Was Adrian forced to claim Tom held him prisoner as a cover after Cecilia killed him? Or was this sociopath planning from the start for his brother to take the fall for his actions?
Did Adrian force Tom to help him with his scheme? Or did Tom help his brother willingly?
Angst Aversion: Quite a few people refused to ever watch the film because of how terrifying the setup is, even if they were reasonably sure Cecilia would come out on top. Some actual abuse victims even said their PTSD was triggered by the trailer alone. Indeed when removing the horror element, the film strictly comes off as an abuse victim being tormented by their old abusive ex partner.
Award Snub: Despite the acclaim given to Elisabeth Moss's performance, she received no award nominations for it. Likewise, the film received no awards attention for its special effects, cinematography, or sound design.
When Cecilia fakes a suicide attempt and damages the suit, finally getting her on somewhat even ground with the Invisible Man. Shortly after, a guard sees Adrian in his damaged suit and immediately tries to fight him off. It's small, but it feels like a win with Adrian getting away with everything else up to this point.
The ending, in spades. After he refuses to admit to everything, Cecilia dons the invisible suit and forces Adrian to slit his own throat and bleed to death, in a way that appears to be suicide on the security camera. It was very richly deserved, and it was also very karmic given that was the way he had murdered her sister Emily and framed her for it.
Complete Monster: Adrian Griffin is the abusive boyfriend to heroine Cecilia Kass, seeking to control even her thoughts and subjecting her to horrible physical, mental and emotional abuse. Faking his death with the aid of his brother Tom, Adrian stalks, gaslights and torments Cecilia, eventually murdering her sister Emily and framing her for it, while intending to force her to return to him with their unborn child, having sabotaged her birth control to get her pregnant. Adrian brutally beats and kills multiple guards at the hospital when exposed and orders the death of Cecilia's teenage friend Sydney as punishment, setting up his own brother to be killed to take the fall for his crimes and attempting to sway Cecilia back to him with protestations of victimhood.
Draco in Leather Pants: There's a disconcerting fringe section of fans who try to frame Adrian as innocent and insist Cecilia is either over exaggerating or was the real abuser or which try to blame Tom for all that happens, buying into Adrian's manipulation unquestioningly.
Armie Hammer was the original choice to play the title role before dropping out and would later be accused of physical and emotional abuse of his partners, even being dropped by his agency when such reports came out, similar to Adrian's behavior.
Back when the film was in development as a part of the Dark Universe, Johnny Depp was set to play the titular character. However, the accusations of Depp being a domestic abuser towards Amber Heard began popping up around the same time the Dark Universe was cancelled.
Hilarious in Hindsight: This isn’t Elisabeth Moss’ first time that she tangled withan invisible man. Even more interesting, the episode in question is extremely similar to this film - a man uses an invisibility suit to stalk his former wife.
Moral Event Horizon: If his prior history as an abuser didn't already damn him enough, Adrian definitely crossed it when he murders Emily in front of Cecilia and frames her for it.
Paranoia Fuel: The film never lets you forget the Invisible Man could be anywhere, with the camera often focusing on empty space to the side of a scene’s main action. According to Word of God, most of the times when the camera focuses on nothing, the Invisible Man is there.
Realism-Induced Horror: It may be a science fiction horror film about a man who turns himself invisible, but the premise of someone being stalked, threatened and gaslit by their abusive ex after they try to leave them is horrifyingly realistic, as is the depiction of a narcissist's attempts to control and manipulate those around them, to the point that many people found this to be the most disturbing part (especially for viewers who have experienced domestic abuse).
The paint bucket scene, where Cecilia throws it on The Invisible Man, has become one in the marketing.
The Invisible Man's murder of Emily, due to how sudden and graphic it is.
The Invisible Man vs the Security Guards at the hospital. Curb-Stomp Battle doesn't even describe it.
Special Effects Failure: The effects are generally excellent (especially for such a tiny budget) but in the scene where Adrian performs a Neck Lift on Cecilia for the angle of her body makes it very obvious that her weight is being taken by a harness at the small of her back, and the fact that it's held for several seconds with no change in camera angle or her body position makes it easy to spot.
To Whannell's other psychological sci-fi horror film Upgrade. Both revolving around enigmatic tech moguls wreaking havoc on a trauma victim's life with sinister experimental technology.
The plot, about an abusive boyfriend who torments his ex-girlfriend in order to drive her mad, works just as well as a remake of Gaslight (albeit with a sci-fi twist) as it does a remake of The Invisible Man.
Spoiled by the Format: The closed captioning indicates the presence of the suit's faint clicking sounds, giving away that Adrian is actually there.
Visual Effects of Awesome: Everything Adrian does while invisible, which is impressive, especially considering the film's budget was only $7 million.
Cecilia in spades. She is horribly abused and gaslighted by her partner Adrian, who seemingly "returns from the dead" to continuously abuse and haunt her; eventually he murders her beloved sister Emily, just when Cecilia is about to show her evidence of his resurgence. While she does come through in the end, one must imagine how much PTSD she must face as a result from it all.
Emily, who is very caring and concerned for her abused sister, only to be given a threatening email that Adrian sent her through Cecilia's email account, and brutally murdered in public by him when she almost knows his secret.
Sydney, considering all she is at the end of the day is a poor kid who thinks Cecilia hits her and then later on witnesses her father getting beaten to a pulp all while getting choked on beforehand.
Win Back the Crowd: After two failedattempts to start the Dark Universe, this film (which was initially going to be part of said universe) does such a good job as a standalone that some people are saying it could very well work as a new start to the franchise, if the other films could properly follow its lead as horror films first and foremost.
