The Invisible Man: Thoughts
Mar. 8th, 2020 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anarfeaSo, last night I went to see The Invisible Man. I'd seen the trailers, which let me know it's about a mad scientist who turns himself invisible so he can torment his ex. I was... not looking forward to spending 2 hours watching a woman be gasslit. But, it ended up being a surprisingly good movie and a great take on domestic violence. My thoughts (and spoilers) under the cut.
So I still think the strongest part of The Invisible Man is the opening sequence. You see a woman wake up in a man's arms. It's like 3AM, or something, and she gingerly peels this guys arms off her and gets out of bed super carefully as as not to wake him up, and then she gets a bottle of diazepam she has stashed under the mattress and dissolves some in his water glass. And we know, right away, this is a bad guy, she can't wake him up. And then we watch her go through the house in silence and gather things she has hidden all over the house; social security card, passport, driver's license, clothes, and it's like, okay, she's a domestic violence victim making her escape. And we see her sneak around, getting dressed, disabling the alarms, turning off the cameras, and you can see the house she's in is like a prison. We also see how brave and resourceful she is, and we know that she's been planning this escape for weeks or months. And she makes it out and she's almost home free but the dog shows up, and at the last second she decides to take the dog's electric collar off and she says, "I can't leave you here with that--" and you never know what she's going to say but it doesn't matter, we know he's bad. And then the dog bumps a car and sets off the alarm and she takes off running, climbs the perimeter wall with her escape bag and makes her way to the road. And she's saying "come on, Emily, where are you," and we are rooting for her, we are wondering where the fuck Emily is, and Emily finally shows up and she gets into the car and Emily asks her what's going on and at that second, her abuser comes running down the road yelling and punches through the car window. And honestly, I don't think we needed that. Because it was enough to see the fear on her face while she's packing her bags to know that this guy is an abuser and she has to get away, but the punching through the window gives us unequivocal proof that this guy is dangerous.
That's what I loved about this film. From the very first minutes, we are on the heroine's side, and we never doubt her, even when she doubts herself. When her abuser puts on his special suit that makes him invisible and starts doing things like turning up the gas when she's making breakfast so it burns, stealing her portfolio (she's an architect) before a job interview, we know it's him gasslighting her even though she's unsure and thinks she's crazy. I saw a terrible review written by someone who said the movie would have been better if it were unclear if she were crazy or not until closer to the end. I think that would be awful. The point is that we know the truth before she does. We believe her before she believes in herself. And a huge them underlying this film is "believe victims." Believe victims when they say they're being hurt. Believe victims when they say they're in danger. Even when you can't see the abuse because abuse is so often invisible.
The rest of the film is a sci fi thriller that gets somewhat hokey at times. But throughout, the heroine remains smart and resourceful, and we never doubt her, even when her abuser has isolated her from all the people who start out on her side. And then when she starts taking control, we root for her until the very end, when she finally kills him. Which is another lesson of this film. Abusers never stop. Even when the other characters tell her that she's safe, she knows she can never be safe until he's dead. Anyway, I won't spoil because there are a couple of neat twists to how she kills him. But the ending is super satisfying (though I still think nothing was as well done as the opening sequence).
Anyway, the film is riveting and intense. And not for anyone who has triggers around gasslighting, domestic violence, reproductive abuse or psychiatric facilities. But if you can handle the gasslighting and abuse section of the film, there's a totally satisfying payoff when she gets her revenge. I heartily recommend this film. Elizabeth Moss is stellar.
