There’s no arguingLeigh Whannell is a very good filmmaker. The beginning of his career consisted mostly of writing gigs that represented his comfort zone. The man could write, and his scripts showed it was only a matter of time before he was able to direct some of them. A clunky beginning and then a horror sci-fi adventure that proved there was more than just a screenwriting skill. And then cameThe Invisible Man.
When Universal finally greenlit the project after almost 15 years of trying to do something successful with the Universal Monsters franchise, Blumhouse entered the picture and Whannell got every draft of the script and threw it away. He would make it his way, without the intervention of anyone else. Still, the script he came up with was inspired by the original story by H.G. Wells.
In 2020, he blew away everyone’s minds as he turned a conventional horror story into something much more relevant.The Invisible Manisn’t your regular Invisible Man story. Instead, it’s a story about emotional abuse framed in a futuristic setting. In the film, a woman is psychologically abused and physically attacked, and still, no one believes her because everything was caused by an invisible entity.
The Invisible Man isn’t based on a true story, but the story of Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss)is the story of thousands of womenwho we accuse of being paranoid when they decide to speak up, and as we can’t see the signs of abuse, we decide to say it’s all in their heads. We sure got a lot to learn, and what’s better than learning through horror cinema?
Yeah, we won’t say more because if you haven’t seen the film, perhaps you have to do so today. For that, we prepared a list of the film’s scariest moments. Don’t bother covering your eyes. The terror inThe Invisible Mandoes not lie where you think.
10Finding the Suit
Cecilia comes home. Adrian is definitely not dead like everyone thinks, and only she knows the truth after getting brutally attacked in the kitchen at James' house. She finds the device that’s making everything possible. An invisible suit, that’s full of mini cameras. This is how Adrian manages to move around as an invisible monster. The music by Benjamin Wallfisch in this scene is beautiful as well as haunting.
Related:Best Sci-fi Horror Movies of the 2020s
In the final battle between the invisible man and Cecilia, there’s a twist. Just when she has defeated the man in the suit, Cecilia decides to remove the mask. When she does so, we see Tom instead of Adrian. Tom is Adrian’s lawyer and brother, who terrorized Cecilia with legal paperwork after he told her Adrian had killed himself. Cecilia can’t believe it and her expression of shock speaks of bewilderment, but she also realizes it’s not over. Minutes later, cops storm into Adrian’s house and conveniently find him strapped in the basement, making everyone believe he was just a victim of his brother’s ambition.
8Mother Knows Best
Cecilia is now aware she’s pregnant. Her birth control mysteriously… malfunctioned? In any case, she decides to kill herself in the shower of the hospital by slashing her wrists to avoid having a baby with Adrian. As she cuts, Adrian grabs her arm from the darkness, and Cecilia reveals her original plan: she just wanted to stab him repeatedly and see if this caused the suit to malfunction and reveal the danger. In one swift moment, Cecilia turns from a victim to an avenging maniac and we love it.
7The Attack in the Kitchen
After Adrian in the invisible suit strikes Sydney, Cecilia is left all alone because James has taken his daughter away because he suspects Cecilia is the one who hit her. Cecilia starts addressing nothingness, challenging Adrian to fight her. She begins searching the attic and finds objects that imply Adrian may be living above them, including a knife and the cellphone that has pictures of Sydney sleeping, among other things. Cecilia is spooked by the lack of control as white paint reveals Adrian is there, with her. When she goes down a brutal attack ensues in a sequence that shows the importance ofgood special effects in horror filmsthat need them.
6The Hospital Scene
Right when Cecilia stabs Adrian in the shower with a pen, he attacks back and materializes in a great VFX shot. His suit keeps glitching and Cecilia leaves the room escaping. But in the white hallway, agents grab her. However, Adrian is angry and he will not leave anytime soon. A great special effects sequence in which a glitchy invisible entity attacks every cop in the hospital. Whannell’s ability in cinematography (and of course storyboard) make this the pivotal scene in the film.
5Under the Covers
Cecilia is already at her friend James' house. Living with his teenage daughter Sydney, they represent a new life for traumatized Cecilia. But during one of the first nights, and after a weird incident in the kitchen that same day, Cecilia and Sydney experiment with a playful ghost.
Something takes the covers as they sleep together and starts taking pictures of them both while they sleep. Cecilia wakes up and suspects there’s something in the room with them. As she attempts to go to sleep again, Cecilia realizes the entity is stepping on the covers she can’t move. It’sno jump scare, but a horrific portrayal of an impending invasion taking place.
4More Victims
As Sydney (Storm Reid) comforts Cecilia for what she’s going through after finding out Adrian, her abuser, has apparently committed suicide, something happens. After exchanging a few words while Cecilia is laying on the floor, an unseen force strikes Sydney. It’s the unexpected shock that makes this one of the scariest scenes in the film. Now the monster is attacking someone else, and of course, who’s to blame? Crazy Cecilia.
Related:The 10 Scariest Non-Horror Movie Characters, Ranked
Cecilia strikes in the end. Adrian has shown up alive, and he’s making everyone think he wants redemption. He invites Cecilia to dinner. But he’s the same monster he always was. When she excuses herself to go to the bathroom, Adrian sits by himself at the dinner table, and in a swift second, an unseen force grabs his hand holding a knife and makes him slash his own throat. It’s gory, it’s violent, and it’s the perfect ending for Cecilia who walks away having accomplished justice.
2Cecilia Escapes For the First Time
The ten-minute introduction ofThe Invisible Manis a mini horror film. It’s a great advance of what Whannell has prepared for you in terms of sound design, production design, and Moss' impeccable performance. The movie starts right as Cecilia, for some reason still unknown, decides to escape from her own mansion. Using every little resource available, she runs away. In one last moment of “weakness,” she decides to help her own dog, and the escape gets more frantic. And yes, Cecilia is helped by her own sister who arrives at the very last moment to snatch her away from what’s apparently a very violent man.
1The Knife
The sisters reconnect. It’s inevitable as Cecilia begs Emily to meet her (Adrian has even caused their relationship to break from the dark). Theyreunite in a restaurantfull of people and Cecilia reveals she went to Adrian’s house. As she begins telling her sister she may have proof of what’s happening to her, a knife floats beside Cecilia.
In under one second, the same knife travels through the air, slashes Emily’s throat, and floats to Cecilia’s hand. It’s the shock that makes this the ultimate scare inThe Invisible Man. Everyone in the theater gasped as Cecilia trembled and realized she would be accused of killing her sister.
You can streamThe Invisible Manon Peacock.
