The Invisible Man Review:

Elizabeth Moss stars in Leigh Whannell's horror thriller, "The Invisible Man", Courtesy of Universal Studios.

Cecilia Kass: "He said that wherever I went, he would find me, walk right up to me, and I wouldn't be able to see him."

After coming off his brilliant success Upgrade (2018), Leigh Whannell is back with one of the more interesting monsters from the older Universal World of Monsters known as the Invisible Man. Whannell proved himself way back when he first wrote and created Saw (2004). A series that has grown overtime with numerous sequels, he was the one of founding members of that series. He is also made the film Upgrade, previously stated, a film I thoroughly enjoyed due to its excessively violence in a revenge story. He had a knack for using the camera to intake violence in a particular way. He moves it like its a go pro, still but moving steadily. This worked brilliantly in Upgrade, which is why I was excited when I found out he was making an The Invisible Man film. This does carry over to Invisible Man quite well. Whannell definitely is a filmmaker that should have more recognition after these last two films of his. And after Invisible Man, I honestly can say he is a excellent and dynamic filmmaker that will continue to break new ground with each new film he does.

The Invisible Man is essentially about Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) who is caught in an abusive relationship with her high intelligent, crazy-ass and immensely wealthy boyfriend Adrain. After years of violent abuse, she escapes from his palms, but yet only a couple weeks later, she finds out that Adrain as committed suicide. But as Cecilia begins her road of recover, it is diminished by the Adrain once again, except he is invisible. Cecilia is then determined to figure out how Adrain is causing the mayhem on her life and to destroy him from her life completely.

Elizabeth Moss in "The Invisible Man", Courtesy of Universal Studios.

Elizabeth Moss is by far one of the more underrated actresses working today. She gives one of the more grueling performances from a character who is not only abused, but tired and going slowly more insane as invisible Adrain troubles on her life. There are many stills throughout where it shows Moss as just broken down as ever, and the way she progresses is one that can be quite challenging to a viewer. Especially, if one is ever in an abusive relationship, you just want to see her kick some ass for once and fight back. And her transformation at the end of the film is one that can be encouraging for many viewers.

Another brilliant aspect to The Invisible Man is how this narrative is constantly fluctuating. The first half of the film plays as a demonic scary flick that brings blazing scares that are incredibly well earned due to the direction from Whannell. And then as the story progresses and Whannell reveals certain elements to the narrative and character, it becomes a horror tension thriller. A thriller that had me rooting for Cecilia as she itches closer to the finish line.

Hence, which brings me to the action in the film. There are many scenes that include the invisible individual, and include this individual killing and hitting people in harsh ways. There are two major fight scenes, one in a mental hospital and one in a house that truly stood out. And what makes this invisible individual a threat is how we are not able to see them at all. My biggest skeptic going in was how potentially this would be like The Predator (1987), where we could see the "invisible" individual in plain sight. But thankfully Whannell does not do that and truly makes the anxiety go through the roof due to the absence of this individual who we CANNOT see at all. Like there is not a hint if they are even in the room at all.

Elizabeth Moss in "The Invisible Man," Courtesy of Universal Studios.

When it comes to the downside or downsides to The Invisible Man, it is extremely hard to locate other than just some minor issues or clarifications I was asking for. Certain character moments could have been included, since most of the film we are left with figuring out the main characters past relationship with this guy who is haunting her throughout the whole film. Normally I do not recommend flashbacks due to the mistreatment of them from many filmmakers, but here it could have benefited the characters drive in defeating whatever is at hand. It would have given the audience an even bigger connection with her because all we want to see if her break free from this dude's grasp.

Another minor thing that got on my nerves is the night scenes. The cinematography is quite astonishing in the thriller sequences, but when stuff is happening in the night hour, it becomes less thrilling. It can be hard to see what is happening on screen, and I saw this in a dark theater where what was lit was the screen itself. And if that is dark where I cannot see what is happening, then there is some poor lighting or cinematography as a whole. Which is unfortunate because the majority of the film is incredibly executed in that department.

Quite frankly, at the end of the day The Invisible Man is a film that I highly suggest for many reasons: One, Leigh Whannell is filmmaker making his mark with each new film he makes and is currently on a path for gold in my opinion. Two, the film stars immense talent in Elizabeth Moss, who continues to shine in all of her works, good or bad. And lastly, its a film that depicts abusive relationships to a T. The theme is extremely strong in this film, which made it a awesome surprise since I thought it was going to be cheesy and over the top. This subject is still relevant today, which is I why i cannot recommend enough. It is a fashionably well executed horror thriller that I am excited to watch again in time.

Rating: A-

Run Time: 2 Hours 4 Minutes