Movie Review: The Invisible Man (2020)

The Invisible Man (2020)

Director: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman

Rating: R

Runtime: 124 minutes

Without knowing anything about the original source material, when I first watched the trailer for The Invisible Man, I thought to myself, once again Hollywood is coming again with another stereotypical horror movie with cliché characters and horror tropes that is probably going to make me sigh but do well at the box office. However, Leigh Whannell gives a classic horror story about a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship with her boyfriend a message that is relevant to audiences in modern times.

People who abuse others may not seem so ‘visible’, but to their victims, they are too visible. In fact, most of us get shocked when an abuser is revealed because they obscure their destructive behavior with their charm even when that person is not present. Oftentimes, modern remakes offer nothing to its original source, but a successful modern reboot adds a new subtext to its original content and that’s what makes Invisible Man well-timed and outstanding. Based on writer H.G. Wells’ novel, the newer version of Invisible Man is a psychological thriller mixed with a bit of science-fiction. At some point in our life, even though we haven’t gone through a toxic relationship, we have all dealt with toxic people in our lives. So, watching a character that desperately tries to escape from a sadistic person makes us root for the character.

Trapped in a large mansion outside the city, Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is with her boyfriend Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) sleeping next to him in bed. She sneaks through the house, disabling the security cameras and her bags are already packed to leave the place. After barely escaping with her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), Cecilia hides out with her close police detective and friend, James (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). As Cecilia tries to move on with her life, she hears news that Adrian has committed suicide and inherited a large amount of fortune to her. Unfortunately, she gets tortured by an unknown presence in the house and believes that her boyfriend Adrian, who works in the pioneering field of optics, has found a way to become invisible and faked his own death to torment her.

Whenever I watch Whannell’s films, it always surprises me because he always manages to surprise me with a twist. If you’ve seen the Saw series, there is always a final twist and while some people may see the twist coming, I’ve always managed to sort of gasp and get slight chills and that is due to the skillful craftsmanship of the camera techniques. The cinematography makes the audience feel like someone is watching them and Whannell ensures that he doesn’t reveal too much too quickly. We cannot physically see the invisible man, but through the camera pans, we can sense that he is there through the cinematography and our eyes start to play with us and make us ‘see’ him.

While Whannell does a great job reminding viewers that sometimes a subtle approach can be effective, there are some minor nitpicks that I have to point out near the final act. Without giving too many spoilers, the film seems to forget the significance of cameras in a mental facility center and just CCTV s in general. Also, as watching the film, I could not help but think that the premise is similar to Whannell’s previous sci-fi thriller film, Upgrade. But other than those minor flaws, Whannell once again directs a successful horror movie without having to be over-the-top and frantic. With his bold directing style, he shows that sometimes, our constant fear of the unknown and invisible can be turned into our own worst nightmares.