REVIEW — “The Invisible Man”

A thrilling and inventive take on a classic horror, The Invisible Man is a must-see.

The Invisible Man is a tense slow-burn about revenge and the horrors of abusive and controlling relationships that begins with a silent escape scene that is perhaps the most intense and clever use of sound (or the lack thereof) in years. In fact, the film from writer-director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade) includes several shocking scenes.

The film follows Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Us, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale) who stars as Cecilia, the abused, estranged wife of wealthy and brilliant scientist, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House).

Cecilia escapes her violent, controlling marriage with the help of her sister (Harriet Dyer, NBC’s The InBetween) and disappears into hiding by moving in with their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, HBO’s Euphoria).

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.

After establishing the Saw and Insidious franchises, Whannell continues to impress as he masters writing for the horror genre and grows into a skilled director with an eye for Hitchcockian suspense. With The Invisible Man, Whannell and horror uber-producer Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions have crafted a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character.

While the film’s tagline suggests that what you can’t see can hurt you, what you will see will haunt you.

With a running time of 2 hours and 5 minutes, The Invisible Man is rated R.

4/5