Horror Movie Talk

Horror Movie Talk


The Invisible Man (2020) Review

March 04, 2020

The Invisible Man is the first horror movie of the year worth... seeing. Writer/director Leigh Whannel reframes the H.G. Wells source material in a thrilling and fresh adaptation. After two months of truly mediocre horror releases, The Invisible Man is a gasp of fresh air.

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* Intro - (0:38)* Trailer(s) - (4:44) * Synopsis - (11:17) * Review - (12:15) * Score - (17:02) * Spoilers - (22:34) * Final Recommendations - (59:39) * Taglines - (1:00:36) * It Came From Social Media - (1:07:19)* Outro - (1:20:12)

https://youtu.be/Pso0Aj_cTh0

The Invisible Man can be...SEEN in theaters now.

Film Synopsis

The Invisible Man follows Cecilia, played by Elizabeth Moss, as she fearfully escapes her manipulative and violently abusive boyfriend Adrian, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Soon after she leaves him, he commits suicide and leaves her a considerable amount of money in his will. Her deceased ex was one of the world’s foremost experts on optics and was very wealthy. Cecilia is still mentally scarred by their abusive ex, that she finds it hard to believe that he is actually dead. This seemingly unreasonable paranoia gets confirmed to her as she is haunted and by an unseen tormentor.

This Invisible Man ramps up the terror and violence to the point that everyone around Cecilia assumes that she is having a mental break. Even her closest friends and family don’t believe her, leaving her hopeless as she tries to defend herself. She struggles to prove that her ex is still alive and continuing his abuse while he actively tries to frame her for murder.

Review of The Invisible Man

I’ll tell you what. This movie is a breath of fresh air after a stagnant two months of new releases in the horror category. It’s is written and directed by Leigh Whannell who you might know as the writer/director of Upgrade, or as an actor in The Bye Bye Man. He shows himself to be very competent at writing and directing with this film.

The skill of Whannel is shown in the opening of The Invisible Man, which follows the motto of “show don’t tell”. So much is communicated about Cecilia and Adrian’s relationship just from her actions and facial expressions in the first 5 minutes of the film. The film also shows a lot of well tuned restraint by not focusing on the sci-fi elements like most other Invisible Man movies do. 

It’s themes explore the topic of abuse in a really interesting and thought- provoking way. Abusive partners are often “invisible” to the world since that side of the abusers personality isn’t often shown to others. The historical abuse of Cecilia in this film feels real and tangible, even though it’s never shown in flashbacks. It’s communicated through the aftereffects and trauma that Cecilia displays.

This is a great example of a thriller that leans into the horror aspects of that label. There are genuinely surprising moments and many times that I jumped out of my seat.

This is a very very good movie, and you should definitely see it.