Rated: MA15+
Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Screenplay and Screen Story by: Leigh Whannell
Produced by: Jason Blum, p. g. a., Kylie Du Fresne, p. g. a.,
Executive Produces: Leigh Whannell, Couper Samuelson, Beatriz Sequeira, Jeanette Volturno, Rosemary Blight, Ben Grant
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
‘He has figured out a way to be invisible.’
Watching waves from behind as they crash towards a dark shore gives a forboding sense of what’s to come.
The Invisible Man conjures thoughts of ghosts and the supernatural, yet writer and director, Leigh Whannell, known for his taste for the otherworldly (Insidious: Chapter 3) and horrific (Saw franchise) has given this new version of the invisible a modern twist.
I’m not going to give too much away, but the focus here is more about Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) escaping from Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), her optics guru, very rich and controlling boyfriend.
I was taken back to the 1991 film, Sleeping With The Enemy, as Cecilia prepares her escape from the imposing architecture of a cold and clinical space on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, hiding her bag, planning the moment only to be haunted by the memory of Adrian telling her he would always find her.
And with a steam of warm breath in the cold outside from someone not visible, we see the invisible Adrian as he continues to stalk.
It’s these moments that impressed, the new and inventive creation of the invisible man.
The film could have turned twee, yet the idea felt new as the sound becomes muffled, dropping Cecilia into a world where an invisible man can exist.
I can’t say I was ever really terrified watching this film, but those silent moments waiting for the invisible to make good on the next threat shows restraint, allowing the gaps in between sound to ramp up the tension; the sound absent, like the man, yet the absent becoming something else, becoming the threat.
Composer, Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner 2049, Shazam! and the It franchise) manages to add that extra layer to the story with the soundtrack which is such an important factor in a scary movie.
And Elisabeth Moss was made for this role, drawing strength from the bruised and battered, running from the one who would control her very thoughts; to show strength in a world where she sounds insane.
However, I feel like the story gets a bit loopy – getting confused about the relationships, like the single dad and best friend, James (Aldis Hodge). I originally thought that James was the ex of Cecilia’s sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer). And what made James and Cecilia such good friends?
There’s some great AHA! moments, but there’s times I questioned an obvious strategy like Cecilia’s obsession with ladders…
But the way the story’s shown is tight and restrained with the timing of those tense moments just right.
Who would have thought panning to a blank space on a wall or corner of the room could be scary?