Elisabeth Moss discusses the abusive relationship of The Invisible Man

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Writer/director Leigh Whannell is taking an interesting approach to the concept of THE INVISIBLE MAN in the upcoming Blumhouse/Universal film. Instead of focusing on the titular character, it centers on someone who is being tormented by this invisible person. Played by Elisabeth Moss, the tormented character is 

Cecilia, who receives the news of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s suicide, and begins to rebuild her life for the better, but her sense of reality is put into question when she begins to suspect her deceased lover is not actually dead.

That abusive ex-boyfriend, the INVISIBLE MAN himself, is Adrian Griffin,

a billionaire sociopath who made his money by developing an invisibility suit for the Department of Defense.

Speaking with Empire magazine, Moss discussed the fact that the new film "tackles the horror of abuse", saying,

You literally have a man who is invisible, you can’t see him, she’s saying he’s there, that he’s attacking her, abusing her, manipulating her, and everyone around her is saying, ‘Relax. It’s fine.’ And she keeps saying, ‘No, he is – he’s alive, he’s doing this,’ and no one believes her. The analogy is incredibly clear."

Moss has a history of playing characters who have dealt with various types of abuse, so she says she was "able to bring that knowledge to the role".

The full synopsis for THE INVISIBLE MAN goes like this: 

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer, NBC’s The InBetween), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, HBO’s Euphoria).

But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

THE INVISIBLE MAN is set to reach theatres on February 28th. As a fan of Moss and of Universal's classic INVISIBLE movies, I'm really looking forward to this one.