The thriller ‘The Invisible Man’ explores the terror of domestic violence
The cast of the horror movie “The Invisible Man” talk about the film's hidden message of domestic abuse. Elisabeth Moss plays Ceclila Kass a woman who is being hunted by her abusive ex that no one can see. The actress tells Yahoo Entertainment, “The idea of a woman not being believed is very relevant right now.” She goes on to add, “There’s emotional abuse, psychological abuse, gaslighting, bullying … that can be incredibly damaging to people.” Director and writer Leigh Whannell explains Moss contributed a lot to the film from a story perspective. When he was developing the character Whannell says, “I unraveled that she’s escaping this toxic relationship. You find out how scary and prevalent that is.”
Video Transcript
CECILIA CASS: He has figured out a way to be invisible. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
KEVIN POLOWY: This film really has a lot on its mind. It has a lot of things to say, especially when it comes to issues like domestic violence and gender. What can you tell us about what your intentions were? Is it an allegory on believing women? What can you say about that?
LEIGH WHANNELL: Yeah, I mean, I think that was something that emerged organically through the writing of the script. It wasn't like I went into this script thinking I want to write a script about domestic violence. What happened was I started with the character-- this great character that's so iconic-- and I start building back from there. OK, he's scarier if he's in the background. We don't know him too well. So that makes this movie about his victim. Who's the victim? It's a woman. Pretty soon, I unraveled that she was escaping this toxic relationship. And when you do your research into that stuff, as I did, you find out just how scary and how prevalent it is.
ELISABETH MOSS: We really tried to be inclusive of different kinds of abuse, that there is not just physical abuse. But there is emotional abuse, psychological abuse, gaslighting, bullying. That there are different kinds of toxic relationships that can be incredibly damaging to people. And yes, the idea of a woman not being believed obviously is very relevant right now.
OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN: It's interesting. Lizzie and I were talking when we were filming about how she'd probably tried to leave him before. And how people would have said, but you live in that nice house, and you have such nice clothes. And oh, and he's handsome, or he's this. I'm sure he's charming. And we witness this behavior happen all the time. And so if it can do something, this movie-- apart from scare people-- it's hopefully to kind of get that message across.
LEIGH WHANNELL: Control was a big thing. I heard stories from women working at-- counselors working at domestic violence shelters who would tell me about women they had helped whose partner had locked the fridge with a safe lock. The amount of control is pathological. It's like I want to control what you eat, I want to control when you leave the house. So that stuff was definitely interesting in terms of this character, because who has more control than someone you can't see? You can't do anything to someone you can't see.
STORM REID: I guess all people can learn that you can feel weak, but you could also be strong at the same time. And it's just betting on yourself to get you out of some situations or relationships. And I know that's easier said than done, but you can do that. And you are worthy of being seen, and being heard, and being loved. So I hope that translates on screen to the audiences.
ELISABETH MOSS: I think the idea of putting a woman at the center of it, turning the Invisible Man-- the monster-- into a real monster, into an abusive relationship, into gaslighting. All of that, the way that Leigh constructed that, and still made it scary and entertaining, and all of that with this deeper underlying thing. I just thought it's where this genre's going, I think.
TOM GRIFFIN: You think about it. He came up with the perfect way to torture you, even in death.
