Anna Daniels
Philip De Semlyen of Time Out praised the film’s timeliness, writing, “A #MeToo horror film that couldn’t be any more timely if it shuffled into a courtroom with a Zimmer frame, The Invisible Man retools HG Wells’s seminal sci-fi novel into a tart statement on toxic men and their gaslighting ways.” Though De Semlyen admits the film isn’t perfect, he still vouches for it overall, continuing, “It’s surprisingly smart and, crucially, it has Elisabeth Moss to cover the bits that aren’t.”
Moss earned plenty of praise in particular, especially at The Hollywood Reporter, where Todd McCarthy says that “placing a performer as adept and resourceful as Moss at the center of things gives a piece like this a good running start; as stressed, and distressed, as Cecilia is most of the time, Moss provides a core of inner strength that invites investment in her abilities and, ultimately, belief in her survival.” McCarthy also praises the supporting actors, writing, “Hodge endows his single father/cop character with an easygoing confidence, Reid is a lively teen presence and Dyer conveys some welcome rough edges as the observant sister.”
Meanwhile, John Nugent at Empire Magazine slathered praise upon the film as a whole: “Whannell’s bold approach never feels like bandwagon-hopping,” he wrote. “Here, the invisibility concept is a compellingly appropriate means to explore abusive relationships, agoraphobia, gaslighting, and toxic masculinity. There is a universal and uncomfortably real impact to the horrors on [display] here. Which, inevitably, will make it a tough watch for some.” He then concludes that the movie is “unbearably tense and thematically rich,” and “feels like an entirely fresh take on a 123-year-old story. Which is not something we saw coming.”
Written by: Looper
