4 out of 5
Here's a film that I heartily recommend you go and see. If you're a fan of Hitchcockian thrillers and psychological dramas with a delicious twist at the end, then this is for you.
I have to admit when I saw the trailer for The Invisible Man, written and directed by Leigh Whannell, I was underwhelmed. It looked like another HG Wells remake. I was wrong, very wrong. Whannell has crafted a fresh, unique take on the invisible man story. He has turned it upside down, inside out, ramped-up tension to eleventy-stupid and given us a film that had me gasping, squirming in my seat and thoroughly enjoying this surprising film. But first, what's going on?
The film focuses on Cecilia Kass (Elizabeth Moss) and her relationship with optical genius Adrian Griffin (named after the protagonist in HG Wells original 1897 novel). Griffin is abusive towards his girlfriend Cecilia and she decides to leave him. She is terrified he will track her down and find her however he dies in an apparent suicide and Cecilia believes she may finally be free of him. She begins to experience strange goings-on and suspects that Griffin may not be dead. The title of the film kinda spoils the mystery as we suspect what is going on. Cecilia also knows what's going on and as she fails to convince those around her, she comes across as paranoid and unhinged.
It is this element of the plot, the unhinged nature of Cecilia, that gives Elizabeth Moss a real chance to show off her acting chops and she delivers. It can't have been an easy role as she is in practically every frame of the film. She carries it with exceptional skill.
So we have a great actor, a great story, wonderfully re-invented and loads of tension. I felt the tension could have been increased by changing the title of the film. the current title does dilute the tension and gives the audiences an insight that the characters do not. If not for that, The Invisible Man would have been my first five-star review of 2020 and I didn't see that coming!
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