Universal has been trying recently, with little success, to update their classic horror movie franchises. Remember Dracula Untold (2014, with Luke Evans) or The Mummy (2017, with Tom Cruise)? I thought not. Here, the venerable studio updates James Whale’s 1933 hit by changing everything about it and reframing the story as a cautionary tale about domestic abuse.

Leigh Whannell’s film finds Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) escaping a big, fancy, empty house and the controlling nature of her boyfriend Adrian. She thinks her nightmare is over when news arrives that he has killed himself. But soon weird things start happening that she cannot explain; nor can she rid herself of the idea that she is being watched. All the time. Everywhere.

This aspect of the film works pretty darn well; the camera framing (largely of empty space where Adrian might be lurking) and disbelief of everyone around Cecilia is quite strong. Likewise, the modern angle of stressing the horror of domestic abuse and its nasty effects upon the psyche works really well, and seems more than appropriate for our current era. So why then am I not as impressed by this film is one might think?

Writer-director Whannell denies his film has plot holes. Well, I disagree. It is simply not believable that Adrian (or anyone else) could be continuously and silently close to Cecilia for extended periods — especially while she is institutionalized, in rooms with closed and locked doors. A sneeze or a cough, or the inevitable weird smell of the invisibility suit, would be enough to give up the ghost, so to speak. Heck, if I thought someone was invisible in the same room with me, a rushed, chaotic sweep of the room with a broom or some other tool would end the suspense really quickly (as well as make a mess). The film relies on its main character’s imbalanced thinking far too much to be realistic. And its length could be cut by twenty minutes without much being lost. This is a decent film, but it could have been tighter, and more frightening. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 15 November 2020.