Seeing the Unseen: Review of Blumhouse Productions’ newest thriller “Invisible Man”

Featured image courtesy of IMDb

Thrillers tend to revolve around something you can physically see — whether that be a nocturnal vintage doll or a knife-wielding ex bent on revenge. In the case of Blumhouse Productions’ newest release, “Invisible Man,” the plot is motivated by the unseen. And it’s scarier than any possessed child’s toy could ever be. 

The stress-inducing soundtrack, along with the need to constantly guess where the bad guy is,  leads to a thriller that rivals any M. Night Shyamalan flick. 

Elizabeth Moss takes on the role of Cecilia, with a girl-on-the-run mindset reminiscent of her work on “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She escapes her abusive husband Adrian (and his mansion that’s the size of an elementary school) late one night and it seems like she’ll be free from his controlling ways, especially when it’s announced he killed himself two weeks later.

But Cecilia doesn’t think he’s dead — despite the bloody pictures to prove it — because of an eerie feeling she gets whenever alone. For the viewers, it seems like she’s just suffering from PTSD from her sadistic relationship. When the movie screen focuses only on an empty doorway and Cecilia is having an intense staring contest with the doorframe, it seems like she’s gone cuckoo.

It’s not until you see a knife move itself on the kitchen counter that her theories become feasible. Add in the fact that her husband was a world-recognized optics scientist and an invisibility suit seems like a possible outfit choice for him. Considering the movie title, you know she’s right and you see the scenes that the supporting characters don’t — bed blankets being pulled off at night, breath appearing out of nowhere on a cold night and the kitchen sink running on its own. 

Adrian uses the ludacris-ness of the invisibility situation to his advantage, making Cecilia look crazy to her friends and sister. He ruins her job interview, destroys her relationship with her sister and creates a rift with her best friend. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch him torment Cecilia and ruin her life, especially when he frames her for murder and she winds up being considered mentally-unstable in a psych hospital. 

Cecilia’s health check-up there reveals Adrian’s real goal. From here, the movie takes on an action-packed intensity that felt a little too long — it takes 30 minutes of attacks and car chases to get to the climax. And even then, there’s still another layer of finding out who really is under the suit. 

Although the ending has a long build-up, the constant switch-ups make it worth it. I didn’t know if Cecilia would be able to convince others that there was an invisible man messing with her life or if they would check her back in the hospital. 

Despite the long approach to the ending, Moss’ grit as Cecilia and mystery of the unknown made this worth the watch.