The Invisible Man | 2020 | R | – 1.7.5

Why is “The Invisible Man” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some strong bloody violence, and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few cleavage revealing outfits; several scenes of psychological torment, several scenes of gunshots wounding or killing people and leaving bloody wounds, two scenes of throats being slit with copious blood, several scenes of fighting ending with injured people with bloody wounds, and discussions of abusive relationships; and at least 5 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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In this loose retelling of the H.G. Wells classic, a violently abusive man (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) torments his ex (Elisabeth Moss) and as his final act he commits suicide — or so it seems. Believing that he faked his death and is now invisible and continuing to stalk her and abuse her, she has difficulty making authorities believe her. Also with Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid and Michael Dorman. Directed by Leigh Whannell. [Running Time: 2:04]

The Invisible Man SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man and a woman embrace for a few seconds. A female voice off-screen tells a woman that she is pregnant, but the woman denies it (she does not look pregnant).
► A woman wears a scoop neck slip with thin straps (we see bare shoulders and cleavage). A woman wears a V-neck top that reveals cleavage.

The Invisible Man VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A woman tells another woman that her dead husband is really alive and trying to kill her, the other woman objects, and a carving knife appears, slits her throat and slams its bloody handle into the palm of the other woman; the woman screams and men and women back away and leave, blood covers the victim and the table and drips onto the floor, police officers enter and grab the woman with the knife, slam her to the floor, and the scene cuts to the woman being dragged as she struggles and screams; she is strapped to a bed, screaming at an empty corner of the room, repeating, “You killed her!” and an attendant closes the cell door after the woman receives a sedative injection in close-up (we see the needle enter her arm and the woman becomes comatose as a disembodied male voice near her says, “Hi”). A man and a woman argue at a dinner table, she cries and he approaches, grabbing her knee, she goes to the bathroom and he sits down as a large knife appears and slits the man’s throat (he clutches his throat, gagging and gurgling as we see profuse bleeding and severed muscles); the woman hurries out of the washroom, screams, and calls 911 as the man falls off his chair and dies.
► An extended fight scene shows an electronic suit fighting several armed police officers with choking, punches, several kicks and body slams: one officer falls through a window, shattering it, and lands on the floor unconscious with blood on his face, the suit makes one officer shoot his own knee (splattering blood across a wall), the officer screams and falls after the suit punches him, the suit then points a gun at an officer and says, “Bang” and walks by, and then turns and shoots in the direction of the officer who is now off-screen and drops the gun (the camera pans back to show several officers lying in some blood but it is unclear whether they are alive); the suit runs into a stairwell, followed by a woman he assaulted, she fires a handgun and misses, enters a lobby where she sees two doors open by themselves and she runs outside into heavy rain where she sees an electronic suit moving away from the building and she shoots again and misses; a woman is grabbed by an unseen person, choked and told he will kill someone she loves, and the suit has a handgun and shoots a police officer (we see a bleeding wound on his leg) who screams and falls and the suit punches him in the head, and then runs away.
► A woman wakes up and sneaks out of a house after disarming multiple alarms, she kicks a dog dish in the dark very loudly and gasps, she finds the dog in the garage and gasps, removes its alarm-collar and it bumps a car that sets off a loud alarm and flashing lights for several seconds as she runs through woods and climbs into another woman’s car chased by her husband who runs up, smashes the side windows with his fist and the two women scream as the driver speeds away (the man’s hand is covered with a large amount of blood).
► A woman holds a pen in the shower stall of her prison cell, turns on the water and stabs her own arm to draw blood (we see a bandage on it later); something unseen grabs her and the water makes an electronic skin-suit appear as a police officer enters the cell, draws a taser, and the suit forces the crackling weapon under the officer’s chin, shocking him (he has a seizure), the suit runs out, and the woman chases it, only to be knocked down and dragged by the feet by two other officers; the suit punches the two officers in the throat and they fall unconscious.
