The Invisible Man
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman
Director: Leigh Whannell
Based on the novel "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells
In the middle of the night Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) packs up and sneaks out of the house, ready to leave her husband, optics pioneer Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) for good. After a narrow escape, she stays with her friend and police officer James (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), paranoid that Adrian is going to find her. She soon learns from her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) that Adrian is dead of an apparent suicide. Finally free of Adrian, Cecilia admits to the psychological and physical abuse at the hands of Adrian and is ready to move on. However she soon has to meet with Tom (Michael Dorman), Adrian's brother and executor of his will. Adrian has left her with 5 million dollars, paying out $10,000 each month. The only stipulation being that Cecilia can't be convicted of a crime or proven to be mentally unstable. Cecilia quickly begins to unravel after being toyed with by an unseen tormentor and begins to believe Adrian to still be alive and messing with her. No one believes her, sending Cecilia spiraling down the path to madness while trying to prove she is a pawn in Adrian's sinister game.
After the failure of The Mummy, the start to Universal's Dark Universe headlined by Tom Cruise, the studio had to retool the reboot of their classic monster universe. Scrapping the shared movie universe entirely and choosing to focus on each individual monster has proven to be the right call. While the film is titled The Invisible Man, he is not the main character like in previous iterations. Taking center stage is Cecilia, the woman he has chosen to torture and gaslight. This is the first thing this reboot does correctly.
The second was cast Elisabeth Moss. The actress continues to take the big screen by storm, delivering a fierce and vulnerable performance that anchors the terror that she endures on screen. Equally great is Aldis Hodge, who was fantastic in last year's criminally under seen Clemency. His character walks the line between wanting to be there for his friend and believe her yet also protect his family when it appears Cecilia attacked his daughter Sydney.
The third was hire Leigh Whannell behind the camera. His unique visual style, which he showed off in 2018's Upgrade, is very much on display here. He, along with cinematographer Stefan Duscio, have created a gorgeous looking film. Despite having only a $7 Million budget, you wouldn't guess it. Outside of the climax, Whannell shies away from using visual effects and lets a very natural tension and dread build by opening up the camera and making the viewer think that Adrian could be anywhere. While some might question his choice to not let the audience question if Adrian is or isn't alive, I think it actually helped with the tension and drawing things out would have gone against the narrative Whannell was attempting to build. He also manages one surprise death that legitimately caught me off guard.
If I had one complaint, I think that the ending cops out. While it is satisfying for Cecilia, it felt like the safe option. For as much creativity that Whannell shows throughout the film, the ending whiffed for me. I would have loved to have seen them continue to step outside of the box and wow me with the ending.
Filled with fantastic performances and a disturbing and modern take on gaslighting and those it effects, The Invisible Man exceeded my already lofty expectations to deliver a modern thriller classic.
A-