The Invisible Man

IMDB: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%(critics), 88%(audience)

Director: Leigh Whannell

Writers: Leigh Whannell

Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid

Release Date: 28 February 2020

It's an absolute tragedy that this movie was released when it was because so many people(myself included) did not get to experience this movie in theatres, and unfortunately, I think a lot of people will miss it altogether because it didn't get the exposure it should have. I personally decided to pay the $20 to watch it on demand at the beginning of the pandemic, and I was glad to have the escape from reality. 

I think if I had gone into this film realizing that it was from the team who brought us Paranormal Activity, and other horror movies that were way too scary for me to watch or enjoy, I think I would've run away screaming. But, thankfully my love of Elisabeth Moss and the fact that I assumed it was a thriller, made me comfortable enough to watch. First of all, I believe this script went through a few different hands over the past decade or so, but it really felt so timely to right now. I think the use "gaslight" has been floating around for a while, used sometimes accurately and sometimes inaccurately, but this film explains it perfectly, and society's distrust of female victims gives Adrian(Oliver Jackson-Chohen) the extra power he needs to terrorize Cecilia(Elisabeth Moss). I love that there are technically sci-fi elements, considering the invisible suit created by Adrian(Oliver Jackson-Cohen), but that's really where that element ends. 

They really did an absolutely masterful job at building suspense in this film in a variety of ways that I loved. Firstly, with their use of still camera shots. There were a few times when we get a static shot, maybe Cecilia leaves the frame completely, maybe the she's still in the frame but its not the right angle to be covering her, maybe nothing at all happens in the scene, but we know or at least, they are implying, based on the camera angle, that Adrian is in the room, and we're just sitting there, as the tension builds, waiting for something to happen. A very interesting and, I think, effective decision they made was to hardly ever let us see Adrian(Jackson-Cohen), I don't think it's until the last few scenes that we really see him at all. This, too, definitely adds to the tension building. As a person who hates horror movies, this has all of the suspense that a good thriller has, without completely ruining it with the jump scares of most horror movies.

This movie weighs heavily on the shoulders of Elisabeth Moss to carry us, as the majority of the movie is mostly her and her spiral into complete chaos as everyone around her believes she is losing her mind. Thankfully, I doubt the filmmakers lost much sleep over this casting choice as I strongly believe Elisabeth Moss is one of the best actresses of our generation. I was hoping she'd get the recognition she deserved with some nominations but so far it doesn't seem likely for any of the big ones. 

It's been nearly a year since I saw this movie, so I'm sure I'm missing some things. I'll definitely be re-watching sooner than later so I'll come back and edit if I feel the need to add anything else, but for now I'm giving this one an 8.5/10. A really effective thriller with a very timely theme. Definitely in my top 5 films of 2020.