---
title: "The Invisible Man"
year: 2020
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-invisible-man"
fi1m_id: "the-invisible-man"
imdb_id: "tt1051906"
tmdb_id: 570670
wikidata_id: "Q64004122"
fi1m_score: 76
critics_score: 72
critics_reviews: 29
published: "2026-09-30T20:20:59.319299+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-30T20:21:07.349734+00:00"
region: "PH"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Invisible Man (2020)

Directed by Leigh Whannell · 2h 04m · Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror

## Identity

The Invisible Man

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-invisible-man
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-invisible-man
- **IMDb ID:** tt1051906
- **TMDB ID:** 570670
- **Wikidata ID:** Q64004122
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051906/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/570670, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q64004122

**Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 72 from 29 reviews

*In a sentence:* Elisabeth Moss is told she is imagining it for two hours while the furniture disagrees

> Leigh Whannell turns H. G. Wells’s monster into a controlling ex and, for an hour, makes an empty corner of a room the most frightening thing on screen. Elisabeth Moss is superb; the second half settles for a thriller with a body count.

## Synopsis

Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) gets out of her relationship with Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a man who has controlled where she goes and whom she sees. Her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) helps her leave. She takes refuge with a friend, James Lanier (Aldis Hodge), and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), and for weeks she can hardly bring herself past the front door. Then Adrian’s brother Tom (Michael Dorman) brings word that Adrian is dead. Cecilia begins to sleep again. Then, alone in James’s kitchen, she notices something has moved that she did not move. Nobody else sees anything. Nobody believes her. She becomes certain that Adrian is not dead, and has found a way to stand in a room without being seen.

## Review

Leigh Whannell has kept H. G. Wells’s title and almost nothing else. His invisible man is Adrian Griffin, a controlling partner, and he is barely in the film; it belongs to Cecilia, the woman who left him, and it is about what happens to a woman nobody believes. It runs 124 minutes and carries a 15. For an hour it is as controlled a horror film as we have seen in years. Then it has to show how the trick is done, and after that it is a good thriller rather than a frightening one.

Elisabeth Moss plays Cecilia, in the early scenes, as someone who has forgotten how to take up space. Her shoulders are pulled in, her eyes stay on the floor, and a stranger passing the house is enough to send her back inside. Whannell gives her few lines and she does not need them; you can read on her face which doorways and corners she has already checked. When the film later asks her to be quick and fierce she is, but it is the frightened woman at the start we believed, and that performance holds when the script wobbles.

The fear is made with the camera, and Stefan Duscio makes it patiently. He shoots rooms wide, Moss to one side and a great deal of nothing beside her, then drifts to a chair, a doorway, the end of a hall, and waits. Usually nothing happens. Alex Holmes designs Adrian’s house in concrete and glass, every wall a window; James’s house is wood and clutter and family photographs, and the film makes that frightening too, which is harder. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is mostly a low mechanical hum kept so quiet that you notice when it stops, and Whannell and his editor Andy Canny let silences run well past the point where most horror films would have cut.

Here is what it did to us. For most of an hour we were looking at the wrong part of the screen on purpose. Moss would be talking in the middle of the frame and we would be checking the corners, the space behind her, the door she had left open. An early scene in the kitchen, Moss alone and the camera holding on the empty half of the kitchen, is built out of nothing, and it had us properly scared.

Aldis Hodge plays James, the friend who takes her in, with a steadiness that makes his doubt hurt more than hostility would. Storm Reid, as his daughter Sydney, watches everything and says little. Harriet Dyer’s Emily is a sister whose patience has a bottom to it. Oliver Jackson-Cohen is barely on screen as Adrian and the film keeps him in our heads anyway, because everyone talks about him the way you talk about weather that is on its way. Michael Dorman, as Adrian’s brother Tom, is exactly as pleasant as a man bringing news should be.

The trouble is the second half. Once we have seen how Adrian does it, dread turns into plot, and the plot does not survive a moment’s thought. Institutions behave as the film needs them to. People stand where the next scare needs them to stand. There is a fight through a treatment centre that belongs in a louder film. The second act takes a turn we will not describe, and the third ties everything off more neatly than the first hour had promised. In the last forty minutes we noticed we were no longer frightened, only interested, and we minded.

