Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: After escaping her controlling ex-boyfriend, a woman continues to be stalked by an invisible force.
Review: In essence, this interpretation of "The Invisible Man" is an expensive Lifetime movie. If that notion bothers you then this probably isn't the movie for you. However, this is an entertaining thriller in its own right. The acting is good from the players, and the scenarios that unfold work well. In fact, some of the scares allow this film to feasibly pass for a horror despite it's sci-fi grounding in reality and stalker plot line. Unfortunately, there are some glaring flaws that stop this from being anything spectacular.
So, first and foremost, forget everything about any other version of "The Invisible Man" or its source material from H.G. Wells. Here, the focus is on the titular character's girlfriend, Cecilia, played excellently by Elisabeth Moss; Ms. Moss brings a lot of emotion to the role which helps alleviate some tremendous story gaps. Cecilia's every movement and thought is controlled by her boyfriend who fakes his own death in order to stalk her freely with an invisible suit he's invented. This stalking is the core of the story as the boyfriend, Adrian, makes Cecilia look insane, ruins her relationships, and frames her for murder. Much of these events are depicted with such fluidity that it can turn the thriller elements into horrific scenes with precision effort. For example, when Cecilia's sister gets killed it happens so quickly and works perfectly to Adrian's desires. Pulling off the creepy elements is where this version shines most. Besides the acting and story beats, "The Invisible Man" succeeds with fantastic cinematography. This is highlighted the most with Adrian's dreamy house by the ocean; I like the way the music complements these moments as well.
Now I want to run down some of the serious flaws that I notice critics and audiences alike are ignoring. This movie is called "The Invisible Man" and we keep hearing over and over again about how horrible and evil Adrian is. Yeaaah...hearing about it. This is a visual medium for fuck's sake, show me Adrian's antics! We couldn't get flashbacks to these moments Cecilia discusses? There were ample scene transitions that could have worked like when Cecilia passed out at the job interview. I don't get it...this is a tale where the villain is as important or more important to establish than the hero. And after constant buildup--never showing the actual guy--we come face to face with this geeky dude who dies moments later? Whaaat? Why obscure his face then? Adrian should have been someone we loved to hate, yet, he's more of a ghost. Speaking of which...
No one suggests that he's a ghost or anything supernatural is happening? Just jump right to he invented a suit to become invisible? More so, why no debate on whether Cecilia truly was crazy? Ultimately, the ending is where things come off the rails; this movie did not know where to stop. Wouldn't it have been a perfect ending if it ended with the revelation that the invisible man was ONLY Adrian's brother? Imagine, you'd still have Cecilia insisting Adrian is out there, the audience would be left wondering too, and things would be a lot scarier not knowing for certain. Instead we get Adrian magically tying himself up in a wall and shenanigans with Cecilia getting a suit. So this guy had 3 suits? Or he just wasn't bothered by one going missing while he and his brother were both fucking with Cecilia? Pretty damn contrived when all problems could have been solved without Cecilia getting that Lifetime channel revenge at the end.
All things considered, this was a fun update to the classic story. While the two versions have almost nothing in common, I think this interpretation captures the scare-factor of the invisibility. I have no doubt that this film works best as rental material with its what-the-fuck moments to mess with casual audiences. However, looking deeper reveals a more shallow experience that takes too many cues from the Lifetime network and its cookie-cutter formula. Nevertheless, this is worth a watch without a doubt.
Notable Moment: The entire attic segment was great.
Final Rating: 6/10
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