Rent The Invisible Man (2020)

New take on old tale - The Invisible Man review by HM

A suspense film, not really horror as such. Lady is apparently haunted by her dead controlling husband, or is she? Well title gives it away. I found this gripping and intriguing. Plenty of edge of seat excitement as a twist or two are employed. Nothing of the misguided scientist about the story, more of a mad bad stalker. Good stuff and a welcome change from slash horror, altogether more intelligent.

Intriguing idea not fully realised? - The Invisible Man review by PD

Leigh Whannell’s new, loose adaptation of H. G. Wells’s 1897 novel begins with a backstory of abuse. Elisabeth Moss plays Cecilia Kass, an architect who, in the first scene, stealthily and fearfully escapes from a gated and electronically guarded oceanfront compound, in Northern California, where she lives with her boyfriend, Adrian, a fabulously wealthy inventor who specialises in optics. Adrian’s abusive violence is quickly in evidence when he punches his fist through the window of the escape vehicle—driven by Cecilia’s sister Emily. Cecilia takes refuge in the home of her friend James, a police officer, and his teenage daughter, and stays there in a state of panic, unwilling even to set foot outside for fear that Adrian is spying on her and planning to harm her. Adrian’s house is decked out with a panoply of security cameras and other devices, and she left him because of the devastating methods of surveillance and control—of psychological manipulation—to which he subjected her. Adrian “controlled how I looked,” she tells James and Emily, and also what she wore and ate, and when she went out; then, she adds, he controlled what she said and was trying to control what she thought. What’s more, she says that he wanted her to have his child—and, knowing that, with a child, she’d be essentially tied to him for life, she secretly took birth-control pills.

Cecilia’s fears are, she thinks, finally put to rest, soon thereafter, when Adrian turns up dead at his home; but of course things get progressively creepy from this point, with the effect that makes Cecilia begin to doubt her sanity (and making those around her doubt it, too). Whannell concocts these schemes with clever attentiveness to the role of current technology; mobile phones, laptops, passwords, and various security devices all play crucial and natural roles in the action. At the same time, there are other tricks that are powerfully imaginative if yet left undeveloped visually and thematically.

The plot-centred nature of the film is undoubtedly its strength but also its basic trouble. Whannall comes up with some neat, clever twists that give rise to both great suspense and some keenly defined moral themes, notably when Cecilia plans to turn the tables and exact revenge, whilst several sequences make clever use of the edges of the frame in relation to surveillance devices. For all this, however, the characters are given little identity, little personality. Though the film rests heavily on its backstory, its protagonist has virtually no substance: though it almost entirely takes Cecilia’s point of view, what she knows, remembers, what her insights are, are unknown to us. So all in all, watchable enough with many good moments (although a big suspension of disbelief is often required!), but for me an intriguing idea that hasn't been fully realised.

Beautifully creepy action thriller - The Invisible Man review by Alphaville

Two years after Upgrade, writer/director Leigh Whannell returns with another stonking sci-fi-based thriller that’s wrongly and off-puttingly promoted as horror. The set-up? Imagine if the horrible husband of Julia Roberts in Sleeping With the Enemy was an optics genius who could make himself invisible. Instead of resorting to boring horror-film tropes (OTT gore, baddie jumping in from side of screen etc.), Whannell plays with the notion of what is visible/invisible in-frame. What if the baddie might be in shot but neither the heroine nor the audience can see him?

This makes for some intense scenes given extra heft by extensive use of smooth steadicam shots (no irritating jerky hand-helds here). There are some nice creepy moments as the stakes become higher and our suffering heroine becomes a resourceful action woman fighting great special effects. In an immaculately directed film, Whannell never puts a foot wrong.

Worth watching also are a great set of DVD Xtras, including a director commentary. Shame the imaginative hand-overs he attempted in the car chase never made the final cut.

Enjoyable re-imagining - The Invisible Man review by PC

This is a fresh look at an old story with pertinent points about domestic abuse and stalking, with a great performance from Elizabeth Moss.

