The Invisible Man

There's an unspoken rule in horror that dictates that the scariest things are the things we DON'T see. It's this idea that horror comes from the suspense, not the reveal, and "the Invisible Man" takes this idea to the extreme. While there are moments of brilliance sprinkled throughout the film, it's the moments that don't get as much care and attention that I find myself wrestling with. 

The premise of the film is a re-imagining of the concept of an invisible man, where a young woman, Cecilia (played expertly by Elizabeth Moss) is being tortured by her abusive ex boyfriend, Adrian, who is utilizing a special invisibility suit to conduct his mayhem from thin air. I like how the concept is utilized for a 21st century audience, as the invisible man torturing Cecilia from the unknown works on both a literal and figurative level, acting as both a tangible threat from a psycho, and also working as a pretty strong metaphor for anxiety. 

It's a concept that infuses every scene with an inherent tension, as you scour every inch of the frame, looking for something you aren't even sure is there. By the end of the film, I was surprised at just how much of the run time I spent watching a still room from the edge of my seat. It strips the idea of an invisible person of all the goofy novelty the previous adaptations were full of, and instills it with a horror that is much more realistic in its approach. There are a lot of great twists that make full use of the concept of invisibility, taking the story places that I truly didn't expect it to go. 

However, there are multiple instances where the film is so focused on where it wants to go, that it gets reckless with how it gets there. With horror films, a certain degree of logical separation is expected, but "the Invisible Man" takes one too many jumps for me to be fully on board. In the interest of not spoiling anything, I won't get specific with what exactly had me rolling my eyes, but just be aware that, as someone who is typically a lot more forgiving of Swiss cheese horror logic, "the Invisible Man" was a little too much to handle even for me. 

But when the film works, it really works. It understands suspense, and knows how to toy with its audience, while simultaneously taking them in unexpected directions. It's not a perfect film by any means, but in today's increasingly mediocre horror landscape, it's just nice to see a film that understands that horror isn't just jump scares.