The Invisible Man
Invisible horror
HG Wells’ seminal novel The Invisible Man brought out the fantasy of a man who can render himself invisible. Circumstances lead him to commit a crime and he embarks on a tragic career in crime thereon. The story has had a hundred reiterations since it first appeared in 1897. As a result, there's always been a been there done that quality to all its screen adaptations. A director has to be really imaginative to bring something new to the table and surprise the viewers. Director Leigh Whannell, who has been associated as a writer in such horror franchises as Saw and Insidious, tries his hand at resurrecting the old monster but surprisingly doesn't bring into play the low-brow horror tricks very much visible in the films he has written.
In fact, instead of surprising us with something new, he has gone in the opposite direction and has rendered the invisible man, well, truly invisible in the sense that he isn't there in most of the film. Instead of creature horror, what he's aiming for is psychological horror. So the focus is on the heroine Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) who is shown as someone overtly delusional and paranoid and who blames her behaviour on an invisible stalker. Now, it's a unique take alright and we admit that the trailer of the film did intrigue us but the final product is underwhelming, to say the least.
Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), is a world leader in the field of optics. He's also a world leader when it comes to toxic masculinity and is a huge control freak as well. Tired of his overbearing ways and the abusive relationship she shares with him, Cecilia runs away from his sea-facing mansion one night after drugging him. She seeks asylum with a long-time friend, well-muscled James (Aldis Hodge), who happens to be a cop and is also a single father to a teenage daughter (Storm Reid). She's still so paranoid she doesn't even venture outside James' house. However, some days later, her sister (Harriet Dyer) informs Cecilia that Adrian has committed suicide. She thinks she's finally free of him for good, then things start to go bump in the night.
As said earlier, not enough creativity has been utilised to bring about the mayhem created by an invisible villain. The antagonist simply doesn’t pack enough of a menace to make us fear him. And we aren’t told why he’s such a major control freak and why he’s actually after Cecilia. Shouldn’t such a high profile genius aim for something more, like world dominion, for instance? Here, he isn’t able to terrorise a fragile young woman properly. You sit through the film simply because of Elisabeth Moss’ convincing performance as a harassed woman who is totally convinced that her supposedly dead ex is sitting silently in the corner mocking her and wants you to believe that as well. If only her level of conviction was shared by the writers and the director, we would have gotten a cracker of a film instead of this half-baked product full of lofty intentions but falling short on expectations.
Trailer : The Invisible Man
Neil Soans, February 27, 2020, 9:00 PM IST
The Invisible Man Story: Cecilia’s (Elisabeth Moss) sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove she is being hunted by someone only she can see.
The Invisible Man Review: Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) has had enough of the abusive relationship with a brilliant and wealthy scientist Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). One night, she decides to leave him, and escapes with the help of her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), to live with their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). But after her sociopath ex is found dead, Cecilia believes an invisible man is hunting her. She feels she’s losing her mind as she starts seeing things that no one else can.
A reboot of ‘The Invisible Man’ film series, based on the sci-fi novel by H. G. Wells, it becomes immediately evident that this version doesn’t choose any short cuts. The first two acts are a slow buildup, allowing us to understand why Cecilia was so afraid of Adrian. The dialogue also reveals details without the need for lengthy exposition or flashbacks. There are no dream sequences, fake-outs, and none of the other cheap narrative tricks most thrillers prefer. The jump scares are well earned, and come out of the blue, exactly how they should be. A lot is happening in plain sight, but rather than showing you where to look, writer and director Leigh Whannell uses intelligent framing to accommodate the person in the room who isn’t there. Or, is he? This question lingers in your mind throughout the film and doesn’t let go until the climax. Whannell is also adept at fight sequences, so when the film does amp up the action, the camerawork and choreography are easy to follow, and add to the suspenseful plot rather than distract from it.
Most of the emotional impact comes from a remarkable performance by Elisabeth Moss who captures Cecilia's trauma as a woman escaping her toxic partner. Naturally, this affects her ability to form healthy relationships with her friends and family, and Moss succeeds in transferring Cecilia’s frustration and anxiety to the audience. The rest of the cast is also effective in their respective roles, but this is Moss’ film through and through. The film also addresses domestic violence and the crippling impact it has on its victims. Adding to the overall atmosphere is a foreboding score by Benjamin Wallfisch. One of the rare psychological horror-thrillers that should come with a trigger warning, ‘The Invisible Man’ subverts many genre tropes to keep you looking over your shoulder well after the credits roll.
