Fleeing from an abusive boyfriend, a woman (Elisabeth Moss) suddenly inherits $5 million after he commits suicide. Soon afterwards she starts to realise that it wasn’t suicide at all, and believes he has somehow found a way to become invisible and is intent on stalking and terrorising her. When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to take matters into her own hands and fight back.
Directed by Leigh Whannell, an Australian screenwriter, best known for his work on Saw and Insidious, delivers a true horror/thriller from what could have been a cheesy premise. It is suspenseful and also emotionally effective and subtly creates the perfect underdog story – a victim being terrorised and made to seem crazy, and no one, not even the police believe her. This makes the audience feel entirely on her side – relating to her situation in the sense that we have all felt completely alone like this at some stage.
The directing is extremely well done; building tension around something that isn’t even on-set, always making the audience question what they saw, and whether they saw it. Like in all good horror films, the use of sound is of paramount importance, and again, this is done incredibly well here. This is especially true in the few ‘jumps’ scares; they don’t feel forced or overused.
Also starring Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. All the actors, and the sound crew too, deserve a round of applause. Job well done.
