Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theatres this Friday from writer/director
Leigh Whannell and Universal Pictures comes the story of fear and disbelief and
it all starts with THE INVISIBLE MAN.
Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) is in a dangerous
marriage to husband Marc (Benedict Hardie) and in one night manages to escape
with sister Alice (Harriet Dyer). Making it clear she has to hide; Alice sends
her to James (Aldis Hodge) a police officer who lives with young daughter
Sydney (Storm Reid).
Days go by and Cecelia can not manage to walk out the
door constantly watching for Marc out the big house window. It isn’t until
Alice arrives to tell her that Marc is no longer a worry, does she start to
feel free to go outside and finally have a life that is not controlled by her
husband.
Marc’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) sees Cecelia to
let her know that there is an inheritance to be signed for. Believing that Tom
finally understands the hell she was living in does Cecelia feel even more free
from that life.
She decides its time to find a job and yet something wakes
her up at night and begins to have her on guard again. There are strange
happenings that leads her to believe that Marc is not dead but getting everyone
else to believe what she is saying proves difficult.
Cecelia’s life becomes dangerous as each unexplained
event is more and more life threatening. People begin to turn away from her
which is a feeling she is all to familiar with. This time, she knows every move
she makes – Cecelia is on her own.
How do you prove what no one else sees?
Moss as Cecelia is a woman coming from a seriously
dreaded marriage. Finding the strength to leave brings a new set of anxieties
and fears. Feeling comfortable only means that the fears she thought were gone,
were actually only lying in wait. I knew Moss could pull this off because I’ve
seen what she can do in the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale as
June/Offred. That role is as intense as one can be so playing Cecelia is a walk
in the park.
Hodge as James is a solid guy that wants to help
Cecelia get through what ever has been happening to her. As a cop he knows how
to be aware but then again that’s when you can see the bad guy! Hardie as Marc
is one twisted character and with the help of Dorman as brother Tom, the two
seem to have their own history together.
Dryer as sister Alice comes to the rescue but there
comes a point where the craziness begins to affect even their relationship.
Dryer is smart as a whip and doesn’t hold back. Reid as Sydney is a young woman
with serious ambitions and who truly likes Cecelia, but danger has a way of
testing any friendship.
Other cast include Amali golden as Annie and Sam Smith
as Detective Reckley.
THE INVISIBLE MAN has the plot that is recognizable
from other films such as 1991’s SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY with Julia Roberts and 2002’s
ENOUGH with Jennifer Lopez. The story of an abusive and life controlling
husband is what Roberts ran away from and a husband who will never let his wife
go is what Lopez fought back against.
That being said, Moss gets a chance to mix in a little
sci-fi into this story line so there’s that. Look, is this reinventing the
wheel? Of course not but, in the films defense, it does have some cool and spooky
scenes that force you to never take your eye off the screen. There might be one
or two scenes where I briefly thought “yea, that’s not believable at all” but
was okay with it.
The effects are pretty cool but I would expect nothing
less. The days of crappy effects are long gone so there is no excuse to go “oooooooohhhh
no” when you see something out of the corner of your eye.
THE INVISIBLE MAN is just pure fun and a reason to hold
tight to your bucket of popcorn or the arm of the person sitting next to you. I
still love to go to the movies to see films that don’t require anything other
than your full attention, your willingness to jump and see the end coming from
a mile away but go along for the ride for the pure satisfaction.
In the end – what you can’t see can hurt you!
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