Then there is what the film is using. It is about coercive control, a man isolating a woman until nobody will take her word, and it uses that to make us jump. A few critics have found this exploitative. We think it mostly earns the right, because Moss never lets us forget what it is costing Cecilia, but the balance tips at the end, when her story becomes a mechanism for a finale. Watch it in the dark, with someone whose arm you can grab, and save the plot for the walk home, where it will not survive and will not need to.

*Fi1m score 76, published 30 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come away rattled and impressed. The reviews are broadly positive, and the praise lands in two places: Elisabeth Moss, whose performance as Cecilia is singled out almost without exception for making her fear feel immediate and her resourcefulness credible, and Whannell’s direction, which builds dread from empty rooms, silence and a camera that lingers where nothing appears to be. Many also credit the film for turning H.G. Wells’s premise into a story about domestic abuse and disbelief.

The reservations cluster in the second half. Several critics find the plot develops holes, the final third runs long and the climax lands weakly. The dissenters go further: Slant Magazine and Polygon argue the film treats Cecilia’s trauma as a plot device rather than a subject, The New Yorker finds the direction thin and the ideas undeveloped, and IndieWire calls it muddled. The spread is wide at the bottom, but the bulk of the reviews sit comfortably in approval.

## Straight answers

**Is The Invisible Man worth watching?**

*The Invisible Man* is worth watching for anyone who wants an hour of patient, properly frightening horror and can forgive a louder second half, and we scored it 76. Elisabeth Moss is superb as a woman nobody believes, and Stefan Duscio's camera makes empty corners of rooms terrifying. Once the film shows how the trick is done, it becomes a good thriller rather than a scary one.

**How long is The Invisible Man, and what is it rated?**

*The Invisible Man* runs 2h 04m. It is a thriller and science fiction film.

**Where can I watch The Invisible Man in the Philippines?**

*The Invisible Man* is available to rent from Apple TV from ₱149.00. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Invisible Man, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Invisible Man* carries a 15 certificate in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not for children. The fear in the first hour comes from silence and empty rooms rather than gore, but the film is about a controlling ex-partner, includes a violent fight through a treatment centre and has a body count. The squeamish may cope; anyone unsettled by coercive control may not.

**How does The Invisible Man compare to Gaslight?**

*The Invisible Man* and [*Gaslight*](https://film.one/film/gaslight) tell the same story, a man persuading a woman she is imagining things, but the earlier film is slower, plusher and holds its nerve to the end. Whannell's film is far more frightening for its first hour, then settles for a thriller. For sustained dread, choose *Gaslight*; for a scare you will feel in your shoulders, the newer film.

**Is The Invisible Man based on a true story or a book?**

*The Invisible Man* is based on H. G. Wells's novel, but Leigh Whannell keeps the title and almost nothing else. The invisible man becomes a controlling ex-partner and the film belongs to the woman who left him, so knowing the book is no help and no hindrance. It is not a true story, though it draws on real patterns of coercive control.

**What should I watch after The Invisible Man?**

After *The Invisible Man*, try [*Gaslight*](https://film.one/film/gaslight) (1944, Fi1m 81): The original film about a husband persuading a wife she is mad; still works. Then [*Repulsion*](https://film.one/film/repulsion) (1965, Fi1m 88): Polanski makes a London flat close in on Catherine Deneuve, one crack at a time; and [*Under the Shadow*](https://film.one/film/under-the-shadow) (2016, Fi1m 80): Wartime Tehran, a mother, a daughter, and something in the flat nobody else believes in.

