Directed by:
Leigh WhannellScreenplay:
Leigh WhannellCinematography:
Stefan DuscioComposer:
Benjamin WallfischCast:
Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Storm Reid, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, Benedict Hardie, Anthony Brandon Wong, Amali Golden, Michael Dorman, Sam Smith (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister, their childhood friend and his teenage daughter. But when Cecilia’s abusive ex commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns 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. (Universal Pictures US)
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Reviews (14)
The brilliantly paranoid direction and cinematography do to the viewer in The Invisible Man what, say, Spielberg's Jaws does to the viewer – the unsettling static shots simply suggest to you that there's someone standing there somewhere who can't be seen. Or are they there? Or there? Really terrific work and, along with the perfectly believable Elizabeth Moss, it is the main triumph of this unassuming but all the more impressive and surprising horror film, which of course deals with serious themes of domestic violence and restraint as much as it does with jump scares. If it had been a little shorter and had deleted say, the entire part in the attic, I'd have absolutely nothing to find fault with.
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The talented Leigh Whannell delivers the first solid horror film of the year. I liked Upgrade a tad more, but he has done a decent job with Invisible Man, it's already clear that the film will join the ranks of successful remakes. Elisabeth Moss gives a strong female performance (she is one of the least likable actresses and even if she is not the best looking, she at least makes up for it with a solid performance). I'm not familiar with the original, so I went in more or less blind, and the story is interesting and engaging enough. The film's strongest points are definitely the music, which completes the perfect, almost intense atmosphere, there’s plenty of suspense and unexpected twists. The downside for me was the slower pace in the first half, and I was also hoping for Whanell to dabble in violence, which he surprisingly avoids completely, and for that a point down. Satisfied, but I was expecting something more intense. 8/10.
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The first half was on track for a five-star review. Whannell fires off one idea after another; the last time I enjoyed contemporary horror with a similarly fresh and innovative take was Wan’s first instalment of the Conjuring franchise. Wan and Whannell have quite a few things in common – both are undoubtedly clever creators who made do with modest means in their early days, relying on talent and inventiveness without any big budget to speak of. The excellent Upgrade simply wasn’t a lucky accident. It is clear to me now – and I would in fact bet my Blu-ray collection on it – that one big studio or another will make a move also on Whannell, who may look forward to a promising directing career (Scott Derrickson, another great talent, came from similar beginnings). Sadly, the second half of The Invisible Man somewhat turns into a B-movie spectacle, and I didn’t have as much fun. But the slightly cynical ending with a nice zinger was pleasant enough. Unlike Elizabeth Moss. She has no charisma, lacks feminine fragility…and what’s worse, she can’t act :o).
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This post-MeToo reinterpretation of H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man transforms the subtext of numerous slasher films and paranoid thrillers (toxic masculinity is evil) into the main theme and, unlike the original story, factors in primarily the viewpoint of the victim rather than that of the attacker. The screenplay was written by a man (director Leigh Whannell), though on the basis of consultation with specialists and victims of stalkers and emotional manipulators. In order to take the feminine perspective into consideration as sensitively as possible, Elisabeth Moss was invited to refine the script. The most terrifying part of the film is its first half, which gives us a hint of the hell experienced by the partner of a person with personality disorder even after the (seeming) end of the relationship and patiently reveals the aggressor’s methods. From the ways that Cecilia’s ex-partner psychologically torments her, destroys her career prospects and isolates her from her family and friends in order to intensify her helplessness, the film is chilling in that it shows how easily such methods can be applied in a world where invisibility has yet to be invented. (Due to his ability to assign blame to the victim, the perpetrator of this form of violence often seems to be absent and invisible, someone who does not actually exist). Compared to other, similar films that keep us in a state of uncertainty until the end as to whether the main character is in fact losing touch with reality (in other words, we have the same doubt that a manipulator tries to induce in the victim through gaslighting), here we know from the beginning that Cecilia is in the right and her cognitive abilities are unimpaired, which together with Moss’s performance and the boldly subjective narration strengthens our affinity for her and the frustration arising from the fact that no one believes her, while someone else takes control of her life step by step with a chillingly premeditated plan. Though the second half of the film is closer in nature to a standard splatter film and the psychological persuasiveness more conspicuously gives way to genre conventions, it is still first and foremost about what the protagonist experiences. Thanks to the viewer’s interest in the main character, the film’s climax works superbly. It is satisfying to see who takes the lead in it and how, as well as in how simply and effectively it is directed (which is true of the whole film; instead of visual effects and scares, extremely inventive use is made of the most basic stylistic elements employed by horror filmmakers: silence and empty spaces, slow panoramic shots, well-timed point-of-view shots). It is a horror film that, in revealing some of the sources of today’s social anxieties, is equally as important as Get Out was a few years ago (as we live in a society that is more trusting of those who are good at pretending than it is of the victims of such pretending). 80%
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The Invisible Man captures your attention thanks to the great atmosphere and, of course, Elisabeth Moss' evocative performance as Cecilia. Unlike most horror films (or thrillers), the film is not based directly on the fear of what we will see, but of what we will not actually see – to put it in a rather trite way – which it manages to do in a very artful way. Together with the protagonist, we look into empty doors or corridors and wait to see who or what will appear. Elisabeth Moss, thanks to her unmistakable looks, was a great choice for the role of a woman who is suddenly not at all sure of what is happening around her and doesn't know if she is slowly losing her mind. Towards the end, I felt that the plot started to lose its breath a bit, but I was more than satisfied with the overall denouement. Last but not least, I have to praise the unmistakable and captivating music, which perfectly completed the dense atmosphere of the film.
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