After the disappointing reception to 2017’s The Mummy, Universal’s proposed ‘Dark Universe’ featuring the studio’s classic monsters is no more – but the Invisible Man has resurfaced in a new take from Blumhouse and writer-director Leigh Whannell. Johnny Depp is out, and Elisabeth Moss is in for a new take on the material that seems to be aimed more towards the ‘social horror’ territory of Blumhouse’s Get Out. This version of the story, very loosely based on H.G. Wells’ premise, casts Moss as Cecilia – a woman who escapes an abusive relationship, but soon finds that her supposedly dead partner seems to still literally be with her wherever she goes, to much disbelief from her friends. Watch the first trailer here.
There are plenty of interesting notes here – not just the use of the Invisible Man as a way to explore the horrors of emotional abuse and gaslighting, but having the Invisible Man not be the main character. In the titular role is The Haunting Of Hill House‘s Oliver Jackson-Cohen – here not playing Wells’ original Griffin, but a tech guy by the name of Adrian who won’t leave Cecilia alone. There are some nice creepy he’s-in-the-room-but-you-can’t-see-him visuals, a pleasing nod to the classic Universal Monsters version with a glimpse of a person in bandages, and a flash of action with kinetic camerawork reminiscent of Whannell’s last film, the under-seen sci-fi-actioner Upgrade.
Read our trailer breakdown with Whannell right here – and catch The Invisible Man in UK cinemas from 28 February 2020.