### Reviews we read (29)

- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (85/100, inferred): Chang finds the film an intimate, expertly crafted and unsettling horror thriller that resonates with contemporary fears about abuse and disbelief. He especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance, whose quiet expressions of terror make Cecilia’s experience feel immediate. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-02-26/invisible-man-review-elisabeth-moss)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (Critics Pick): Gleiberman calls the film an ingenious, entertaining thriller with emotional force. He particularly praises Elisabeth Moss’s portrayal of a woman whose abuse goes unseen and disbelieved. [Read](https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/the-invisible-man-review-elisabeth-moss-1203512835/)
- **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (B+): Hassenger finds the film striking and tense, though not especially rich. He praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance for combining vulnerability with resourcefulness and making Cecilia’s perspective compelling. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/a-new-version-of-the-invisible-man-makes-one-of-his-vic-1841840293)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (82/100, inferred): The review finds the film tense, thematically rich and a bold, fresh reinvention, though it becomes more conventional as it progresses. It praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance and Whannell’s restrained use of camera movements to build dread. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-invisible-man/)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (4/5): O'Sullivan finds the film a timely, effective monster movie, though its plot holes and cheesy ending weaken it. She especially praises the clever camera-work and Elisabeth Moss's performance. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-invisible-man-review-a-monster-movie-just-right-for-2020-a4373446.html)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (3/4/3): Strong finds the film an inventive, satisfying horror that updates its source material effectively, though its plot develops cracks on reflection. She praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance and the film’s technical craft, especially its use of empty space and sound to create tension. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-invisible-man)
- **Radio Times**, Huw Fullerton (80/100, inferred): The headline presents the film as something that has to be seen to be believed. The description praises it as a confident retelling, though the article body is unavailable. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-invisible-man-review/)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): The critic presents the film as a timely reimagining of H.G. Wells’s story. They single out Elisabeth Moss’s battle against toxic masculinity as its central strength. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-invisible-man-1)
- **Total Film**, Kevin Harley (4/5): Harley finds the film a taut, effective suspense exercise that gives Universal’s monster films fresh life, despite some second-half missteps. He especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s intense performance and the film’s carefully controlled scares. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-invisible-man-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Simran Hans (75/100, inferred): Hans finds the update gripping and smart, praising its shift of perspective toward Cecilia and the way it foregrounds women’s concerns. She singles out Elisabeth Moss’s convincing performance and Whannell’s Hitchcockian styling. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/29/the-invisible-man-film-review)
- **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (70/100, inferred): The review is positive about this outlandish horror film. It singles out Elisabeth Moss’s performance for grounding the story. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-invisible-man-review/5147564.article)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (70/100, inferred): McCarthy finds it an effective, promising revival of Universal’s monster films, though the conceit stretches somewhat near the end. He especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s resourceful lead performance and Whannell’s careful tension-building. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/invisible-man-review-1280919/)
- **Vulture**, Alison Willmore (70/100, inferred): Willmore finds the film’s concept stronger than its execution, but considers it worthwhile overall. She singles out Elisabeth Moss’s deeply committed performance for holding the film together. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2020/02/the-invisible-man-movie-review.html)
- **Film Comment**, Madeline Whittle (65/100, inferred): The excerpt identifies this as a review but does not reveal the critic’s verdict. It singles out the update’s liberation of the monster from the old Universal antihero’s moral ambivalence. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-the-invisible-man/)
- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. Its praise or complaints cannot be verified from the material provided. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-invisible-man-movie-review-2020)
- **IndieWire**, Jude Dry (D+): Dry finds the film a muddled, limp thriller that fails to deliver effective horror. She singles out the early kitchen scene’s subtle visual tension as its most interesting cinematic choice. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-invisible-man-review-elisabeth-moss-1202213230/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (1.5/4): Gonzalez argues that the film’s style and suspense come at the expense of meaningfully engaging with abuse. He praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance and the tense craftsmanship, while faulting the film for reducing Cecilia’s trauma to a plot device. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-invisible-man-review-leigh-whannell/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (35/100, inferred): Brody finds the film’s clever twists and thrills pleasurable but undermined by thin characterization and textureless direction. He praises Elisabeth Moss’s resonant performance while faulting the film for leaving its promising ideas undeveloped. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-invisible-man-reviewed-a-horror-film-of-diabolical-twists-and-empty-showmanship)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A-): Goldberg finds the film nerve-racking, haunting, and thoughtful rather than a fun horror movie. He especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s performance and Whannell’s use of invisibility to convey the terror of domestic abuse. [Read](https://collider.com/the-invisible-man-review-elisabeth-moss-leigh-whannell/)
- **The Wrap**, William Bibbiani (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an expertly told, terrifying reboot that turns an abusive relationship into effective horror. They especially praise Elisabeth Moss’s bravura performance and the unnerving camerawork that makes the invisible threat felt. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-invisible-man-film-review-2020-elisabeth-moss/)
- **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (8.5/10): The critic finds the film a timely, intensely effective horror update. They praise Elisabeth Moss’s fierce performance and the suspense built through patient scenes, sound design, and score. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/572494/sf-the-invisible-man-review/)
- **Paste**, Dom Sinacola (7.5): Sinacola finds the film bleak, tense, and highly effective as a horror story. He praises its carefully composed frames and Elisabeth Moss’s balanced, powerful performance. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/leigh-whannell/the-invisible-man-review)
- **Consequence**, Allison Shoemaker (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a bracing, frightening horror story whose flaws are worth overlooking. She especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s towering performance and the tense camerawork that keeps viewers scanning the frame. [Read](https://consequence.net/2020/02/film-review-the-invisible-man/)
- **Den of Geek**, Rosie Fletcher (4/5): Fletcher calls the film a fresh, scary, and effective success. She praises Elisabeth Moss’s believable performance and the film’s ability to deliver startling shock scares. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-invisible-man-review-well-worth-seeing/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (80/100, inferred): Wilkinson finds the film an enjoyably tense and effective modern adaptation. She praises the crafty camerawork, which makes empty spaces feel threatening, and Elisabeth Moss’s portrayal of Cecilia’s fear and resilience. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-invisible-man-2020-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **HeyUGuys** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a bold, thrilling addition to horror, though not as evocative as Jordan Peele’s work. They praise its patient focus on Cecilia and its unsettling use of silence and empty space. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-invisible-man-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (75/100, inferred): Sandwell finds the film a tense, chilling reinvention that delivers effective horror, despite an overlong and convoluted final third. He especially praises Elisabeth Moss’s committed performance and Whannell’s suspenseful use of ordinary spaces to create fear. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a30978359/invisible-man-review-2020/)
- **NME** (55/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an entertaining, suspenseful thriller that loses much of its scare factor once the monster is revealed. They praise Elisabeth Moss’s performance and the film’s absorbing premise, while faulting its later scares and disappointing climax. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-invisible-man-review-2614534)
- **Polygon**, Jenna Stoeber (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the film’s scares effective but says its plotting and treatment of domestic abuse undermine the story. She especially praises the tense scenes built around apparently empty rooms. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/28/21154461/invisible-man-review-movie-elisabeth-moss-blumhouse-saw-leigh-whannell/)

