The Invisible Man - Review

The Invisible Man

“The Invisible Man” is a 2020 science fiction horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. A contemporary adaptation of the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells that first saw the big screen in 1933.  In this adaptation the film stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Early in the story we see Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) who is trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy scientist named Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). In the dead of night she disappears into hiding, aided by her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Apparently distraught by Cecilia leaving him Adrian later commits suicide and surprisingly leaves Cecilia a generous portion of his vast fortune. But shortly after a series of bizarre events start to occur in her home Cecilia begins to suspect his death was a hoax. As these eerie coincidences turn lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

REVIEW: The Mount Rushmore of cinematic heroines is now complete. In 1979 we saw Sigourney Weaver masterfully deliver the first heroine with her “Ripley” and her life and death struggle with the indestructible “Alien”. In 1984 Linda Hamilton delivered an equally convincing performance with her “Sarah Connor” life and death battles with the equally indestructible “Terminator. And in 2015 Charlize Theron delivered a stellar performance with her “Imperator Furiosa” road race battles with “Lord Immortan Joe” in the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Now we can add Elisabeth Moss and her “Cecilia”. Though her heroine is not in a battle with a fictional monster per se, her battle nonetheless is still a life and death struggle with a plot thoroughly committed to the socially conscious Me Too Movement with a monstrous man of real flesh and blood.

Now as you are watching the film unfold you are already way a head of the events by knowing in real time what Cecilia” already knows - her dead boyfriend is alive, he has figured out how to disappear, he is torturing her and he is in the room. So for about an hour the film walks us through the perfunctory paces of her many friends and family repeatedly offering the standard litany of plausible denials and references about her “imagining things” and she “needing therapy”. These utterances in the film along with (unfortunately) most of the supporting cast of characters were the less compelling components to the plot. 

Specifically most of the cast outside of Moss felt like they were more push pined into the story for continuity and conveniences sake. But even with these momentary brief hiccups none of it hindered the showcasing of Moss’s acting prowess to carry the entire film to its dramatic ending. With both her vocal softness and loud blood curling screams, with facial expressions of a foreboding fear in the room and piercing eyes that burned through the screen that evoked a woman who was smart, calculating, resourceful and relied not on muscles, but with authentic feminine strengths and guile while taking on a cloaked ubermensch adversary determined to exact his revenge. With a running time 1:50 minutes Moss delivers a full bore complex emotionally compelling story of once a victim of unspeakable brutalized cruelty to becoming a victim no more, all immersed in quite a few creepy scenes including one at the 1:12 minute mark that I did not see coming that made me yell out an audibly loud…………. “Oh F&%k”................Trust me you will too.

While the film is a bit jagged at times with its movement in and out of creepy realism “The Invisible Man” is still an absorbing unnerving psychological horrifying thriller. With a smartly executed pace there are more than enough great scenes and solid moments that while even being occasionally flawed still makes this latest 2020 adaptation a must see in the theater.

3.50 Stars