiences insofar as we need a reason for Adrian to make things worse for Cess as the narrative progresses. Naturally, the whole idea of being tormented by an invisible man is too ridiculous for everyone to fall for that Cess finds herself alone and hanging to her sanity by a thread.

What’s most enjoyable is how Whannell crafts the scenes to make the entire film truly scary. From its nimble pacing to coherent storytelling, the twists provided only add more juice to an already well-written script. The build-up and anticipation is effective and won’t test the audience’s patience, while the few jump scares are masterfully shot and timed.

Another element that deserves an ‘A’ is the story’s supplementary drama that gives the story an engaging human touch. Complemented by the stellar performances of its cast, The Invisible Man sets up an ominous atmosphere from the get go, making it easy for the viewer to empathize with Cess’s misery and paranoia. Moss’s inhibitions were certainly thrown out of the window as she gets tossed and turned around violently in some of the scenes, without the help of a stuntwoman. Her versatility doing a scary movie also shines as we witness her transformation from victim to avenger.

Whannell once again commands our attention in The Invisible Man by delving into issues of domestic abuse and feminism, and presenting it from the woman’s perspective with a hefty dose of spectacular special effects and impressive cinematography. We do hope we get to see more of Whannell in this form, as this is the type of escapism that audiences can easily get behind as a film franchise.

If you want to read the latest movie reviews and find out more about Marc Primo click here.