## Details

- **Director:** Leigh Whannell
- **Director:** Leigh Whannell
- **Screenplay:** Leigh Whannell
- **Story:** Leigh Whannell
- **Novel:** H. G. Wells
- **Cinematography:** Stefan Duscio
- **Editor:** Andy Canny
- **Music:** Benjamin Wallfisch
- **Production design:** Alex Holmes
- **Costume design:** Emily Seresin
- **Producer:** Jason Blum, Kylie du Fresne
- **Cast:** Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia Kass; Aldis Hodge as James Lanier; Storm Reid as Sydney Lanier; Michael Dorman as Tom Griffin; Harriet Dyer as Emily Kass; Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Adrian Griffin; Benedict Hardie as Marc; Zara Michales as Nurse
- **Runtime:** 2h 04m
- **First release (the US):** 24 February 2020
- **Genres:** Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror
- **Budget:** $7 million
- **Box office:** $144 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO_FJdiY9dA

## Where to watch in the Philippines

- Apple TV: rent ₱149.00, hd
- Apple TV: buy ₱399.00, sd

*Checked 2026-09-30.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 2020: AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (nominated)
- AACTA Award for Best Cinematography 2020: AACTA Award for Best Cinematography (won)
- AACTA Award for Best Direction 2020: AACTA Award for Best Direction (nominated)
- AACTA Award for Best Editing 2020: AACTA Award for Best Editing (won)
- AACTA Award for Best Film 2020: AACTA Award for Best Film (nominated)
- AACTA Award for Best Production Design 2020: AACTA Award for Best Production Design (nominated)
- AACTA Award for Best Sound 2020: AACTA Award for Best Sound (won)
- Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay 2020: Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Gaslight* (1944), Fi1m 81: The original film about a husband persuading a wife she is mad; still works. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/gaslight.md)
- *Repulsion* (1965), Fi1m 88: Polanski makes a London flat close in on Catherine Deneuve, one crack at a time. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/repulsion.md)
- *Sleeping with the Enemy* (1991): Julia Roberts fakes her death to leave a husband who straightens the towels.
- *Under the Shadow* (2016), Fi1m 80: Wartime Tehran, a mother, a daughter, and something in the flat nobody else believes in. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/under-the-shadow.md)
- *Upgrade* (2018): A body that will not obey its owner; leaner, nastier and funnier than this.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-invisible-man