THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) Review
As evidenced by recent movies such as The Wolfman (2010), Dracula Untold (2014) and The Mummy (2017), the latter of which both launched and killed a cinematic universe, Universal Studios has been having a real hard time in recent years trying to resurrect their classic monsters and introduce them to modern audiences. For the past ten years they’ve been throwing a whole lot of money at the situation and hoping for the best, but the complete and total collapse of their ambitious “Dark Universe” three years ago sent a powerful message to the studio’s executives: it’s time to do something different. Enter Blumhouse, the masters of low-budget, high-profit horror, and Leigh Whannell, a hot filmmaker with exciting vision.
With his fresh new take on The Invisible Man, Whannell has made Universal’s tough task look easy. And he only needed a tiny fraction of their usual monster movie budgets to do it.
Rather brilliantly, Whannell’s The Invisible Man centers not on the title character himself but rather the target of his sociopathic rage: Cecilia Kass, played by Elisabeth Moss. Kass, in an intense sequence at the start of the film, finally breaks free of her abusive boyfriend Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), but it’s not long before the usual horror of her daily life with Adrian evolves into the most insidious of supernatural horrors. Even after he’s pronounced dead of apparent suicide, Cecilia is convinced that Adrian is still stalking and tormenting her.
Only now she can’t actually see him. And since no one else can either, they don’t believe her.
Putting a timely new coat of paint on the H.G. Wells novel that was most famously adapted by Universal Studios back in 1933, Whannell’s script digs deep into the physical, emotional, and all-too-real trauma of domestic violence, and it’s because this particular take on The Invisible Man is grounded in such uncomfortable reality that it’s easily the most truly terrifying take on the classic monster to date. Instead of giving us a front row seat to the Invisible Man’s reign of terror, as the original classic did, Whannell’s remake instead puts us in the shoes of the woman he’s tormenting, allowing for an unnerving exploration of abuse.
The Invisible Man, contrary to what the title might suggest, is a one-woman-show for the most part, with Elisabeth Moss delivering a powerhouse performance that should easily put her into the same conversation with the recent likes of Toni Collette (Hereditary) and Florence Pugh (Midsommar). The emotional trauma of Cecilia’s past abuse is worn all over Moss’s face, and it’s downright heartbreaking to see her thrust into such an inescapable and seemingly unwinnable situation so soon after she’s broken free and started to reclaim her life. Like so many women in eerily similar situations, Cecilia is battling her very real demons alone because no one even believes that she’s telling the truth, and it’s a testament not just to Moss’s performance but to Whannell’s writing talents that her story deeply resonates.
Moss is frequently tasked with acting opposite, well, nobody, and it’s the way Whannell and cinematographer Stefan Duscio (Upgrade) practically weaponize that empty space that allows for The Invisible Man to really get under your skin and put you on edge. Not unlike Jaws, it’s a horror movie where the killer is always lurking about but you can’t ever be certain that he’s even there at all, and the clever approach proves to be quite unnerving; by centering on the victim rather than the killer, we truly get a sense of how terrifying it would be to be stalked by an invisible force. And Whannell has clearly picked up a thing or two from frequently working with James Wan throughout his career, as much of the film has that slow-burn suspense — sometimes with an effective jump scare payoff — that Wan has mastered.
It’s been incredibly exciting to watch Whannell evolve as a filmmaker, and The Invisible Man sees him putting all the tools he’s picked up over the years to good use. That flair for horror and suspense is on full display in his latest (and best) effort, and so too are the action-thriller touches that Whannell put to the forefront in Upgrade. The Invisible Man isn’t afraid to take its time on establishing its characters and building its tension, but it’s also not afraid to let loose and really deliver some surprising and downright shocking moments. Through it all, the film never loses sight of what matters most: the storytelling. Whannell’s greatest skill may be that he just plain knows how to tell a story — and he damn sure knows how to end one too.
Again, the coolest thing about Whannell’s work here is that he just makes it look easy. The Invisible Man is an entirely fresh experience that cleverly modernizes a classic tale without being too beholden to it, seamlessly bringing a story from 1897 into 2020 and making it feel like it belongs right here in this present moment in time. It’s a bold departure from the source material but it’s also undeniably an Invisible Man movie, one that uses modern advancements in technology to finally, perhaps for the very first time, make you feel that this isn’t mere science fiction anymore. It’s as if the times have caught up with the story, and the themes that Whannell weaves into the mix bring new depth and timely relevance to a timeless classic.
The Invisible Man is the Universal Monsters reboot damn near perfected. And it’s yet another reminder that Leigh Whannell, whether writing, directing or both, is a master of the genre.
