Monday 2 March 2020

IN THEATRES: The Invisible Man

After fleeing an abusive relationship with tech billionaire Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), Cecelia (Elisabeth Moss) tries to start a new life with the help of her sister (Harriet Dyer) and best friend (Aldis Hodge).

Complications arise when Griffin dies of an apparent suicide, and his will names Cecelia as his chief beneficiary - under certain conditions which include avoiding criminal charges.

Very soon, Cecelia begins to suspect that she is not alone. Something is in her house. Something is watching is her. Something is intent on ruining her life and her sanity.

Something she can't see...


I caught Leigh Whannell's last movie Upgrade when it came out. I recall thinking it was fine - nothing great, a bit cheap, but fine.

I was not expecting this.

Following the collapse of the Dark Universe, Universal made the objectively (at least in economic terms) decision to hand the future of its Monster movie reboots to Blumhouse productions.

Over the last couple years, I have become a big fan of Blumhouse. I have not seen all of their heavy hitters (Paranormal Activity) but I enjoy plenty of their movies. Alongside the movies, I have always been a fan of their business model. Keep your budgets low, enlist stars with backend deals and invest in high concept genre movies.

It is an old model, dating back to the early days of exploitation and Roger Corman, but in an age when Hollywood studios seem hellbent on only producing movies with price tags around $150-200 million, it is proving to be as successful as ever. Based on its past track record and this movie, one hopes that other majors will follow Universal's lead and focus on their lower-budget features. 

After Upgrade, I would not have expected Whannell’s next opus to be a movie about gaslighting - and a really great one, at that. I try to avoid trailers but I caught this one a couple times in front of other movies. I was definitely hooked, but the trailer makes it look like far cheesier than it is.

I was impressed by how straightforward it is, and how it finds multiple ways to show how the title character has invaded and controlled Cecelia’s life. 

Blumhouse movies sometimes feel a bit safe - The Invisible Man is not like that. 

There were two sequences in this movie that really got me - the first involves a sudden burst of violence during  a down moment. We barely see what happens, and it is really only signalled by sound design highlighting impact on bone. It is sickening without being graphic. The randomness and speed with which this moment happens that is very frightening.

The other moment is a conversation between Cecelia and one of her husband’s associates, in which she is offered a way out that will basically turn her into his property (in a more invasive way than before).

Those two sequences in particular stood out, because they felt random and pushing at taboos. Not in a cheap or exploitive way, but in a way that showed that this film recognises the threat that this antagonist represents, and the greater evil he exemplifies.

This is one of those movies where subtext is unnecessary - this movie is about a woman battling the man who abuses her. At the outset of the movie, he has cut her off from her family and friends, and makes everyone think that it is all her fault. 

While you can make the argument that this is a reaction to the current moment, The Invisible Man can also be seen as a hi-octane grandchild of Gaslight, Midnight Lace and Wait Until Dark, movies in which women are driven to madness by their duplicitous husbands (or people they think are their duplicitous husbands).

We are presented with a nightmare scenario, in which an abuser is granted near-absolute power over his victim. The filmmakers pile on the peril and push Cecelia to the lowest point imaginable, and then, in an incredibly satisfying third act, turn the tables.

Compared with Upgrade, every element of this movie is top-notch. The direction is clean, with Whannell milking a lot from wide long shots, drawing out suspense by making the viewer constantly aware of the empty space within the frame. He also makes use of a prowling objective camera - it suggests an invasive presence, but I cannot remember any scene where it was used as the Invisible Man’s POV. 

While we eventually get the green screen suit and physical effects, the film takes its time to show him in action. Whannell keeps the title character offscreen for as long as possible, drawing the maximum amount of tension from the idea he could be anywhere. 



In the lead role, Moss is fantastic as the beleaguered heroine who is determined to break free. The fragility she brings grounds the movie - Cecelia has been scarred by her experiences. Even as Cecelia makes moves to counter her enemy, Moss does not lose track of where this character has come from. This is not a final girl or an acton heroine, this is a woman who has been through hell, and Moss never loses sight of that foundation. 

Cecelia is smart, but she is also absolutely terrified - it is an easy thing to point out, but it is rare to see in many movies.

I want to go deeper into it, but this is a case where you really need to see it first without spoilers. The Invisible Man is a legitimately great horror movie.

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