Review: The Invisible Man–Gaslighting: The Movie–Is a Worthy Thriller

There’s a playbook for movies like this year’s first big-name thriller, The Invisible Man. Following their doubts, an abused partner eventually stands up to their abuser to the audience’s satisfaction: see 1944’s Gaslight to 2002’s Enough, with many other examples in between and beyond. With little added originality to the formula, given The Invisible Man revealed most of its cards in its trailer (the man is indeed invisible and it’s not in her head), The Invisible Man doesn’t serve to revolutionize the genre. Instead, it relies on running the basics exceptionally well, balancing moments of peace with a rapidly growing tension that spills over into violence. The Invisible Man’s simple success is proving that the basic script, when executed well, still works to make a satisfying tension-filler thriller. The Peace Before The War

One angle handled uniquely is that The Invisible Man begins at the escape from the relationship, trusting the audience to imagine their own iteration of the abuse that Cecelia (Elisabeth Moss) is enduring. You may find it refreshing, as I did, avoiding an entire first act of proving an abusive partner is abusive by having to witness a survivor’s humiliation or assault. Instead, we open to Cecelia’s escape to launch a first act based on her recovery — the moments of relative peace where she slowly pieces a life back together with the help of her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) and friend and coincidental detective, James (Aldis Hodge). It’s a stretch of pe…