So I still think the strongest part of The Invisible Man is the opening sequence. You see a woman wake up in a man's arms. It's like 3AM, or something, and she gingerly peels this guys arms off her and gets out of bed super carefully as as not to wake him up, and then she gets a bottle of diazepam she has stashed under the mattress and dissolves some in his water glass. And we know, right away, this is a bad guy, she can't wake him up. And then we watch her go through the house in silence and gather things she has hidden all over the house; social security card, passport, driver's license, clothes, and it's like, okay, she's a domestic violence victim making her escape. And we see her sneak around, getting dressed, disabling the alarms, turning off the cameras, and you can see the house she's in is like a prison. We also see how brave and resourceful she is, and we know that she's been planning this escape for weeks or months. And she makes it out and she's almost home free but the dog shows up, and at the last second she decides to take the dog's electric collar off and she says, "I can't leave you here with that--" and you never know what she's going to say but it doesn't matter, we know he's bad. And then the dog bumps a car and sets off the alarm and she takes off running, climbs the perimeter wall with her escape bag and makes her way to the road. And she's saying "come on, Emily, where are you," and we are rooting for her, we are wondering where the fuck Emily is, and Emily finally shows up and she gets into the car and Emily asks her what's going on and at that second, her abuser comes running down the road yelling and punches through the car window. And honestly, I don't think we needed that. Because it was enough to see the fear on her face while she's packing her bags to know that this guy is an abuser and she has to get away, but the punching through the window gives us unequivocal proof that this guy is dangerous.
That's what I loved about this film. From the very first minutes, we are on the heroine's side, and we never doubt her, even when she doubts herself. When her abuser puts on his special suit that makes him invisible and starts doing things like turning up the gas when she's making breakfast so it burns, stealing her portfolio (she's an architect) before a job interview, we know it's him gasslighting her even though she's unsure and thinks she's crazy. I saw a terrible review written by someone who said the movie would have been better if it were unclear if she were crazy or not until closer to the end. I think that would be awful. The point is that we know the truth before she does. We believe her before she believes in herself. And a huge them underlying this film is "believe victims." Believe victims when they say they're being hurt. Believe victims when they say they're in danger. Even when you can't see the abuse because abuse is so often invisible.
The rest of the film is a sci fi thriller that gets somewhat hokey at times. But throughout, the heroine remains smart and resourceful, and we never doubt her, even when her abuser has isolated her from all the people who start out on her side. And then when she starts taking control, we root for her until the very end, when she finally kills him. Which is another lesson of this film. Abusers never stop. Even when the other characters tell her that she's safe, she knows she can never be safe until he's dead. Anyway, I won't spoil because there are a couple of neat twists to how she kills him. But the ending is super satisfying (though I still think nothing was as well done as the opening sequence).
Anyway, the film is riveting and intense. And not for anyone who has triggers around gasslighting, domestic violence, reproductive abuse or psychiatric facilities. But if you can handle the gasslighting and abuse section of the film, there's a totally satisfying payoff when she gets her revenge. I heartily recommend this film. Elizabeth Moss is stellar.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 02:09 am (UTC)I haven't seen the movie but I've read reviews of it. And this critique just strikes me as ridiculous because... it's in the title??? Obviously if it's a remake of The Invisible Man, there has to *be* an invisible man. That part really can't be a "twist" or it would be laughable to anyone familiar with the original.
I like what they decided to do with the story (from descriptions I've read). It sounds like a really fresh, interesting take on a well-known story. It reminds me a little of my update/revision of Jekyll and Hyde, which also had to deal with the fact that 99.9% of the readers would obviously know that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, just from existing in culture. So I couldn't make that the twist or the object of suspense. So my book is also a lot about a woman getting gaslit by her mad-scientist boyfriend (though the stories are very different in other ways).
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 02:32 am (UTC)And thanks for reminding me that I really need to read your Jekyll and Hyde novel.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-21 03:34 pm (UTC)Somehow I hadn't heard of this movie. I was nodding along and wondering who played this resourceful woman...
Elizabeth Moss would be my #1 pick.
Glad for your summary, since I wouldn't be able to tolerate the movie. Have you seen the Top of the Lake? She's brilliant in it, and the first season managed to walk the line between hinting at horror and showing it -- which made it more terrifying, in a way, as the suggestions put the flame under my paranoia kettle.
I couldn't watch the second season.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-28 04:56 pm (UTC)