Update of H.G. Wells classic is creepy and socially relevant
A creepy voyeuristic visual scope and an emotional, connective central performance elevate this modern update of the classic H.G. Wells novel. Writer/director Leigh Whannell has merely taken the idea and title from Wells and fashioned underneath it a completely different story. But what shines through is that invisibility often results in homicidal behavior.
In this tale of a transparent man living among us, abused woman Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) goes to great lengths to escape the control of her tech millionaire romantic companion, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). After drugging him, she slips out in the middle of the night to take up secretly in the home of a police detective named James (Aldis Hodge) and his teen daughter, Sydney (Storm Reid).
But in the days following her departure, Cecilia learns that Adrian has committed suicide. And when Adrian’s lawyer brother, Tom (Michael Dorman), summons her to his office, Cecilia is informed of a trust established in her name. It’s a trust with conditions.
As Cecilia starts her new life without Adrian, she finds it impossible to loosen up. She can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. And, you know, maybe her feelings are valid.
Unlike Wells’ England set 1897 story that relies on fantasy alchemy, Whannell, whose last movie, “Upgrade,” effectively combined science fiction and horror, creates a new sort of invisible man reflective of the times in which we live. Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) is excellent as the woman initially driven mad, but who decides to fight back. And given the recent conviction of Harvey Weinstein, it’s impossible not to consider “The Invisible Man” through the #MeToo lens.
Read the rest of Jonathan’s review online and in print in the Times-Herald: https://newnan.com/2020/02/27/the-invisible-man-update-of-h-g-wells-classic-is-creepy-and-socially-relevant/