Does The Invisible Man live up to the hype? Well seeing is believing (and although you can’t see the antagonist of this film), The Invisible Man breathes life into this once thought dead style of horror with compelling characters and suspense that will leave you on the edge of your seat and begging to see more!
WARNING: IF YOU WANT TO GO INTO THIS FILM WITH ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA OF WHAT IS HAPPENING READ CAREFULLY. THERE WILL BE A SPOILER WARNING WHEN MAJOR PLOT POINTS ARE DISCUSSED BUT IF YOU WANT NOTHING ABOUT THIS FILM TALKED ABOUT, COME BACK AFTER YOU WATCH THE MOVIE.
If you are still here, I commend you for your bravery. Let’s get into The Invisible Man.
Overview
The Invisible Man was released on February 28, 2020. It stars Elizabeth Moss as Cecilia Kass, a troubled woman who escapes an abusive relationship from Adrian Griffin, this manipulative scientific inventor played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Once she escapes, Cecilia is so terrified of being found by Adrian that she can’t even walk outside. This all changes when she finds out that Adrian has passed away and can’t hurt her anymore. She is able to start living her life without the constant fear of being watched… or so she thinks.
What this film does so well is that it plays with the audience’s perception of what’s happening to Cecilia. The first forty minutes of the film are a slow burn of odd happenings that take place in the house. From the stove turning on with no one near, to a knife falling off the table without a sound. As you watch this film you think at any moment this invisible entity could kill Cecilia. But the film makes it clear that it is not their goal to kill her. It’s to torment her.
Someone is torturing Cecilia throughout the story and the film uses that to make you feel just as paranoid. No one is willing to believe what is happening with Cecilia which infuriates you because you know she’s not crazy. You are rooting for her to prove that there is someone there, but the film makes you question maybe Cecilia is imagining this all. Then the film takes a hard left and makes it very clear to the audience and Cecilia that her suspicions were right.
What Makes It Work
The elements that make this horror/thriller movie work more than the atrocious The Mummy (2017) and Dracula Untold (2014), is that it does not try to be more than it is. Tom Cruise’s The Mummy wanted so badly to be the next big cinematic universe that would rival Marvel. But that was the film’s goal. Not to scare us, or to tell a unique story. It was to make money and be the next big thing. The Invisible Man is doing what I’m sure most modern horror films wanted to be, truly scary.
This film knows it’s a thriller that has a classic monster attached to it, so it tells a modernized version of what would make that idea so terrifying. A controlling and abusive partner that no one can see. If that isn’t symbolism, I don’t know what is.
If you are looking for a truly entertaining film that makes you question everything that you are watching on screen, go see this unseeable monster movie!
~If you watched the film and would like to see what I felt worked well and what didn’t, or you simply don’t care about spoilers, feel free to read below~
*SPOILER WARNING*
With a film called The Invisible Man, you know there is going to be some way the film explains how a person can be invisible. Magic? Invisible Spray? John Cena? Nope. This universe’s answer to how to make a man invisible is shown in the first scene in the background. A suit comprised of cameras that can cloak itself into its surroundings and be invisible to the unseen eye. Sure this is still a stretch. But it is the most believable reason to have a man be invisible in this modern revamp.
What Worked
I thought the premise of having Adrian be so determined to make Cecilia think he willing to fake his own death sickening. It made him more terrifying than any paranormal beings that have been put to screen over the last five years. Cecilia is also not an idiot and thinks her plans through which makes the movie so much better. She is so clever that at certain points in the film you have no idea what she is going to do!
What Did Not Work
At a certain point in the film, the invisible suit gets damaged and is shown that it is broken and can not become fully invisible anymore. But in the very next scene the suit is in perfect condition again. The invisible suit is covered in so much plot armor it is unstoppable, unless the film wants the suit to brake. It just made the final conflict a little inconsistent with what was established in other shots.
Hopefully, these mild spoilers were not enough to ruin the film for those of you who were daring enough to read this section before watching the film. Thank you for reading and I hope you come back for my next review, take care!