Movie Review: "The Invisible Man" (2020)
If you were to remake a truly classic film from the Golden Age of Hollywood, how would you do it? Bear in mind that this classic story by H.G. Wells has been adapted well over a dozen times in both feature film and TV format; it’s been done as a comedy and an action piece and a horror film. The character of The Invisible Man is iconic and ripe with possibilities.
Enter Leigh Whannell.
As a writer and occasional director, Whannell has birthed both the Saw and Insidious franchises. He’s also had notable standalone hits with criminally underseen and underappreciated gems like Upgrade and Dead Silence. The man has become an institution in horror in the 21st century, and he’s a pretty solid actor to boot. He’s now disappeared into the world of the legendary character of The Invisible Man, and in typical Leigh Whannell fashion he’s made it a modern, relevant, and lethally intense horror film that has a lot to say about abusive relationships. It’ll also frankly scare the shit out of you.
Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss; The Handmaid’s Tale, Us) lives a life of total fear and domination. Her boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen; The Haunting of Hill House) is a millionaire whiz-kid in the field of high-tech optical technology. He’s also a narcissistic sociopath who controls every aspect of Cecilia’s life. Cecilia escapes his clutches, drugging him and sneaking out of his prison-like compound in the wee hours of the morning. Two weeks later, Adrian kills himself and Cecilia is left with his fortune. There’s only one problem: Adrian isn’t dead. Cecilia is being stalked by someone who can’t be seen but is destroying her sanity and the very fabric of her life. Now she’s coming apart at the seams as she tries to fight an invisible stalker and prove to everyone that she isn’t insane. What’s a girl to do?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this version of The Invisible Man is a legitimate masterclass in tension. It’s one of those films where you hold your breath for so long that you don’t even realize you’ve been holding it in until you gasp…then the scare comes. Leigh Whannell realizes that the mind conjures up far worse than anything the camera can show you, so he sets up every shot as if the stalker is right there in the empty space. Then he has you wait…and wait…and wait. By the time you’re wondering if you’re ever going to see it, the full frontal assault rolls in and you’re genuinely caught off guard. Even the color palette of the film is stark whites and blacks, always adding to the tension while never giving much away.
It’s not that there’s anything ground-breaking done in terms of originality; it is, after all, one of Hollywood’s oldest and most adapted stories. The tension building and the intensity, however, are off the charts. Much of that credit goes to the best working actress in the business today. Elisabeth Moss is a powerhouse who’s equally capable of being fully believable as the mousy victim cowering in the corner as she is of being the dangerous women you’ve underestimated at your own peril. There’s a down to earth quality about her that makes her perfect for this type of role. She turns on a dime so many times in The Invisible Man that you’ll get a bit dizzy just watching her do her thing. She’s a total badass.
Another extreme high point is the suit Adrian uses to achieve his invisibility in tandem with how he uses it. First off, the suit is essentially a skin of eyeballs that is uber creepy in a way that would make H.P. Lovecraft lose sleep. I’m not often disturbed by something, but that suit is insane! Couple it with the psychology of how he breaks Cecilia down and you’ve got some truly nasty stuff. There’s a moment at the midway point that turns the narrative on its ear (you’ll know it immediately) that produced a simultaneous, 100% audience participation, full theater gasp. It’s a true thing of beauty. I can already see the GIF populating the internet. I had to fight the urge to stand and applause.
Hell, I had to fight the urge to stand and applaud a few times. The surprising amount of physical SFX and gore are well done and realistically shot. The amount of physical violence period surprised me a bit; I thought it’d be much more of a psychological assault (and there’s plenty of that, too), but when it gets rough it gets ROUGH. The score is subtle, building by degrees until it’s overwhelming in the same way the psychology does.
The Invisible Man is a film that keeps you unsure of the outcome despite being fairly formulaic. That’s a testament to the skilled hands that created it. You’re pulling so hard for Cecilia, but what she’s up against is utterly terrifying in the best “put yourself in their shoes” kind of way. No one would believe you in her situation. The setup and execution of Adrian’s plan are a gaslighting nightmare pumped full of steroids and then given a nearly omnipotent level of control.
That’s a wonderful little magic trick, taking an unbelievable concept (a problem with many horror films) and then making it real enough to smell the fear sweat and feel the leather straps on your wrists. The Invisible Man is a movie that’s going to garner strong numbers for longer than expected by simple word of mouth…a real “tell your friends” kind of movie and one of the best remakes in decades.
In short, it’s a classic re-imagining of a tale that was already iconic Hollywood royalty.
