Film

The Invisible Man

Name: The Invisible Man
Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror
Released: 2020
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman, Harriet Dyer

Other titles called The Invisible Man: the 1933 film, the 1975 series (NBC).

Leigh Whannell's 2020 reinvention transforms H.G. Wells into a modern horror film about gaslighting and invisible abuse. Elisabeth Moss plays a woman terrorized by her abusive ex, who may have faked his death. Brilliantly lit to show absence, it's a sharp-edged thriller that uses sci-fi concealment as a perfect metaphor for how abusers operate. For anyone who's ever felt crazy for things they couldn't prove.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like paranoid thrillers that build dread from an empty room and a slowly closing door, and you're happy with a threat you never get to see clearly.

Skip it if you want a slower, more reflective story, since its dread is relentless and occasionally leans on loud jump-scare beats that feel borrowed.

What it asks of you: Two hours of sustained unease with little relief, and a steady focus on one woman whose version of events the people around her keep doubting.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hush2016

Mike Flanagan's home-invasion thriller puts a deaf woman in mortal danger with a killer who toys with her. Like Invisible Man, it's about vulnerability weaponized, resourcefulness under siege, and a protagonist who must think faster than her attacker expects.

But Relentlessly grim and claustrophobic. If you want catharsis or a satisfying escape, this offers neither—just survival.

Stalker2023

A three-part miniseries exploring obsession, control, and the psychological warfare of being watched. It shares Invisible Man's interest in how fear rewires your perception of reality, with superb performances and a mounting sense of helplessness.

But Slower burn than the film, dialogue-heavy, and it ends ambiguously. Viewers wanting spectacle or resolution should look elsewhere.

You2018

Penn Badgley's stalker uses modern technology to control his victims. It's the inverse perspective of Invisible Man—you see the hunter, not the hunted—but it shares the same anatomy of abuse: obsession disguised as love, reality distorted by someone else's will.

But The protagonist's point of view can feel seductive in a way that troubles some viewers. It's psychologically uncomfortable by design.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Invisible Man

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Phantom Thread2017

Both use their medium to visualize control and powerlessness. Invisible Man shows absence; Phantom Thread shows presence as suffocation. Same wound, different language.

Paul Thomas Anderson's film about a controlling fashion designer and the woman who enters his life. It's about invisible power, manipulation through intimacy, and the dance of abuse—but shot as a lush, gorgeous period film rather than a thriller.

But Slow, mannered, and deeply interior. It's about psychology rather than action; if you wanted Invisible Man for the spectacle, this is the opposite.

Veronica2017

A Spanish horror film about a woman whose life unravels after a séance. Like Invisible Man, it merges domestic dread with supernatural terror, treating invisible threats as metaphors for internal collapse and things we can't escape.

But Sparse and atmospheric rather than action-packed. Long silences and an apocalyptic tone—not for viewers wanting a thriller's conventional momentum.

A Cure for Wellness2017

Gorgeous, paranoid thriller in which a man becomes trapped in a luxury spa where nothing is what it seems. It shares Invisible Man's theme of being gaslit, powerless, and surrounded by people who deny your reality.

But Visually overwhelming and narratively baroque. At over two hours, it meanders; the plot is less important than atmosphere, which frustrates some.

The Machinist2004

Christian Bale wastes away as an insomniac factory worker tormented by a mysterious figure. Both films use invisible or barely-seen threats to explore psychological unraveling and the horror of losing control over your own mind.

But Aggressively bleak and deliberately slow. Watching Bale's physical deterioration is unsettling in a way some find punishing rather than thrilling.

Raw2017

A French-Belgian body horror film about a vegetarian art student who develops a taste for human flesh. Like Invisible Man, it's about losing control of your own body and the terror of becoming something you don't recognize.

But Graphic, visceral, and deliberately unsettling. Not subtle; if you're squeamish or find extreme body horror unwatchable, this will be difficult.

Come True2020

A sci-fi horror film about a sleep study that goes wrong, featuring stunning visuals and a mounting sense of violation. It shares Invisible Man's interest in unseen threats and the breakdown of safety in spaces that should be secure.

But Experimental and dreamlike rather than plot-driven. Ends on purpose without resolution, which many find pretentious or incomplete.

Enemy2014

Denis Villeneuve's psychological thriller about a man who discovers his exact double. Like Invisible Man, it explores paranoia, identity fracture, and the horror of realizing you're not in control of your own life.

But Deliberately cryptic and open to interpretation. Some viewers find it frustratingly oblique; it rewards re-watching but resists easy answers.

The Act of Killing2012

Both interrogate how violence becomes invisible—in Invisible Man through literal concealment, in The Act of Killing through collective denial and the rewriting of history.

A documentary in which Indonesian death squad perpetrators reenact their own murders. It's about the invisible architecture of violence, how people justify atrocity, and how reality bends when the truth is denied by those in power.

But Disturbing on a fundamental level. Watching perpetrators perform their own violence without consequence is morally nauseating; some view it as manipulation of the viewer.