Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Written by: Leigh Whannell
Runtime: 2h 4min
Rating: R
Our Rating: ★★★

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer, NBC’s The InBetween), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, HBO’s Euphoria).

But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

As I write this I’m sure there will be many, many think pieces about this film. So, here’s another one. 😀 From the first moment I watched the trailer for The Invisible Man it immediately conjured up memories of Hollow Man and Sleeping with the Enemy. The separate scenarios from both of these films are terrifying, especially if you are a woman. Hallow Man shows the character played by Kevin Bacon descend into madness after the weight of the sheer power of being invisible warps his mind. His good intentions for going invisible is soon corrupted after he starts to feel he can do anything he wants without any consequences because he in unseen. Sleeping With the Enemy is slightly different in that the villain is very visible, but he also believes he can get away with his actions without any consequences because his victim, played by Julia Roberts, covers for him and his deeds are unseen.

The are many parallels between these two films and the updated version of The Invisible Man. The villains in all three films are shown to be narcissistic and successful in their fields. And, they are controlling and ultimately violent. Even prior to this time our society is in now, there are two scenes that make Bacon’s character so dangerous and disturbing they have always stuck with me. One of the first scenes after Bacon’s been invisible awhile he molests a sleeping female doctor while she is monitoring him. He gets away with it. And, like clockwork a few scenes later he rapes his neighbor he has been leering at and exhibiting creepy behavior even before he was invisible.

In Sleeping with the Enemy, the husband (the villain) brutally beats his wife, and gaslights her by making his attack her fault, then also like clockwork proceeds to have sex with her. Just as disturbing as the previously mentioned scenes in The Invisible Man, Moss’s character tells her sister and friend of this villain – her live in boyfriend’s gas-lighting and abusive behavior. This of course, is setting us for the plot of the film.

Since I always try to not spoil you in my reviews I will say the film borrows heavily in my opinion from the both the previously mentioned films. However, this abuser takes it a step further by making Moss’s character appear to be insane. Also, its so terrifying when when your danger and abuse is not believed, you are also made to appear you are losing your grasp of reality.

The actors in the film all do a great job with the story at hand. Director Whannell pushes the narrative along nicely, especially with the scenes with the invisible action. Is this a perfect film? No, of course not there a few little instances to me that didn’t make sense. Again, without spoiling you – did the villain pay off officials to help fake his death? However, overall The Invisible Man is a timely movie that is entertaining and it provides a different direction of how we start to change the genre in socially conscious times.

The Invisible Man opens February 28, 2020.