Written and Directed by Leigh Whannell
Starring Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid and Oliver Jackson-Cohen
MPAA Rating R for some strong bloody violence and language
Running time 2 hours and 4 minutes

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport

“I’m just a suburban girl that stumbled into your life at a party.”

Some of the scariest things in life are those that can’t be seen.

After experiencing the fiasco of the Dark Universe and disappointment of Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy in 2017, I tend to tread lightly with any announcement of any further Universal Monster™ installments. Writer and director Leigh Whannell’s (Upgrade) The Invisible Man, is more than a jump scare run-of-the mill horror flick. It is a psychological, anxiety-inducing, tale that illustrates that the true monsters in our lives are not metaphysical or supernatural. They are human.

The film opens with Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) quietly fleeing her home in the middle of the night. Everything was riding on this escape plan and it had to go nothing but perfect. A glance into Cecilia’s eyes and I could sense the desperation and fear. I didn’t need her to outright tell me, it took just a single look and I knew she had been abused. Much of this is credited to the exceptional performance from the consistently awesome Moss (prediction, she is gonna have a banner year, just wait ‘til you see Shirley). As she methodically tiptoes through her secluded, ocean-side, austere home, I found myself filled with absolute dread. She gathers her planted go-bag, gets rid of the evidence of the drugged beverage she had given to her spouse, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) earlier that night and escapes her place of residence as if it is a prison.

She seeks refuge at her sister’s boyfriend’s home and soon learns of her husband’s suicide. Cecilia is smart though, she knows this hellish chapter in her life is not dead and buried. Something I loved about this character was her ability to keep a few paces ahead of her supposedly deceased spouse. Ultimately she knew her freedom would not come easy. When she starts to speculate that Adrian found a way to make himself invisible in order to terrorize her, it's no surprise that those around her think she has lost her marbles. Even being shipped off to the sanitarium does not make her give in though. She is willing to do whatever it takes to free herself.

Much like the characters, I found that I was not afforded time to get comfortable. The eerie quietness of the film and twisted story managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. In fact, the only time I felt taken out of the picture was hearing the occasional munching or incessant coughing that are unfortunately the outcome in a packed movie house. This is a film that would benefit from snacking beforehand, unless you have no shame in being “that person”.

There were moments that could have been shaved or scenes to be tightened within the two hour and four minute run time. However, I felt Whannell managed to create a sufficient amount of tension and suspense. This was particularly felt in having many of the scenes lack the use of music. In horror films, I feel we have become accustomed to the foreboding soundtracks that often are utilized to create trepidation. Will I ever hear the Halloween score without wanting to climb under the covers and hide? Probably not. After watching The Invisible Man, I realized that if someone truly were invisible, they wouldn’t even make a sound. This makes Whannell’s decision to forgo the typical music cues that provide the warning of terror even more effective. How would I run away or defend myself from something that I can’t even see? Whannell manages to have the audience experience this feeling just as Cecilia does. Hello, nightmare city.

Luckily for Elisabeth Moss this was not her first go-around battling an unseeable apparition. In the episode, See No Evil of Batman: The Animated Series, Elisabeth voices the character of Kimmy, who finds herself kidnapped by her invisibility suit wearing father. I love when things come full circle like this and similarly both stories seem to want you to walk away with the same message: humankind, particularly men, truly can be awful.

In theaters starting February 27