O Homem Invisível

Leigh Whannell is not a subtle filmmaker - at least, that's what I used to think. The Saw and Insidious movies are over-the-top and shocking, which is fine, and I enjoyed Upgrade quite a bit, but I was afraid the Invisible Man would fall into the same trap of shock-value over substance. Thankfully, I was wrong.

From the opening scene, the movie sucks you in with tension and unease. Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) is trying to escape from her abusive boyfriend while he is asleep, and with practically no dialogue or exposition, we immediately understand the situation and feel for Moss' character. She's trapped in an abusive relationship and fears for her life. It's a testament to Whannell's deliberate direction, using visual cues to give us the information we need while slowly ratcheting up the suspense. The movie is not reliant on jump scares. There are a few, but they're 100% earned and actually effective because we care about the characters. The excellent score helps add to the atmosphere, alternating between pulsating ambience and melancholy orchestral bits.

From the concise writing, likable characters, clever directing, a powerhouse lead performance, and a genuinely scary villain, The Invisible Man gets just about everything right. I suppose you could nitpick some of the logic, but that's missing the point. It's a film about gaining freedom from a toxic relationship, and Whannell knows exactly how to pace the story so that we don't spend too much time dwelling on potential plot holes. Overall, a gripping and expertly crafted psychological thriller.

This is a film about an abusive relationship and what is does to the tormented, well... except it's not. Around halfway through the story turns away from a suspenceful psychological thriller and shapes itself into a rather generic, mainstream, twisty and predictable piece.

After seeing this I thought the movie works because of Elisabeth Moss's work as lead actress. Her Cecilia is present in almost evey scene and her acting range, her connection to the character and her talent is what elevates this film a couple steps above your typical low-budget thriller. Also speaking of budget, the film is VERY good looking for just a 7 million. I've had some fun with this, I wish it could have gone a different path but it's what it is I guess.

With the pandemic I think studios released the movies they were not in love with and are still holding on to their best movies for later this year or the beginning of next year. There was an abundance to stream but The Invisible Man was one of the few movies I thought was actually good.

Elisabeth Moss had an excellent performance. Really making me feel the horror of the situations she was in. The concept was nice. It was executed well with some terrifying scenes. Not just seeing the horror but making you imagine the horror. There were some by the book scenes but the creators also did create some memorable unique scenes. Worth the watch.

Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is trapped in a highly controlling and violent relationship with technology mogul Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Escaping from his fortress-like home, she lives in fear of his retribution. So she is much relieved, if a little surprised, at the report of his suicide. Now living with old friend James Lanier (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), Cecilia can finally start to relax. But as strange things start to happen, is the ghost of Griffin back to haunt her? Or is it really all in her rapidly disintegrating mind, as her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) and James suspect?

Australian writer/director Leigh Whannell is famous as the writer behind the "Saw" and "Insidious" franchises. So he knows a thing or two about crafting horror movies. And in this Blumhouse production, after a clever attention-grabbing opening, he really takes his time in building an understanding of Cecilia's mental state. When things start to happen, they happen so stealthily that I needed to hit the rewind button a couple of times (no cinema experience for this one I'm afraid). Cinematographer Stefan Duscio keeps slowly panning away from Cecilia across the room to show empty corridors before slowly panning back again. It's superbly effective and was comprehensively creeping me out!

When the set action pieces do occur then they are satisfactorily exciting, albeit wildly implausible. I did not see some of the "Surprises" coming, making them jolt-worthy. And the denouement really delivered for me, reminiscent of Hitchcock's style.

Now most famous for "Mad Men" and "The Handmaids Tale" on TV, Elisabeth Moss has delivered a range of impressive film performances including in "High Rise" and - as most closely related to this role - in "Girl, Interrupted" as mental patient Lisa. It's a star turn, no doubt about it.

This movie was intended by Universal to be part of the "Dark Universe" series. But the Tom Cruise flop "The Mummy" unfortunately put paid to that. Which is a great shame. If they'd started with this one, then they might have had a hit on their hands. With a post-credits "monkey" (there isn't one in this movie by the way) they could have lined up into the follow-up movie and started the ball rolling.

It's a rollicking action flick that had my attention throughout. This is all helped along by a very effective soundtrack by British composer Benjamin Wallfisch, using strange atonal electronica to heighten the suspense.

However, the initial question it poses - haunting, 'all in the mind' or something else - gets clarified a little too early for me (and - note - is spoiled by the trailer), so the movie falls short of being a classic for that reason.

There's one aspect of the movie that really irritated me. And that is that there was no credit whatsoever for the idea of H.G. Wells that originated this story. There's a discussion of that here: since Wells died in 1946, his copyright will have expired on his works 70 years later. This is definitely NOT a retelling of his story, but in reusing the novel's title it would seem at least 'polite' to include a "Based on an idea by H.G. Wells" in the credits somewhere.

All in all, this is still a bit of a B-movie, but its a bloody good one! Utterly preposterous at times, and with decision-making that would feel at home within the Trump presidency, it's an entertaining rollercoaster of a movie. Definitely comes with a "recommended" from me and I'll look forward to a re-watch at some point.

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Very good film, really tense in parts. We made the mistake of watching the trailer beforehand which gives away most of the movie.