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The Invisible Man (2020) – Review

I am not the hugest fan of Blumhouse because they usually disappoint. Because of this, I went into this movie expecting to hate it. I am honestly surprised at the result of this, it performed far better than I thought it would.

Cecelia runs away from her abusive and controlling husband, and this film shows the aftermath of this break up. As she begins to achieve normalcy and stability in her life, she gets news that her husband is dead. It is only when she begins to believe that she is finally free Andrew, he rears his ugly head, hell bent on destroying any peace Cecelia thinks she has. Now, Cecelia must survive as she tries to convince those around her that her invisible ex is ruining her life.

The Invisible Man takes the uncomfortable topic of domestic abuse and presents it respectfully. It isn’t brushed off as exposition, nor are there aren’t any scenes of abuse to add shock value to the movie. Instead, you get most of this story from Cecilia herself. The way she acts in the beginning of the film, scared and distrusting of everything, alone is enough to sell this narrative. Elisabeth Moss delivers a brilliant performance as you can honestly disturbingly believable. She isn’t a superhero victim with bruise makeup on. You see the fatigue take her over as the movie progresses. The way she dresses, acts, and even talks are in direct reaction to the amount of stress she comes under because of Andrew. What’s more, she starts to grow from these adversities which is something cool because when the climax arises, it isn’t because of some sudden burst of dumb luck and valor like traditional slashers, but she has finally had enough and wants the harassment to stop. This is one of the few movies where everything prior to this actually matters and contribute to the Cecilia’s character growth. It is an rare concept to find actual character development in slasher films, usually it devolves to a monster chasing stereotypes of people till the final brawl.

But this movie is without it’s flaws. Some of the interactions are awkward and there are scenes in this movie that exist just to move the movie to the next plot point. The story isn’t incredibly original and some of the science and logic are thrown out the window in order to make the plot work. But these can be easily overlooked as this movie is still enjoyable.

If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend checking it out. Especially if you are a fan of thrillers. Watch this because you like scary movies. Watch this because you want the suspense to grip you till the very end. Watch this movie for Moss’ performance!

A word of caution however, the movie deals heavily with the topic of emotional and physical abuse and if that is a trigger for you, skip this movie.

Slender Man (2018) Review

If you are here because you loved the game or even have the slightest idea that the game exists, look elsewhere because this isn’t that. Instead we start off in a quiet boring town where we are introduced to our protagonist, four inseparable high school girls. We cut to them being teens, flirting with boys you’ll never see again, and we learn that they are all bland even though the movie tries to tell you otherwise. This movie spends more time telling you the plot than actually showing you.

As these movies go, they summon Slender Man thinking it is some kind of game. Too bad it’s not and shit gets real and as these movies go, we get to watch as Slender Man widdles away at the group until there is only one.

                Don’t expect great acting in this movie, all the actors are young and they do their best. As far as characters go, I didn’t particularly care for any of them. They also didn’t have any good chemistry. I didn’t believe that they were best friends or that they cared for each other. It just felt like they had to be together because they had to. All their scenes together feel forced and I was honestly was wishing they would end because they don’t add anything to the film. And the plot doesn’t help the movie either. You’ve seen this movie before and probably done better elsewhere.

                I did like that this movie tried new things. There are scenes that are really well done and are creepy and not because you anticipate a jump scare, but because of how everything is set up. I liked some of the dream sequences, but the movie goes a little overboard with them. There are some good bits with Slender Man as well but eventually he because more cartoony than creepy. Only two scenes really stand out, but not enough to recommend the film.

                It isn’t a fun movie to watch aside from a couple of scenes, but they are not worth paying theater price to enjoy. Maybe with better actors and a bigger budget it would be ok, but this one is a disappointment. I rate this a 3 out of 10 because I did like some of the weirder parts, but normal theater goers won’t enjoy it as much. Skip it.