The Invisible Man

🎥 Synopsis

Leigh Whannell’s horror film The Invisible Man (2020) is the deconstruction of a man’s psychological abuse, gaslighting, and trauma. It is not about a man disappearing, but a woman struggling to no longer be invisible.

In The Invisible Man, Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is trapped in an abusive relationship with a rich and brilliant optics engineer, Adrian Griffin. Believing she is finally free after orchestrating an escape from his fortress-like estate in the dead of night, she learns weeks later that her husband ‘committed suicide’. Griffin’s fortune, which is somehow tied up in a will, is left to her—but only as long as she stays mentally ‘sane.’

And that’s when things start to get strange.

Cecilia begins experiencing the sensation of warmth where no one is present, shifted objects, and open doors. Trauma-infused brick walls dismiss these frightful thoughts as paranoia. But something within tells Cecilia she is not going crazy. She is still being hunted by her husband. With technology that bends light to make him invisible, Adrian is leaving fragments of destruction in the wake of his stalking.

While trying to regain a sense of control over her life, including her friends and family, Cecilia is forced to control her spiral of chaos in order to reclaim control over her own reality, not just for her survival, but to prove that she is not insane. Unmasked by the world she knew, where rage stood as the sole weapon, one fueled by fury and stubbornness was all that remained.

🌟 Outstanding Performers

A triumph of a performance by Moss means that the movie is both phenomenal and serves as a vulnerable, yet empowering storytelling vehicle and image of a women capped fueled by fear and trapped under the weight of an incredulous hidden anger. Ceci can be everything simply by portraying the film’s premise. Every gasp and every twitch would emote volumes.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Adrian Griffin – Jackson Cohen captivates the audience even if he is hardly ever seen in the film. His chilling character of Adrian Griffin builds the character’s taunting reality in a manner that provides him the title of the force behind the every second of dread one may experience.

Aldis Hodge as James Lanier: Partaking as a layer of calmness and stillness added by a spirited shield of Cecilia, Hodge is captured by the unwholesome reality in which she lives.

Storm Reid as Sydney: In her newest role Reid features as the teenage daughter of James which allows her devotees to view yet another side of a South African actress because James’s child Sydney loses in Reid suited her for the character description of young girl grappling with fright she cannot see.

🖋️ Themes and Tone

The Invisible Man strikes as more than a thriller; it is a muffled scream. Some of its more notable themes are:

Control and Autonomy – Cecilia’s journey is, largely, about reclaiming her story, sanity, and strength from someone who twisted her reality into a cage.

Gaslighting and Psychological Abuse – The invisible figure is horrifying, but just as terrifying is the society that chooses to silence the invisible women who try to speak.

Isolation and Surveillance – With the rise of ubiquitous technology and the internet, the creeping dread of being constantly watched and manipulated becomes omnipresent.

The tension is consistent and unrelenting. Whannell directs in an unsettling calm, often letting the camera gaze into empty space for longer than what is comfortable. That space, charged with possibility, becomes menacing. Is he there… or isn’t he?

The combination of restrained sound design accompanied by Benjamin Wallfisch’s unnerving score creates an ever-present threat that only explodes when it must.

📝 Conclusion

In a post-#Metoo world, The Invisible Man (2020) redefines horror. Unlike typical gory spectacles filled with jump scares, the film focuses on the terror of control, the scars left behind, and the nightmare of never being believed.

Its concluding moments do not provide solace, only release. The query it poses is not if monsters exist, but rather how many of them we choose to ignore — for they do not have to lurk beneath our beds, but can conceal themselves in full view.