Respond to these rapid questions in our The Invisible Man Quiz and we will tell you which The Invisible Man character you are. Play it now.
In “The Invisible Man,” Leigh Whannell’s clever sci-fi thriller that dares to make a woman’s largely silenced trauma from a toxic relationship into something unbearably physical, the abusive male himself is unseen, but the terror he spreads is in plain sight. Whannell’s inventive genre entry is charged with a persistent psychological dread that surpasses the ache of any apparent bruise, amplifying the pain of its major character Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) at every turn, ensuring that her visceral scars sting like our own. It can be agonizing at times.
It is a difficult task to do. Partly because Whannell’s playground is encircled by a pre-existing property that should be treated with caution—James Whale’s roughly 1933 pre-code masterpiece, derived from H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel—that is, if we’ve learned anything from previous studio remakes. But largely because we’re living in the #MeToo age, with once-protected monsters of the real world finally being revealed for what they are, their horrifying powers probed in magnificent films like Kitty Green’s “The Assistant”—a long-awaited change that shouldn’t be cheapened or misunderstood. Thankfully, the Australian writer/director behind the wildly successful “Saw” and “Insidious” franchises has both enough visual panache—”The Invisible Man” unexpectedly recalls David Fincher’s Bay Area-set masterwork “Zodiac” and the mazy quality of James Cameron’s spine-tingling “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”—and fresh ideas to infuse the classic Universal Movie Monster with timeless and timely anxieties. And he does so in astonishingly well-considered ways, giving a familiar concept a fresh spin.
The Invisible Man Quiz
It’s hardly a stretch to say that part of what Green prioritized with her masterwork is also what gives “The Invisible Man” (and, eventually, its visible woman stripped of alternatives) its overall strength—an unrelenting attention on the loneliness emotional violence births in the mistreated. All of Stefan Duscio’s neatly edited, horrifying set pieces with delicate, sophisticated camera moves in bedrooms, attics, restaurants, and hidden estates have one thing in common: a vigilant focus on Cecilia’s isolation. Her hidden assailant’s sharpest dagger is her isolation, which is amplified by Benjamin Wallfisch’s devilish score. Others refuse to perceive and acknowledge a lethal weapon. Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Invisible Man quiz.
One relief is that Whannell never leaves us perplexed in front of his nasty, gorgeously styled, and engrossing thriller. When others, understandably, fail to trust Cecilia and instead question her sanity, we believe her completely. (Sure, “the mad woman no one will listen to” is a tired cliché, but trust us when we say that in Whannell’s hands, this by-design flaw leads to a satisfying climax.) Yes, we, the viewer, are at her side from the film’s tense opening, when Cecilia wakes up with a long-harbored purpose next to her sleeping nemesis, but Julia Roberts’ frailty is not visible. Instead, we detect something both mighty and vulnerable in her, closer in spirit to Sarah Connor of “The Terminator,” when she forcibly flees her cruel partner Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), is picked up by her sister Alice (Harriet Dyer) after some heart-stopping setbacks, and seeks refuge with her childhood best friend James (Aldis Hodge)—a resourceful cop living with his teenaged daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), who dreams of going. Also, you must try to play The Invisible Man quiz.
About the quiz
Cecilia regains her independence, at least for a time, when the wealthy scientist Adrian commits suicide, leaving Cecilia a sizable inheritance that would fund both her future and Sydney’s college pick. Of course, no matter what Adrian’s brother Tom (a delightfully diabolical Michael Dorman) states when administering his late sibling’s estate and inheritance, if anything seems too good to be true, it probably is. Cecilia quickly puts the puzzle pieces together, discovering that Adrian had created an invisibility armor (dear reader, this good-looking piece of scientific artifact is the premise, not a spoiler), which he would be using for a complex scheme of gaslighting as a sadistic form of revenge—a reality she can’t prove to anyone. Floating knives, pulled blankets, and spooky footprints will all be present. You might let out a few screams.
Moss, the undisputed modern queen of deranged cinematic heroines (see “Her Smell,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Us,” and the impending “Shirley”), delights in these frightening passages with her trademark flair. Moss continues to deliver what we crave from female characters: the kind of messy yet sturdy intricacy that many of today’s thinly conceived you-go-girl female superheroes continue to lack as Cecilia, who resourcefully fights an undetectable authority that ruins her life and controls her psychological wellbeing. Whannell’s screenplay and directing generously give Moss permission to flex those complex, varied muscles while casually winking to a powerful final girl for this side of the twenty-first century.
For more personality quizzes check this: Knives Out Quiz.