► A woman stands in a parking lot as a car speeds toward her, she fires a gun and the car swerves into a parked car where the driver gets out stumbling, with some blood on his lips and the woman steals the car. Something unseen enters a room where a teen girl grabs a spray can of MACE and sprays it toward where she thinks the invisible person is, he falls and then punches her in the head; a man enters the house with a handgun drawn and the invisible person knocks him down, punches him, and kicks him several times, causing blood to stain his shirt sleeves and a closet door; a woman rushes in with a fire extinguisher, sprays the invisible person to make him visible and shoots him four times (we see four holes and blood streaming from each one) and the person falls dead. Something unseen grabs a woman by the throat, lifts her off the floor, dangles her, slams her hard into a wall, grabs her again and throws her to the floor and then over a table to the floor; the table is tossed in the air and overturns, something invisible punches and drags the screaming woman by the feet and then by the hair across floors, the woman hits her attacker with a dustpan, gets away, is grabbed again and punches the attacker several times, breaking two china plates; she escapes and runs outside, hailing a car and getting away. Something unseen slaps a teen girl and slams her to the floor twice as she gasps.
► A woman grabs a carving knife and looks for a man that is threatening her, she pours coffee grounds all over a floor to show footprints, she calls his cell phone number and hears it ringing in the attic above her head, and she sets up a ladder and climbs into the attic where she finds the phone (it has pictures of her sleeping but clothed); she dumps paint into the air that outlines an invisible man who falls with a crash. A woman enters a house where she finds tarp covered furniture and a laboratory where she touches buttons and a metal framework creates an adult male’s outline, and then fills it with moving sensors to make an invisibility suit; she removes the suit and places it in a closet and someone invisible opens the closet door, she trips over his feet, slides across the floor and escapes the house. Someone unseen pulls the bed covers off a sleeping woman (she is clothed), she gets up, picks up the covers and they stick to the floor as we see footprints press onto it and the woman screams. A carving knife lifts off a counter and floats behind it. A fire on a gas-stove turns up by itself and smoke rises from a pan of bacon and eggs until it catches fire; a woman then uses a fire extinguisher on the pan. A front door stands open on a cold night when it had been closed and a woman walks outside and we see the breath of an invisible person behind her. SWAT officers carrying assault rifles enter a house and find a man tied up in a basement closet after breaking down the door.
► A man accuses a woman of assaulting his teen daughter and tells her to move out. A woman visits another woman, who berates her for sending her a hate-email that the first woman denies sending; the first woman later finds that someone used her laptop and wrote to the second woman, “I wish you would die.” A woman tells a man that her husband is not dead and the man says he has a pile of ashes and shows a large photo of the husband lying dead in a very large pool of blood; newspaper headlines state that he was an apparent suicide.
► A woman tries to convince two police officers that her husband, an optics guru, knows how to harm her invisibly and they do not believe her. A woman tells another woman that her husband controlled everything about her — her appearance, her eating, her speaking, and even her thoughts, drugging her (please see the Substance Use category for more details) and isolating her. A woman says that her husband told her that she would never be able to leave him because he would find her. A man tells a woman that she will never be able to leave him because he would find her. A woman tells another woman that an abusive man is dead. A woman is startled and looks around an empty room, thinking someone is watching her. A woman in an office becomes dizzy and faints, falling to the floor; the scene cuts to a hospital corridor where she sits and her face looks tired and flushed (there’s no injury) and we see a man on a gurney covered completely in bandages, goggles and an oxygen mask.
► A woman in a clinic argues with a man, cries and shoves papers, a pen and a cell phone off a table. A woman hears strange noises in her home, like clicking and doors closing off-screen. A woman sees an impression in a cushioned chair as if someone is sitting there, and then the impression disappears. Very loud ocean waves crash forward toward the screen for several seconds as ominous music plays, and ominous music repeats often throughout the film.

The Invisible Man LANGUAGE 5

 – About 5 F-words and its derivatives, 3 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (stupid, punching bag, jellyfish, narcissistic, sociopath), exclamations (I swear), 1 religious exclamation (Oh My God). | profanity glossary |

The Invisible Man SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman takes a bottle of Diazepam from under her mattress and takes it and her bedside water glass to the bathroom, we hear that a man has been dosing his wife’s water with Diazepam and placing placebos in place of her birth control pills (a box of Contra), a woman drops a pill bottle on a road and later finds it covered with blood spots, and after a fainting spell a hospital doctor tells a woman by phone that Diazepam is in high levels in her blood. Glasses of wine are seen on tables in a restaurant and a few people pick up their glasses but do not drink, a man sips from a glass of beer, a woman gets out a sealed bottle of champagne at home (no one drinks), a man and a woman both say they are hungover but appear fine, and a sealed wine bottle is shown on a dinner table.

The Invisible Man DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Bullying, controlling behavior, abusive relationships, the MeToo movement, the voiceless victims who are not believed, violence, assault, torture, gas-lighting, paranoia, murder, fear, survival, self-defense, mental instability, science, technology, invisibility.

The Invisible Man MESSAGE

 – Reports of all types of abuse must be taken seriously.