Scary Movies: The Invisible Man

Thanks for this review go to our new guest reviewer, the lovely and perceptive Corinne Dion! Corinne has interests in horror and opera, among other things, and will be providing occasional reviews on this site!

The Invisible Man, a 2020 science fiction horror film, (loosely based on the 1933 original), is a highly underrated and underappreciated film. Unfortunately, it was the victim of bad timing– it was released just before the COVID pandemic, premiering in March 2020. As such, the movie never gained the popularity or cult following that it probably would have, had the pandemic not started at the same time as the movie was in theaters.

The movie begins with the protagonist of the film, Cecilia (played by Elisabeth Moss) sneaking out of a glass mansion on the beach in the middle of the night. The audience sees that Cecilia has mapped out a runaway plan that appears to be based on not waking her male bed partner who is fast asleep at 3:30 in the morning. As Cecilia escapes this beautiful mansion on the beach, her plan goes afoul when the dog, Zeus, accidentally sets off one of the car alarms. This wakes up Cecilia’s male partner causing Cecilia to set her plan in fast forward so that she barely makes it over the wall that appears to have imprisoned her in a hellish paradise.

Once Cecilia escapes with the assistance of her sister, Emily Kass (played by Harriet Dyer), she finds refuge with her friend, James Lanier (played by Aldis Hodge). James is an impressive police officer who most would feel safe around, but Cecilia is still desperately afraid to go outside and insists that even her sister cannot come and visit her at James’s home for fear of her ex-partner finding her.

The audience still does not understand what has caused Cecilia’s severe trauma other than her response to James asking if her ex partner, Adrian Griffin (played by British actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen), had hit her. Cecilia agrees that he had done this to her among other things. It soon comes out, however, after Emily insists on seeing Cecilia (despite Cecilia’s protests), that Cecilia believes Adrian will find her anywhere anytime. Both James and Emily think Cecilia has some kind of post trauma disorder as rationally there is no way for Adrian to find Cecilia in her current location.

Even when Adrian commits suicide and his body is found, Cecilia is still paranoid that her ex-partner can still find her and is somehow still alive. However, when Adrian leaves Cecilia five million dollars in his will, it appears that Cecilia has a change of heart and believes maybe he is really gone.

Cecilia starts going outside and applying for jobs in the hopes of regaining some normalcy in her life after Adrian’s suicide. This normalcy though, is short-lived as odd things begin to occur around Cecilia, including her seeing footprints of a man’s feet when nobody is there and hearing and feeling things that do not appear. Soon, Cecilia concludes that Adrian is there but invisible.

More importantly, he is stalking her and wants to destroy her. After a mysterious stabbing when she’s dining with her sister in a restaurant. Nobody believes Cecilia and it appears to others that she is a violent lunatic who murdered her own sister, when the opposite is true. Cecilia is the victim of a violent lunatic, who is also a brilliant scientist who created an invisible suit to wear that allows him to frame Cecilia for his violent, murderous deeds.

The Invisible Man (2020)
Story/Plot/Characters–Cecilia tries to escape her violent, sociopathic scientific genius ex who has created a suit that enables him to be invisible. Script and acting are top-notch. (3.5 points)
Special Effects–Very good effects. (2 points)
Scariness— Chilling. Definitely some violent scenes with a moderate amount of gore, but overall the movie is more suspenseful than gory. (2 points)
Atmosphere/Freakiness— Modern and stylish, almost realistic at times. (1.5 points)
Total=9 points (Best Horror Movies Ever)

Verdict: A stylish, modern science fiction thriller that should have been more popular.