Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Invisible Man’ on VOD, Starring Elisabeth Moss in a Socially Relevant Reboot

The Invisible Man is technically still in theaters, but in response to theaters across the country closing and limiting capacity to curb the spread of coronavirus, Universal released the film on digital today. You can now rent The Invisible Man on platforms like Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Google Play for $19.99 for a 48-hour viewing period. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, and produced by Jason Blum via Blumhouse Productions, this modern-day reboot of the famed 1933 horror movie The Invisible Man—based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name—stars Elisabeth Moss as a woman trying to outrun her abusive husband, which is tough, because he’s invisible. 

THE INVISIBLE MAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: We meet Cecilia “Cee” Kass (Moss) in the middle of the night while she’s sneaking out of the house to escape her abusive husband, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who is a wealthy optics engineer. In a tense opening scene, she very nearly doesn’t make it—her dog accidentally sets off her car alarm and Adrian grabs her through the window of her sister’s car—but then, phew, she does.

Cee lays low by living with her cop friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid) in their house. She’s terrified that Adrian is still coming for her—so much so that she’s angry when her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) shows up at the house, fearing Adrian would have followed her. But Emily delivers morbidly good news: Adrian is dead. He committed suicide and left Cee $5 million.

Cee tries to move on with her life, but things keep getting in the way. Her blanket gets thrown across the room in the middle of the night. Her job portfolio mysteriously goes missing. Her sister gets a nasty email from Cee’s account. When Cee discovers the bloody pill bottle that she used to drug Adrian to escape in the first scene, she knows it’s his doing. She knows he’s an optics genius, and she also knows he was working on something mysterious in their basement. She knows he has become… wait for it… The Invisible Man.

Of course, no one believes her. Adrian’s made sure of that. Eventually, Cee is left alone in the house, with her invisible ex-husband tormenting her. Her only hope? To outsmart him.

(My advice? Hold off on watching the trailer before you watch the movie. There are a lot of spoilers!)

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: This is, of course, a reboot/remake of the famous 1933 film, The Invisible Man, which is also available on VOD, if you’re interested. I also thought of another classic psychological thriller, Gaslight, as well as a modern sci-fi thriller that tackles abusive behavior, Colossal.

Performance Worth Watching: It would be frankly ludicrous to give this title to any besides Moss, who is not only phenomenal in every single scene of this movie (and she is in every. single. scene. of this movie), but also spends a decent portion of them with an invisible scene partner. She exudes not just fear, but a deep-seated, simmering anger toward her abuser. It’s always easy to imagine Adrian is in the room, even when Jackson-Cohen isn’t on screen, because Moss so clearly believes that he is. It’s the same down-but-not-broken righteous anger she brings to The Handmaid’s Tale, which is to say, she’ll have you cheering at the screen before the movie’s end. I’ll also give a shout-out to rising teen star Storm Reid, who has less to do here than she did in A Wrinkle in Time, but is very charming nonetheless.

Memorable Dialogue: “Surprise.”

Single Best Shot: My actual favorite shot in the movie comes right after this one, but I want to spare you the spoilers.

Sex and Skin: While there is a brief shower scene, I promise there is nothing sexy about Moss living in fear while being stalked by her abusive husband. (Thank god!)

Our Take: Not only is The Invisible Man an entertaining horror-thriller, that (almost) maintains the suspense right up until the end, it also infuses a smart, modern social commentary on domestic abuse into a classic story. No one ever believes the protagonist in movie re: whatever supernatural event is plaguing them, but writer/director Whannell takes that trope a step further. No one believes Cee because Adrian makes sure of it. He isolates her from her friends and family, destroys her support network, and convinces everyone around her that she’s hysterical, overreacting, and crazy. While domestic abusers aren’t magically invisible, those are all very real tools in their gaslighting toolbox. And if they aren’t really there, the feeling that their abusers are lurking around every corner is real for victims.

The Invisible Man‘s big flaw is that the climax comes too early—an incredible scene in a restaurant that I won’t spoil—and the 50 or so minutes that come after pale in comparison. But throughout, Whannell builds suspense with impressive restraint. Even just a shot of an empty room will send shivers down your spine. Blumhouse has been hit or miss with its horror films, but this one is a definite hit.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Invisible Man is both a smart, relevant reboot of a classic story and a wholly entertaining two hours packed with fun scares.

Where to watch The Invisible Man (2020)