The ending of The Invisible Man doesn't unfold exactly how you expect, but that's only fitting
for Leigh Whannell's twisty horror-thriller. The Invisible Man's ending isn't a straightforward
one, but it's the right one for the movie. Here's how it goes down. Spoilers ahead!
The Invisible Man's final showdown seems simple. Cecilia visits Adrian's house for a meal.
When Adrian refuses to apologize, Cecilia leaves to freshen up. While she's gone, Adrian
lifts a knife seemingly against his will, even though he's alone in the room and slits
his own throat. Cecilia returns just in time to watch him die.
Everything Cecilia does in this scene is set up earlier in the movie. The security cameras
that Adrian used to spy on Cecilia are now the key to proving his "suicide," and throughout
the film Adrian's weapon of choice is a knife. It's only fitting that his story ends with
one.
And then, of course, there's the second invisibility suit that Cecilia dons, the one she found
while snooping around Adrian's mansion. That's why Adrian's comeuppance is so satisfying:
In the final scene, Cecilia is using all of Adrian's tricks against him. She even sends
Adrian to the grave with his own catchphrase.
"Surprise"
During the meal, Adrian pleads for forgiveness, saying that he's sorry. Is he, though? Because
everything that Adrian does in this scene screams that he hasn't changed at all. He's
still choosing Cecilia's meals for her, and still trying to gaslight her. He blames Cecilia
for her own trauma, deflecting responsibility and painting himself as the real victim.
This is all textbook behavior for an abuser, and it's not any different than what Adrian
was doing while he was in the invisibility suit. From all indications, Adrian hasn't
learned a thing. Thankfully, Cecilia doesn't fall for it. She's moved beyond Adrian, and
she's no longer looking back.
The Invisible Man is framed like an empowerment story. At the beginning of the movie, Cecilia
lives in fear of Adrian. Even after she escapes, she's so traumatized that she can't even leave
the house. Adrian's death gives her solace, but it's only once the Invisible Man begins
attacking that Cecilia finally musters the courage, resolve, and confidence that she
needs to fight back. By the end of the movie, Cecilia and Adrian have switched places. Cecilia
is now the hunter. Adrian is her prey.
That's one way to look at it, anyway. Another is that, despite losing his life, Adrian won.
The Cecilia we met near the beginning of the film the kind, compassionate woman is gone.
Her sister is dead. She has blood on her hands. Her emotions have been replaced by a calm,
cool detachedness.
It goes even further than that, though. As we've seen, Cecilia has learned how to use
all of Adrian's tricks, including how to get away with murder. That's not to say that she's
the same as Adrian that dude is still much, much worse but Adrian obviously broke Cecilia,
and it's not clear if she'll ever truly recover.
As a thriller, The Invisible Man is taut and well-paced, but as a result it doesn't always
take the time to explain everything. Most notably, Cecilia's big $5 million payout a
key piece of Adrian's plan to torment Cecilia, and one of the key drivers of the plot isn't
mentioned in the last bit of the movie. Presumably, Adrian's will still applies the second time
he dies, but we'll never know for sure if Sydney ends up with enough cash to go to her
dream college.
Same goes for how Adrian faked his death the first time presumably, the deception was convincing
enough to fool the police. Cecilia's revenge doesn't quite hold up if you think about it,
either. The authorities know that Cecilia and Adrian have been mixed up with an invisibility
suit, which was used to commit a violent crime. Even with the seemingly definitive camera
footage and James' testimony, there's going to be a pretty thorough investigation, and
Cecilia is sure to be a prime suspect.
Maybe that's why Cecilia takes off after making the 911 call. Still, while none of these loose
threads really matter as far as The Invisible Man's main story are concerned, they're proof
that the movie's tidy ending isn't quite as slick as it seems.
Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man doesn't need a sequel. By the end, Cecilia and Adrian's
stories are complete. But this is Hollywood, and if The Invisible Man is a hit, it's hard
to imagine that Sony and Blumhouse won't try to build a franchise out of it.
"This movie comes along catering for people who are just walking in there for the first
time. And the horror fans are like, 'I know all this stuff.'"
Clearly, Whannell knows how it goes. In an interview we had with Whannell, he told us
that the only Invisible Man material he consumed before writing the 2020 reboot was H. G. Wells'
original novel and James Whale's 1933 feature film. He basically ignored all the sequels,
which is probably for the best.
"Ah-choo!" "Gesundhe--who's there?"
None of those sequels really follow the plot established in 2020's The Invisible Man, but
the idea of someone else getting their hands on the invisibility technology and embarking
on a whole new adventure could be the way forward. Definitely don't expect a straight-up
remake of The Invisible Woman, even though that seems like the most obvious direction
to go. The 1940 feature is actually a screwball comedy in which a former model uses invisibility
to stop some idiot gangsters. A suitable follow-up to a moody, paranoid thriller it certainly
ain't.
Of course, there's already an Invisible Woman feature film in development at Universal,
but don't be fooled. This isn't a second act for Elisabeth Moss' Cecilia Kass. It's an
entirely different project.
The project comes from Elizabeth Banks, who's set to direct and star in a more traditional
Invisible Woman remake for Universal. The Hollywood Reporter says the movie is like,
quote, "Thelma & Louise meets American Psycho." Banks' film is another attempt by Universal
to revitalize its classic horror properties after Tom Cruise's The Mummy sunk the studio's
planned Dark Universe franchise right out of the gate. It's not a follow-up to Whannell's
movie but considering how good The Invisible Man turned out to be with its smart, sparse
approach to horror, hopefully it follows his lead.
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