The Invisible Man (2020)

Why do these screams matter?

Loosely based upon H. G. Wells’ novel of the same name, The Invisible Man revolves around Cecilia (Eisabeth Moss) who believes that Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), her abusive ex-boyfriend, has discovered a way to make himself invisible and is using that knowledge to continue to physically and psychologically torment her. The film takes up a central question of the #MeToo movement: What does it take for a woman to be believed when she alleges abuse? To tell Cecilia’s story, writer and director Leigh Whannell interviewed domestic abuse survivors to ground the story in truth and the result is a careful representation of some of the reasons why women might be reluctant to report abuse, particularly if those allegations are made against powerful men.

Released four years after the Trump tape surfaced in which the then Presidential candidate famously observed that “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything,” The Invisible Man reflects a similar awareness of the connection between abuse and privilege. Our first scream comes early in the film when Cecilia has fled the house in which Adrian has all but imprisoned her. Having just entered her sister’s car, Cecilia’s hope for a clean getaway is interrupted when a violent and angry Adrian suddenly appears.

 

A lot is bubbling beneath this scream, not the least of which is an understanding of the importance of audience buy-in concerning Cecilia’s struggle. By front-loading Cecilia’s fear at the beginning of the film, Whannell is ensuring audience alignment with Cecilia and that no space is created to doubt her story. Because this scream is so clearly coming from a place of fear, it conveys to the audience that Cecilia truly believes that Adrian poses a threat to her well-being; a belief that is solidified when Adrian appears and smashes the window in his attempt to drag Cecilia from the car. The National Domestic Violence Hotline reports that 1 in 4 women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner and that nearly half of all women in the United States have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner. Additionally, the CDC reports that 10% of women report having been stalked by an intimate partner. The fear Cecilia feels toward Adrian is valid and warranted and the film leverages Cecilia’s screams to ensure that the audience’s identification remains squarely with Cecilia. This scream acknowledges the fear that is part of the abuse cycle for Cecilia and people like her.

That this altercation is witnessed by Cecilia’s sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer) is also important because it demonstrates how hard it can be for victims to be believed. Even though Emily has seen the violence with her own eyes, her decision to abandon her sister later in the film suggests that continual proof must be supplied for accusations of abuse to be believed. In the absence of concrete proof, even those closest to us may have doubt. In this next scream, Emily agrees to have dinner with Cecilia in a crowded restaurant. As Cecilia tries to explain that she is being framed, an invisible Adrian slits Emily’s throat.

 

The scream we hear in this scene comes not from Cecilia, but an unnamed spectator of the crime.  And it matters that the spectator in question is a woman. She is able to use her voice to draw attention to the crime and, in doing so, frames the events of what transpires, both for the other people in the crowd as well as for the police officers who arrive. Without any eyewitnesses who can say conclusively that they saw Cecilia kill her sister, this one woman’s scream becomes a powerful tool to silence the truth- a silencing that is only compounded by Cecilia’s traumatic muteness. It’s impossible at this moment not to be reminded that some women simply by their privilege, are viewed to be as more credible while other women, particularly those with complicated mental health histories, are not.

Since Cecilia is unable to advocate for herself, the police refer to psychological reports that cast her as mentally ill, reports that were generated at the behest of Adrian. Here, Adrian’s wealth and privilege enable him to leverage two power structures represented-the police and health care providers- against Cecilia and to reframe her actions for his benefit. In doing so, the film reminds us that there is nothing invisible about intimate partner violence. There are signs but the institutional structures entrusted to respond to those signs are easily manipulated by those with money and means.

How privilege is codified and replicated comes into play in the final scream of this film. Having agreed to meet with Adrian in the hopes of getting him to confess, Cecilia soon excuses herself from the dinner when it becomes clear that Adrian has no intention of confessing. In her absence, the security cameras Adrian had installed to monitor Cecilia’s every move show him slitting his own throat.

 

Cecilia’s scream at seeing Adrian in a pool of his own blood at first reads as shock at the bloody spectacle. But we quickly realize that her scream is by design; she’s deliberately using the very tools of oppression that were leveraged against her to enact a form of justice the establishment denies her.

The reveal that she donned an invisibility suit and killed Adrian in a way that echoes her sister’s death earlier works from a horror standpoint because this revenge sequence provides catharsis. Neither the police nor the legal system nor even her familial loved ones can help her in the end. Cecilia must save herself. And having been along for the ride for Adrian’s reign of torture, we understand that murder is the only real option available to Cecilia. But that realization is a deeply troublesome one because it suggests that the only way for someone to survive abuse is to adopt the tools of the abuser.

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Works Cited

Black, Michele, et al. “National intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2010 summary report.” National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_executive_summary-a.pdf.

“Domestic Violence Statistics.” National Domestic Violence Hotline, www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/.

The Invisible Man. Directed by Leigh Whannell, performances by Elisabeth Moss, Storm Reid, and Aldis Hodge, Universal Pictures, 2020.

“Transcript: Donald Trump’s Taped Comments About Women.” The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html.