Film Review: The Invisible Man

Back when the Dark Universe was launched a few years back, Universal studios stumbled in getting it going. The Tom Cruise-led The Mummy in 2017 was set to start what could have been a great shared universe in the right hands (the likes of Guillermo del Toro and J. A. Bayona could have aced it). Sadly, that film was a huge let down and a bit of a mess, leading to planned future projects - projects already casted - being abandoned. Of these was a new reboot of H. G. Wells’ ‘The Invisible Man’, which of course became a Universal Monsters classic in the iconic 1933 Claude Rains film. This new version was to star Johnny Depp but after The Mummy’s failure The Invisible Man, well, disappeared...

Until Now. As writer/director Leigh Whannell’s (Upgrade) new film instead scraps universe plans in favour of an individualised story, which ingeniously updates the source material and in doing so presents a timely horror of manipulation, obsession and control. This story sees young woman Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) trapped in an abusive relationship with wealthy optics engineer genius Adrian Griffin (The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen). One night she executes an ambitious plan to escape his overwhelming grip and succeeds but weeks later hears news he has committed suicide. However, when things start occurring around her, she begins to wonder whether she’s losing her mind or whether her sadistic partner has in fact found her and somehow discovered a way of hiding in plain sight.

From the wave crashing opening to the refreshingly contained end, The Invisible Man is a gripping modernisation of a classic story. In a post-Weinstein world, this presents to us the most heinous monster of all, the depraved and lustful mind of a human being. Whannell’s phenomenal film is a work of sustained and excruciating tension, as its themes of victims being manipulated by abusers and ignored by authority ring very true and it stokes the horror at play in the movie. Numerous scenes unpredictably play out, almost with a Paranormal Activity-like vibe, as subtle things move in the frame while an unseen force wreaks havoc. The scare tactics are often startlingly original, avoiding jump scare bangs in favour of skin-crawling unease and some inventive uses of the core concept.

Heavily psychological in nature and neatly plotted, this film preys on that unnerving feeling of being watched and amplifies it by making that watcher more than just a voyeur but a sociopathic manipulative monster out to take everything he hasn’t already. As Benjamin Wallfisch’s terrific score sets the scene, Whannell’s direction and screenplay brilliantly make the viewer experience the fear, distress and helplessness first hand. As we are positioned inside the mind of Elisabeth Moss’ protagonist and you too start gasping at shadows, checking the corners of the room for signs of movement or sounds of breathing and nervously wonder what comes next.

Moss is absolutely outstanding in her portrayal of the effects of abuse and how it can take everything from you. As Cecilia, she is compelling and a lead you are behind all the way and as you share in her sustained torture, you also celebrate her harnessing of the inner strength she didn’t know she had, to ultimately spit in her demon’s face. Oliver Jackson-Cohen is creepingly effective as the villain of the piece, and it isn’t really until the pace picks up in the last act that we see him (so to speak), as the film wisely keeps him mostly at a distance or as an unseen tormentor, further linking us with Cecilia. There is also some darn good supporting work by Aldis Hodge, as Cecilia’s well meaning cop friend James, who welcomes her into his home to lay low.

The only thing invisible by the end of picture is your fingernails, as you have chewed them to non existence! The Invisible Man is a frightening, relevant and in fact frighteningly relevant update of an iconic creation and one which chills you to the bone.

The Invisible Man is available now from the safety of your own home in Digital form or On Demand through different service providers,

15
Director: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman
Release Date: Out Now