The Invisible Man (2020)

  In a couple of days I will be seeing Spiral: From the Book of Saw in a movie theater (hooray for vaccinations!). I’m really excited to recline in those beautiful leather seats and let the experience take me. It’s only right that the film I’m covering this week, the 2020 version of The Invisible Man, was the last movie I saw in a theater.

The Invisible Man was written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Saw) and is based on the novel of the same name by H.G. Wells (The War of the Worlds). The Invisible Man was made on a budget of $7 million, made $28,205,665 upon opening, and went on to make $143,151,000 worldwide. The Invisible Man was released on February 28th, 2020 to extremely positive reviews. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was released digitally just three weeks after being released theatrically.

The Invisible Man follows Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale) after she leaves her abusive boyfriend Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Haunting of Hill House). After he commits suicide, Cecilia begins to (correctly) suspect that he faked his death and is now stalking her using a suit that renders him invisible.

The Invisible Man is tense and affecting right from the beginning. Cecilia’s opening escape from Adrian’s home is a taut set piece that establishes the tone of the film right out of the gate. Cecilia’s flight also sets up the themes of the film quite nicely as well. Adrian appearing from the shadows and punching out the window of Emily’s (Harriet Dyer, Love Child) car is terrifying.

Performances across the board are excellent. Moss commands the screen every time she’s on screen which is most of the film. Jackson-Cohen’s screen time is limited but he makes for a chilling villain. In the supporting roles Dyer, Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami…), Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time), and Michael Dorman (Wonderland) all shine in their roles. Whannell’s direction is superb, he makes excellent use of negative space and the uncertainty of whether or not Adrian is present in a scene. The film never allows us to feel safe because the threat is always there.

Thematically, this is a horrifying film. Yes, the scares are effective (the paint scene really got me in the theater) but it’s everything around the set pieces that is really chilling. Adrian isn’t a scary villain because he’s violent, it’s the way that he gaslights and emotionally tortures Cecilia (to say nothing of the abuse she suffered before the story begins). Strip away his invisibility and he’s still one of the scariest modern horror villains. Cecilia finally overcoming his abuse in the end is extremely satisfying.

The Invisible Man is a tense, terrifying film. It tells a very important story and tells it very well. I can’t recommend it enough.

Rating: 4.5 bottles of diazepam out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? It’s heavily implied that Zeus the dog was abused by Adrian (he has an electric collar that Cecilia removes during her escape) but he does escape the film alive.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The paint scare is really effective, but it’s Emily’s brutal and shocking death that elicited a loud shout from me in the theater. I was so unprepared for that moment.

• Cecilia’s Uber (or Lyft?) driver is a true MVP. I was so scared that she was going to find him dead after leaving Adrian’s house. 

Next Week: As I mentioned in the last review, I’m stepping away from film this week to review my very favorite Stephen King novel Salem’s Lot.