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'The Invisible Man' Review—A Nail-Biting Thriller

No spoilers!

By Jonathan SimPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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When I watched the trailer for this movie, I was thinking about two things: A) it looks like the entire story and every twist was in the trailer, and B) this seems like such a genuinely stupid movie.

And so far this year, every preconceived notion that I've had about a movie has been correct. But I was wrong about this one.

Leigh Whannell writes and directs this modern-day telling of The Invisible Man, a novel by H.G. Wells. The film stars Elizabeth Moss as a woman, Cecilia, who escapes her abusive boyfriend, Adrian. After Adrian supposedly commits suicide, Cecilia becomes paranoid that he has found a way to become invisible and is stalking her after his death.

My low expectations for this film partially stemmed from how unfamiliar I was with his work, but as it turns out, Whannell has quite a career behind him, having written films like Saw and 2018's sleeper hit, Upgrade.

Despite my skepticisms, The Invisible Man turned out to be the best film of the year so far, dodging horror tropes and replacing them with brilliantly crafted scenes of tension and suspense with masterful direction from Whannell.

While recent horror films such as Brahms: The Boy II and The Grudge have mainly relied on genre tropes such as jump scares, this movie takes a different approach to horror. Instead of having faces pop out at the screen, this movie uses its unique premise to create some effectively haunting sequences.

The villain of the film isn't a doll or a demonic entity; it's a person who we can't see, so there are times in this film where the camera pans to areas of a room that appear to be empty, but it suggests that Adrian is standing there, but we can't see him.

Given that the audience doesn't know where the villain is, it is easy to be invested in the film, scouring over every corner of the screen to see if anything in the background moves, or listening intently for the sound of Adrian's footsteps to get an idea of where he could be.

Many of the ideas are quite subtle. While most horror films can simply show you the monster to scare you, Whannell utilizes more creative, subtle ways to allow both Cecilia and the audience to be aware of his haunting presence, and this results in some very uneasy sequences.

Now, the story is one of the numerous shining aspects of the film. It manages to be consistently fascinating and filled to the brim with surprises and jaw-dropping moments. It's an unpredictable film with a lot of visual exposition in its very suspenseful opening scene.

Something Whannell did very well, for the most part, is keeping the film realistic. There are lapses in logic that I'll address later, but throughout the movie, nobody believes Cecilia's claims. While their responses to her are reasonable, the audience knows the truth to what Cecilia is experiencing.

And because no one believes Cecilia, she is pushed into darker, scarier places. She is a fascinating protagonist that the audience can relate to because even though not all of us have been a victim of abusive relationships, we have all felt as if we're under the control of someone else, a feeling that she experiences.

The primary reason why Cecilia feels so real is her portrayal by Moss, who does an outstanding job of conveying every emotion that her character faces. She sells every terrified feeling with her face and body language, and she offers one of the best performances in a horror film in recent memory.

However, despite this film being my biggest surprise of the year, there are a few issues with its ideas. There are a few plot holes and conveniences that need to occur for specific story beats to happen in the film, and a few scenes may strain credibility.

For example, there are scenes where security cameras are prominent to the story, but other sequences where their existence is disregarded for the sake of the story. And while the security cameras in the film do an excellent job of showing how much control Adrian had over her, we see very little of their actual relationship.

Some of the exposition is told visually, but there are many scenes where Cecilia simply talks about things Adrian said and did to her. However, we don't get to see most of these horrible behaviors, and when we do, they're brief glimpses of a story that could have been more unsettling.

Despite the minor issues, this is the type of horror film that audiences deserve more of. Unlike disastrous misfires such as Fantasy Island earlier this month, this is a horror movie that manages to be scary without relying on cheap jump scares and dream sequences.

Instead of using tired tropes that would push this film into generic territory, the sound editing and music is what puts the audience on edge and makes so much of this movie an unnerving, shocking experience.

This movie scares you with the idea that somebody could be watching you; they could be standing right behind you, and you wouldn't be able to see them. This is a fear that an audience can relate to, and Whannell executes it perfectly.

His direction is immaculate, as he uses not only a lot of long takes but also precise camera movements and the background of his shot to give the audience the impression that Adrian is standing there. There are also many frightening ideas with how Cecilia's life is ruined by a monster she can't see or control.

Despite the lack of scary imagery, this movie consists of never-ending tension along with scenes that keep the audience guessing how they will end. Overall, this is a well-directed, nail-biting horror film that will pull you to the edge of your seat.

Final Grade: The Invisible Man—8/10 (B+)

Even though I usually put the trailer at the bottom of reviews for films I recommend, I'd recommend avoiding any trailers or marketing for this movie because they don't do the film any justice and give away quite a few scenes.

But I would recommend checking this movie out. I didn't think it would be good, but it surprised the hell out of me. And if you don't want to see this movie, I'll become invisible, go to your house, and force you to watch it.

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About the Creator

Jonathan Sim

Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.

For business inquiries: [email protected]

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