The Invisible Man Movie Review

The Invisible Man (2020)

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Written by: Leigh Whannell (screenplay), Leigh Whannell (screen story)
Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

Verdict
A fun thriller that plays with the unseen that is the invisible man. It has horror elements, but doesn't succumb to the tropes of horror movies, managing to thrill and explore social commentary simultaneously. While it stretches the bounds of physics for the sake of entertainment, the plot has a few smart moments and provides a good conclusion.
Watch it.

Review
We've seen a few horror movies that are able to explore a horror premise and social commentary. Jordan Peele did it with Get Out and again with Us. It's not always easy, Ready or Not made an attempt that fell flat.
This takes the horror premise and ties it with a woman in an abusive relationship. We see her break down as no one believes her or takes her seriously. Things only get worse as the abuse increases. No one believes Cecilia, and the commentary is how many women aren't believed or their opinion is dismissed until a man confirms it. In this case no one can confirm Cecilia's story.

Elisabeth Moss plays Cecilia.

This opens with Cecilia leaving her boyfriend in the middle of the night. You assume he's abusive in some way with her apparent fear. The tension is palpable as she tries to quietly escape. Every move is a potential alert of what she's doing. It's clear she's thought about this and planned it out. I appreciate the movie doesn't feel the need to condescend and explain all of this. 

Cecilia manages to escape but I had to wonder how her boyfriend got up, ran though the expansive yard, hopped the fence, and ran directly to where she was. There are few logic questions like this in the movie that are ignored for entertainment. Why do we never hear breathing or footsteps? You can't explain it away and it's better to just ignore as the movie does. Making it more realistic would rob the movie of the thrill.

It's the invisible man.

Cecilia is staying with her friend James played by Aldis Hodge. Hodge has a great screen presence, see Brian Banks. All too often a movie would fall into the trope of making this a romantic relationship, and that's never the case here. He's just a friend providing support that is having a hard time believing Cecilia's increasingly bizarre stories.

Even from the beginning camera shots linger on empty hallways and chairs. It's a simple way to create a great bit of tension. We know this is the Invisible Man and these shots make you wonder when he'll appear. This does such a good job of being unsettling and not relying on jump scares.
As the viewer we know what's going on, but from the outside it seems like Cecilia is losing it. The Invisible Man, who she suspects is her boyfriend is alienating everyone around her, isolating her. It's exactly what he did when they were together.

Elisabeth Moss gets to really act in this, expressing fear and agony. I began wondering where this goes. Will she be truly driven to insanity? I really wanted her to get revenge, but how can she? She's slowly breaking.

The run up to the conclusion is intense! The ending is very satisfying. Whannel does a great job with thriller movies. The stories have nice twists, and they always end well. He did Saw, and Upgrade was worth watching too.