Directed by:
Leigh WhannellScreenplay:
Leigh WhannellCinematography:
Stefan DuscioComposer:
Benjamin WallfischCast:
Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Storm Reid, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, Benedict Hardie, Anthony Brandon Wong, Amali Golden, Michael Dorman, Sam Smith (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister, their childhood friend and his teenage daughter. But when Cecilia’s abusive ex commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see. (Universal Pictures US)
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Reviews (14)
The talented Leigh Whannell delivers the first solid horror film of the year. I liked Upgrade a tad more, but he has done a decent job with Invisible Man, it's already clear that the film will join the ranks of successful remakes. Elisabeth Moss gives a strong female performance (she is one of the least likable actresses and even if she is not the best looking, she at least makes up for it with a solid performance). I'm not familiar with the original, so I went in more or less blind, and the story is interesting and engaging enough. The film's strongest points are definitely the music, which completes the perfect, almost intense atmosphere, there’s plenty of suspense and unexpected twists. The downside for me was the slower pace in the first half, and I was also hoping for Whanell to dabble in violence, which he surprisingly avoids completely, and for that a point down. Satisfied, but I was expecting something more intense. 8/10.
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I’m struggling a bit with a certain formal sterility, but I guess that kind of goes with the territory of hi-tech thrillers, and more than once I was snapped out of it by the fact that Elisabeth Moss often looks like Jeffrey Tambor wearing a wig. Still, I'm giving it full marks because I haven't seen such perfect drama in a genre film in a long time, allowing the film to graduate from intimate drama/horror to near-sci-fi actioner (a one-shot in which an invisible man beats up about ten people FTW) without retreating from the overarching theme of the seemingly irrational trauma of a victim of psychological abuse. Nor should Whannell's individual visual ideas be overlooked, such as the shot during the opening titles of a wave crashing from the ocean's perspective just before the waves break on the rocks. Or those sadistic camera glances into the void, depicting the protagonist's sense of the antagonist's omnipresence. It's really very clever. As an added bonus, I'd like to announce that I really wish more of the lead heroine roles were cast with these atypical, interesting, and adult types of actresses like Moss. Her character development works here in large part because she can believably play all the different roles she has here, and when she flips into the role of the hunter, that’s a satisfaction I sorely crave. Let the kids who bounce to movies from PornHub maybe shit themselves.
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Leigh Whannell confirms in The Invisible Man that he is a director to be reckoned with as someone who knows the horror genre. But he's still a little short of the best. His new film should have been some twenty minutes shorter, but otherwise it's a not very original but excellently made thriller. Whannell spices up the tension, helped not a little by the excellent Elisabeth Moss, and in the more action-driven scenes he confirms the qualities already hinted at in Upgrade. He also plays fair with the viewer from the start and lays all his cards on the table surprisingly early, but that doesn't stop the rather uncomfortable atmosphere from working. Personally, The Invisible Man sat better with me in the moments where it took itself 100% seriously, because its reliance on atmosphere and a more mature approach to the material really makes it work in a way that most contemporary horror films dream of. But while the whole B-movie feel is perhaps a little too rushed and it reeks a bit of trying to spice things up at all costs, overall this is well above average stuff that shows horror fans that there are still talented directors out there who can tell even a hackneyed story in a way that doesn't bore you for two hours. Although, unfortunately, it probably won't be enough for a new genre classic.
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The much poked-at feminist subtext is effective, of course, but I enjoyed more the smartly transtextual format that hides the invisible male threat. Another great thing is the notional absence of a prologue and the immediate connection to the perspective of a troubled woman who desperately wants to get free from the shackles of her husband – I think the opening sequence is the best part of the whole film. The enemy is profiled gradually, mainly through the dialogues of other characters, the presentation of his lavish mansion and the maturely articulated MeToo campaign, while we are forced to keep our fingers crossed for the heroine from the get go; and in the second half Whannel can stop generating tension mainly through individual scenes (with more references to well-known horror movies than it may appear at first glance and with the lack of a visible enemy) and move on to motifs of surprise and to pique the curiosity through the story as a whole (how did he set it all up and get others to believe Cecilia?). Thanks to the transtextual genre distinctiveness, the film is much more sophisticated than just “abused woman escaping her rich husband” and lets the viewer pose interpretive challenges, but, on the other hand, most questions are answered too soon, or can be easily figured out, and the ending is like mandatory satisfaction rather than a bold resolution to the various genre and motivational concepts. But I have to admit that everything holds very well together and, with the exception of a couple of scenes with questionable effect after a second viewing, this is a superbly directed intersection between classic horror from Universal and a modern genre play with the viewer, the kind of which we don’t see very often. The scene with the paint in the attic and its climax in particular scared me almost as much as the sequence in the ventilation duct of the first Alien. 80%
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The Invisible Man lived up to my expectations. Whannell put his unique spin on the story, and his signature style is unmistakable — many scenes practically shout that this is a Leigh Whannell film. The first half showcases his directorial prowess from Insidious: Chapter 3, but without the cheap scares. The second half strongly recalls Upgrade, especially the brilliantly executed fight scene in the psychiatric hospital corridor. This version feels closer to Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man than the tragic tale of the scientist in H.G. Wells's original novel or James Whale's 1933 adaptation, which was light-hearted and immensely entertaining — don’t expect any humor here. The Invisible Man is thoughtfully crafted, maintaining tension throughout, and thanks to Elisabeth Moss's phenomenal performance, you genuinely care about and root for the protagonist. The ending is a bit convoluted but never to the point of undermining the film. We can be thankful that this version of The Invisible Man was made instead of the originally planned one starring Johnny Depp, which was supposed to be part of the now-abandoned Dark Universe. This remake has a clear vision and a distinct identity, making it well worth watching.
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