2020 Directed by Leigh Whannell
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Elisabeth Moss Aldis Hodge Storm Reid Michael Dorman Harriet Dyer Oliver Jackson-Cohen Benedict Hardie Zara Michales Renee Lim Sam Smith Nick Kici Vivienne Greer Anthony Brandon Wong Serag Mohammed Nash Edgerton Nicholas Hope Cardwell Lynch Xavier Fernández Cleave Williams Brian Meegan Amali Golden Dennis Kreusler Michael Knott Randolph Fields
Leigh Whannell Jason Blum Rosemary Blight Ben Grant Jeanette Volturno Kylie du Fresne Beatriz Sequeira
Blumhouse Productions Universal Pictures Goalpost Pictures Nervous Tick Screen Australia Government of Australia The New South Wales Government
Bilti Nir'eh, El Hombre Invisible, Ο ΑΟΡΑΤΟΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ - The Invisible Man
mixed feelings about this one! LOVE the decision to plumb horror from the deadly frustration of not being believed — thing is, other movies have pulled it off with greater precision (Rosemary’s Baby, Unsane, even Take Shelter), and i think it’s because they’re more character focused.
cecilia is in every scene, but it still never feels like we truly know her as a person? that’s by no fault of My Favorite Scientologist elisabeth moss, who truly carries this thing — it’s majorly script-related. it is in fact possible for horror/thrillers to have well-written scripts! wish blumhouse knew this!
anyway, i wanna rewatch Gone Girl
The utter hopelessness of the situation the main character is put in is one of the scariest things I've seen in a movie in years
Even when men are invisible they’re causing fuckin problems. Stay where we can see you fuckers
can't decide if that tech dude's mansion would be a good place to be quarantined or a terrifying / desolate / super drafty place to be quarantined. although at this point i'm starting to feel like *any* house — even the kind of desolate cliffside fortress that 's basically just what a billionaire tech bro might design after watching HEAT once — would be nice to be stuck inside these days. at least my son can't crawl yet. and my local walgreens finally got a second type of pop-tarts (s'mores! so sick of that icing-free chocolate chip shit. even during a terrifying global pandemic with no end in sight that just doesn't cut it). anyway, what were we talking about? oh, right, The Invisible Man. yeah, this is good. but you know that already. hope everyone out there is holding up (and staying in).
Fun! Draws out the suspense a little too long before really escalating things but when it does, look out. Actually got a startled "Whoa!" out of me. Whannell makes good use of negative space and fun camera tricks to maximize the tension of exactly where you know the guy has to be, and the attack sequences are fast and violent. There's a mid-film setpiece in a hospital that's just fantastic. And despite being absolutely undeniably about the most extreme possible version of gaslighting, thankfully nobody ever uses the word gaslighting.
Verbatim, from my screening notes:
“This is a good fucking movie.”
(Good was underlined, Letterboxd won’t let me underline.)
Full review at ScreenCrush.
THE HORROR GENRE IS ALIVE AND WELL EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU MISS ELISABETH MOSS
Love Leigh Whannell and and Elizabeth Moss so of course loved this. Very effective to the point that I felt real anxiety watching... which means mission accomplished on the filmmaker's part. I honestly feel Moss deserves an Academy Awards nomination for this. She delivers on all levels.
Shot by Stefan Duscio who also shot Upgrade on Arri Alexa with Arri Signature Prime Lenses. Looks gorgeous. The one scene that was too digital for me was the attic scene... that single light source for some reason reveals the digital nature.
Overall, very impressive especially when I heard what the budget is. Extremely low. This is a very promising beginning to the Universal Monster re-imagining reboot series. Looking forward to more.
Watched at DGA Theater 1, Los Angeles. Whannell was present for a q&a and it was a blast. He revealed that he had a few drinks just prior down at El Compadre and he was full of humor and great anecdotes.
