Review -- The Invisible Man (2020)

                                      The Invisible Man (2020) -- What would you do if you were invisible?

It is a question that comes up in casual, jokey, friendly conversations, and the answers are usually along the same lines -- ooh, superpowers! Eat all the candy! Travel the world! However, knowing the human race's propensity for abusing knowledge to fulfill selfish needs, it would not take long for the ability to be weaponized. In the same vein, Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man looks at what happens when a whole lot of power is misused, this time by a gaslighter ex-boyfriend. A slow burn if ever there was one, the film explores the tale's genre-hopping ability from a previously unseen angle and through the lens of the Me Too movement.

Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is a woman traumatized. Having escaped her controlling partner (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), she is literally frightened of leaving the house and unable to live again. After her ex -- a scientist who was apparently working on some ominous optic designs -- dies of suicide and leaves his fortune to her, Cecilia is surprised and immediately suspicious. True to form, it does not take long for bizarre things to start happening. Isolated and alone, Cecilia has to fight for the unbelievable truth to come out...

With The Invisible Man, Whannell shows a different side of his work. I have never been a fan of the Saw or the Insidious franchise, finding the first Saw excruciating and literally panic-inducing and the latter series much too downcast for my taste. However, this new version of the familiar story is a fresh and chilling re-imagining, with some shocking and unexpected moments. Three words -- the restaurant scene. That is all you need to know. Additionally, there is some ominous camera work that fits in nicely with Stefan Duscio's melancholy cinematography, along with a number of good twists and turns. It is a movie that you should know as little about as you can before watching. It is also a subtle thriller that makes you wait and simmer for the scares, and the wait is worth it. 

 

On another note, those effects! They are terrific and the hospital showdown is a sight to behold. Kudos to the special effects department; nothing like that suit has ever been seen in cinema before. Benjamin Wallfisch's music adds another dimension of fright, with the score alternating between dark, foreboding electronica and a full-on audio explosion.

The cast is well chosen. Moss is fantastic as an ordinary woman who finds strength through an extraordinary experience. Cecilia's ordeal is, unfortunately, that of a number of real-life women who had fallen prey to powerful men and whose truth was not validated. Jackson-Cohen is appropriately vile and menacing as one of the worst villains in recent years. Aldis Hodge provides quiet reliability as Cecilia's friend and Michael Dorman radiates sleaze as Adrian's brother.

In closing, how strange it is that one of the last theatrical releases under pre-pandemic circumstances was one about an invisible stalker. It is a coincidental oddity about The Invisible Man that must have caught the filmmakers off guard when the crisis started. Thankfully, the film is a strong enough genre piece to overcome its hapless context. It is a relevant and engaging thriller which will keep you guessing and in suspense throughout.

9/10