The Invisible Man (2020) Review

"Don't let him haunt you."
-James Lanier


Cecilia Kass (Elizabeth Moss) flees from her abusive boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), an optics scientist.  Soon after, Adrian seemingly kills himself and leaves Cecilia 5 million dollars.  However, Cecilia begins to suspect that Adrian isn't actually dead and has found a way to turn himself invisible so he can continue to abuse her.  She has to find a way to stop him before he destroys her life and the lives of everyone she cares about.

Spoilers below!  Drop what you're doing and go see this movie and then come back and read this review.  You've been warned!


What Works:

Elizabeth Moss delivers a real tour de force of a performance.  She has a wide range.   We see her act kindly to her loved ones and soon after we see just how damaged she is from this relationship.  The amount of fear she conveys in the opening sequence is a great tone setter.  She has scenes with dialogue and fight scenes where the other character involved is invisible, yet she remains incredibly convincing.  It's impressive work all around.

I love the look of Adrian's suit.  It's like something out of the Ant-Man movies.  I wasn't sure how they were going to go about having an invisible man, but I liked what they did.  It beats just drinking a potion to turn invisible.

I love our first glimpse of the Invisible Man.  It's a shocking and unexpected reveal and one of the best jump scares I've ever seen.  Cecilia dropping paint down on him was brilliant and the resulting fight between the two was my favorite part of the film.

Finally, there was some really interesting cinematography across the board.  We get some expertly shot long takes for starters.  There is also one really amazing shot with Cecilia looking down from the attic.  I just love the look of it.


What Sucks:

My only real complaint is there there a few moments throughout the film where I grew frustrated with a handful of Cecilia's decisions.  I get that she's been through a lot and probably not thinking completely clearly, but that's always something that frustrates me in horror movies.  Is perfect competence too much to ask for!?


Verdict:

The Invisible Man is the best movie I have seen so far this year and is one of the best remakes ever made.  Elizabeth Moss is fantastic, the look of the film is great, and there are lots of fun and exciting moments.  There are a few character decisions that irritated me, but this movie has definitely got it going on. 

 9/10: Great   

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