Could have done better....... - The Invisible Man review by BE

The earlier part of this movie was tedious just waiting for something to happen.  It didn’t help that Elizabeth Moss (Cecilia) slowly moved about a lot of the time with a pained expression on her face. Having said that, the movie was interspersed with some genuinely nail-biting, scary bits.  We knew the storyline was going to be hokum because of the subject matter.  However, not a good idea to leave a pet dog alone in an empty house to look after itself for a very long period of time without food, water or toileting facilities. This apparently had no harmful affect on its well-being and beggared belief!  I really didn’t get the movie ending and had to read the on-line synopsis to understand what had happened!  See it if you must

Excellent Suspense Thriller - The Invisible Man review by GI

Director Leigh Whannell has very cleverly and wisely taken this story and turned it into a contemporary suspense thriller that really works and this is aided by the compelling performance of Elisabeth Moss, an actor who has the ability to communicate with an audience even when there is no dialogue. She plays Cecilia (nicknamed 'C'....get it?) who in the film's opening manages a dangerous and daring escape from her controlling and abusive husband Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). He's a wealthy 'genius in the world of optics and they live in an ultra modern house where he also conducts his experimental work. In dreadful fear he will hunt her down she stays with a policeman friend and his teenage daughter but her fears are soon over when news arrives that Adrian has committed suicide and left her his fortune. Unfortunately strange happenings begin to happen around Cecilia and she begins to suspect that Adrian is still alive and somehow the cause. The story builds well with some clever effects and it's shot, for the most part, in brightly lit scenes making some of the events quite a shock. There's a couple of plot holes that do glare out somewhat but these can be forgiven because this is a well executed, well told thriller with a science fiction edge and with a brilliant lead performance. It's really entertaining and I recommend it.

Entertaining enough, but Hitchcock it certainly isn’t. - The Invisible Man review by Paul Roffey - Writer

This is an entertaining psychological thriller with an interesting plot, but Hitchcock it certainly isn’t. Although the thought of placing the H. G. Wells classic into the hands of the genius of suspense is an intriguing one.

Cecilia, played very well by Elisabeth Moss, is probably best known as the handmaiden in the TV series of Margaret Atwood’s wonderful dystopian tale. A show that Margaret didn’t earn a bean for, having sold the film rights decades ago. As an aside, Margaret has pointed out that sales of The Handmaid’s Tale always increase around election times. Interesting.

Anyway, back to the film. Cecilia is trapped in a controlling and bullying relationship. This is implied by a dramatic first scene in which she flees home, having felt the need to drug her partner, and to then climb walls to escape. In attempting to stop her he punches a hole through Cecilia’s sister’s car window. She goes into hiding, terrified to go out, terrified that she will be discovered. There is relief, however, when she is told that her ex has committed suicide. However, knowing him as she does, she suspects that all may not be as it seems.

This is confirmed when mysterious happenings begin to occur. She goes for a job interview at an architects and, when requested to show some work, she opens her portfolio case to find it empty. She knows, and we know, that she would not have forgotten to put work in there. She wakes in the middle of the night to find the duvet on the floor at the end of the bed. When she tries to pull it back over her it won’t move; seemingly pinned down. Noises in the night, strange texts — the suspense grows.

But, if he is still alive, despite photos and a police report to the contrary, then how is he planting these incidents on her?

Yeah, OK, the title is a bit of a give away. As is the speed in which we find out. A racing storyline is the opposite of suspense, and we don’t need to wait long before the answer bursts onto the scene.

And there lies the disappointment with this film.

If only the film had been given a different title; if only we were fed the clue, early on, that he was a genius in optics; and if only there was a better storyline, then this could have been an intriguing, suspenseful, phycological thriller. Instead, it descends very quickly into just another violent, gunfighting, smashed windows, smashed cars, dark rooms, screaming and shouting thriller.

It is slickly done, and there are twists in the tale, but overall a tad underwhelming.

However, after spouting all that, the finale is clever, and poignant. And it leaves just a little bit of doubt in the viewers mind.

Had everything always been as it seemed?

Just about worth a watch.

Paul Roffey - Writer at paulroffey.co.uk