Elisabeth Moss has proven time and time again that she can play a strong, sometimes terrifying female character. From The Handmaid’s Tale to The Kitchen to Us, Moss is a force to be reckoned with.
That’s why it’s no surprise that her performance in the absolutely brilliant The Invisible Man is fantastic. The film not only creates a gripping story with incredible representation, but provides an opportunity for Moss to do what she does best: create a memorable character.
The film follows Cecilia (Moss) as she escapes from an abusive relationship with one of the world’s best scientists and struggles to get her bearings on her new life. After she finds out her ex-boyfriend, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), died, she figures out he’s discovered a way to make himself invisible and is stalking and torturing her.
Moss is an actress with incredible range, detail and a realistic sense of her characters. There are some actors where it’s easy to tell that they’re not into their character or the film, but Moss perfectly throws herself into every character, allowing audiences to begin feeling the emotions she’s feeling. From the minute you see Moss’s pained face on the screen, without even knowing the situation that she’s in, you want her to get out and be safe immediately.
Though Moss’s portrayal of Cecilia is by far the strongest point of the film, there are no weak links in the rest of the cast. Harriet Dyer as Emily, Cecilia’s brave sister, is powerful to watch as well as Aldis Hodge and Storm Reid as James and Sydney Lanier, respectively.
The premise of the film is so original and unique, and to make matters even better, it’s a successfully done horror film with no supernatural elements or reliance on jump scares. Every situation has an explanation, right down to how Cecilia’s ex managed to make himself invisible. All of it seems realistic to an extent.
However, the biggest piece of realism in the film is the portrayal of Cecilia’s abusive boyfriend. In several films that depict abusive relationships, the abuser is depicted as almost an outwardly horrible person. For example, a film like The Great Gatsby shows the character George directly verbally and physically abusing Daisy, so it makes it easy for the audience to see what he’s doing isn’t right.
Though it’s different in every case, the abusive relationship in The Invisible Man showcases one of the more common instances. To an outsider, Adrian seems to be a well-tempered, kind man who takes care of Cecilia and makes her feel crazy by pretending like everything is fine.
It’s sickening to watch, especially for women, but the short interactions you see between Cecilia and Adrian are some of the most accurate portrayals of abusive relationships in film to date. A lot of the accuracy comes from Jackson-Cohen’s performance, but it’s also important to praise director and screenwriter Leigh Whannell for giving the audience an accurate representation.
The screenwriting and gorgeous cinematography, spearheaded by Stefan Duscio, both contribute to the masterful tension building in the film. Any future horror directors should look to The Invisible Man for how to properly write tense scenes that keep the audience on the edge of their seats without relying on easy jump scares to do the job.
From the moment the film opens with one of the most incredibly tense scenes, even without any dialogue, the tension barely ever lets up. The audience feels like they’re in the film with Moss: desperately trying to rid herself of her paranoia or feeling like Adrian is around every corner. If you don’t have a stomach ache throughout the majority of the film, you’re not watching The Invisible Man.
Overall the film is incredibly made, brilliantly written and jam packed with powerhouse performances. Horror writers and directors need to take notes from The Invisible Man because it is truly a masterpiece.
