Genre: Horror/Thriller
Rating: 4/5
SPOILER WARNING
Not the Scariest, but a Thrilling Ride
I’ve seen The Invisible Man three or four times now, with my girlfriend and with various friends. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. In a year where film suffered due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, The Invisible Man is definitely one of the best films to have come out. Elisabeth Moss plays Cecilia, in a very strong performance. Cecilia plans to escape her extremely wealthy and abusive husband, Adrian, but when he is reported dead, she is terrorized by an invisible person.
In a very tense, anxiety-inducing opening scene, Cecilia escapes her husband’s state of the art mansion. We don’t really know what’s going on until Adrian pops out of nowhere to try and win her back, as she’s driving off with her sister. I think this opening is really effective to set up her emotional state, which is the main focus of the film.
As Cecilia begins to be terrorized by this invisible entity, which she immediately believes to be Adrian, her sister and friend start to worry for her. She seems to be losing her mind. The audience is very soon aware that it really is Adrian who has somehow cheated death. Adrian starts ruining her life, pretending to be Cecilia as he messages her sister and attacks her friends daughter. In a gruesome, intense scene, Cecilia attempts to heal her relationship with her sister in a restaurant, only to see a knife magically hover in the air before slitting her sister’s throat. Cecilia is the main suspect and put into prison.
Elisabeth Moss’ performance in these scenes equally show her descent into a manic state but how headstrong she is, knowing that she is right that Adrian is in fact alive. What follows the prison scene is a really effective and frankly, badass, action scene. Cecilia escapes and chases down Adrian to her friend’s home. The action continues and the Invisible Man is killed, revealing to the world the highly advanced suit that renders the wearer…invisible. However, under the suit is Adrian’s brother, not Adrian. This seems to be the accepted answer, until a news report appears revealing that Adrian has been found, allegedly kidnapped by his own brother.
Adrian pretends it was never him and tries to bring Cecilia back into his life. The big twist of the film is that Cecilia kills Adrian using the invisibility suit. This has left everyone conflicted. I like it, it didn’t sit right with my girlfriend. To me, it only makes sense that after being driven into a mania, by Adrian, that the mania would end with Adrian’s life, signifying, hopefully, a new beginning for Cecilia. Others could say, the protagonist has stooped down to the level of the antagonist. It is up for interpretation.
This was a bit more of a summary, but that is because this film doesn’t really have plot holes that I can easily identify. When watching this film, the Invisible Man could be anywhere at any time, so you are always completely immersed in the image and the story, there’s no room for any distractions. I think that’s fantastic. The reason this is a 4/5 and not a 5/5 is that it’s not actually very scary. Jump scares don’t get me all that much, but this film doesn’t attempt very many jump scares. The scary aspect of the film is a slow boil with a few pops here and there. However, a lot of them have such a slow buildup that the audience is ready for them and in turn they aren’t very scary. The Invisible Man is certainly creepy and keeps you on your toes, but would I call it scary? No.
Overall, the cinematography is really fantastic. The acting, especially from Elisabeth Moss is very, very high level. The story is terrorizing and intriguing. This film doesn’t really miss. The biggest debate of the film is how it ends! This is definitely one of my favorite horror movies. Would I watch it again? Yeah! I’ve seen it so many times now, what would it hurt to watch it again? Should you watch it? Absolutely. There are a few scenes with violence and blood, but all in all it is a very very good watch.
Tony King
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