All the thrillers this weekend! Mainly psychological, and those are my favorite kinds. Both are worthy of your viewing, so buckle up. I’m about to give hopefully a spoil-free review of The Invisible Man and The Lodge.
First up, was The Invisible Man. I was personally very excited for this because the same man who directed Upgrade, Leigh Whannell, also directed this film! My expectations were high, and he certainly met them! And just like Upgrade, this movie was made for a pretty modest budget ($7 million), as most Blumhouse films are made, but the visual effects he achieves are stunning. I would say the acting done by Elisabeth Moss is also top notch in this film. I mean, she has to act like she’s being tortured by an invisible man! And she nails it! She’s also got just the right amount of crazy in her eyes to really look like someone at the peak of paranoia.
This film was truly suspenseful from the first minute until the last, and it had me on the edge of my seat throughout. The crowd reacted together at all the parts I’m sure Whannell was aiming for, too. While this is a remake from the 1933 original, and an adaptation from a novel of the same name, Whannell manages to take this and give it a modern #MeToo spin that actually tracks. Without giving any major plot points away, this is where I’ll stop, but you must all make it to the theater to see this! And then go watch Upgrade on Hulu (you’re welcome).
Next up was the psychological horror film, The Lodge. This was certainly a slow-burn, but it was intense in its own right. And very graphic at points. Right at the start, in fact. The audience had quite a reaction to that first act of violence. Otherwise, the film follows two children, their father and his girlfriend on their trip up to the family lodge for Christmas. When the father gets called away on work, the girlfriend tries her hardest to connect with the kids, only to have them thwart her at every turn.
The thing is, she’s got a super messed up past. Her father was a preacher who led a mass suicide. There were no survivors except her. Naturally, she’s a little scarred from this event, so what the kids are doing to her take her to the next level. The music is intense, the house is eerie, and nothing says creepy like an old-ass house in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter. Riley Keough delivers quite the performance, and I’d say if you’re okay with a thriller that’s not really action-packed, then this is the one for you.