First Hit: Despite Elizabeth Moss’s excellent performance, the film dragged on.
Moss, as Cecilia Kass, plays a wife who is being controlled by her husband, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and is looking to escape his clutches.
The story begins with Cecilia sneaking out of bed, packing some clothes, and sneaking out of the house. As she moves through the home and the surrounding property, we figure out that Adrian must be wealthy because the home is amazingly new, large and modern, and the walled-in yard is extravagant. There is also a quick clip with someone saying he’s done very well in the world of optical science.
Cecilia’s sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer), picks her up on an empty two-lane road near the home, and just as Emily attempts to ask why Cecilia is doing this, Adrian’s fist comes through the window and tries to pull Cecilia out of the car. The two just escape his clutches and speed down the road.
Cecilia gets dropped off at James Lanier’s (Aldis Hodge) home. James is a police officer and lives with his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Cecilia feels safe there as we learn that her husband doesn’t know about James or where he lives.
Cecilia learns that Adrian has committed suicide, which, to Cecilia, seems out of character. Adrian’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) is the executor of Adrian's estate and tells Cecilia that she is to receive $5M in payments.
However, strange things begin to happen to Cecilia, and she suspects that Adrian is still alive and invisible. This is when we begin to see some great acting by Moss. Her terror from being stalked by an invisible person is so true-to-life that her audience is drawn in to her efforts to convince others of the reality of her experiences. Yet, this is also where the film begins to wane because we just spend too much time, in different circumstances, watching Cecilia evading an invisible Adrian.
We all know how it is going to end, so there is no surprise. However, the way it is handled by Cecilia is good and does add to the enjoyment of the overall film.
I didn’t think any of the relationships were well developed, which was disappointing. Don’t know why Cecilia would even be with Adrian in the first place. Where did Cecilia and James know each other from? What was Tom and Adrian’s relationship based upon? The film attempts to have the audience believe the dialogue, but the over subservient way people acted with Adrian was incongruent.
Moss was excellent at portraying fear of an invisible person, and she showed this through her very expressive face. Hodge was wonderful as Cecilia’s friend and protector. Dyer was perfect as Cecilia’s sister in the way she protected, listened to, and cared about her sister. Reid was terrific as James’s daughter. Dorman was good as Adrian’s subservient brother. Leigh Whannell wrote and directed this movie. The writing was good, but the story got old waiting for Cecilia (and the audience) to see Adrian and to get to the end. Part of the problem for me was the lack of character and relationship development.
Overall: This film had possibilities but failed to engage me fully.