People are afraid of death and its mysteries have always been a difficult to explain; most of the time, people don’t even want to talk about it. In the new release “The Invisible”, director David S. Goyer opens a new door to a different vision about what the moments approaching death could tell us. Those last moments where we are aware of our surroundings—and the moments after; when the separation between soul and body seems inevitable. This is also what seems to happen when a human being falls into a coma. The body remains still, but the mind and soul are still alive and searching for new movements. Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) is a young student, a brilliant son, and a great friend. He lives with his mother Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) since his father died. His life does not involve much emotion; he lives in a fancy house, he is always around school parties here and there, and he has some little secrets—like every single teenager in this world.
There’s always a moment when someone close to us can make a mistake and, in “The Invisible,” Nick will become Annie’s mistake. Annie Newton (Margarita
Levieva) is a young woman, rebellious and beautiful. She defines her life like a thief and is involved into a deep relationship with her boyfriend—and ex convict—who is also her partner in the business they have together. There is a moment in midst of the movie that I saw as a series of facts like in a revenge story, only without clarity. Annie needs to use Nick against his best friend Pete (Chris Marquette) who saw Annie doing something mysterious one morning close to her locker before class. It turns out that she was involved in a jewel robbery and she thinks Pete is incriminating her with the police. However, neither Nick nor Pete made the phone call to the police. Annie turns her anger towards the two innocent students and one of them is killed.
Nick’s soul is free now. He walks on the sidewalks stumbling against people. He walks around the school in his own classroom. He thinks he can be seen, but he can’t. In desperation, he throws some books against the wall, but nobody even bats an eye. He screams and disappears inside a parallel world, invisible to ours. He can see and feel but people cannot see him. He is a prisoner inside his own being and getting out from that mortal capsule will be his heroic deed in this film.
Nick knows his body is still alive because he can stay around the people in the living world. There is an old saying that goes, “A little bird told me…” and this is going to be the key for Nick to solve his own murder. Nick must solve the mystery of his death, or he will be lost forever.
Sometimes in our deeper subconscious, we can hear voices and sometimes these voices seem real. Annie can hear Nick’s voice, like a painful remorse, calling to her. There is a door open between them, in the interior of their subconscious, and Nick begins to communicate with Annie. Nick becomes a missing person in the real world while he tries to get the answers about why he is missing in his own realm. After Annie thought she had killed Nick, she hid the body in the forest. But when Nick tries to recover his body with Pete’s, help the body is not in the same place anymore.
With an underwhelming end, the story and the context lead us to think about what we are in this life. There are people who surround us: our families, our teachers, our enemies, and our friends and we often change our behaviors based on those around us. It is stunning to watch Annie’s character in the movie film because of her character fluctuation. She is a bad person in front of others but when she is with her little brother, she gives him love and companionship; she protects him and she wants the best for him. At one point, where Annie takes off her ski mask, we get a glimpse of her inner conflict. The director shows two different personalities inside the same human being by contrasting the mask with her beautiful, curly long hair.
This film is about breaking-off and finding yourself. Nick has to find his body to come back to life and Annie has to find her soul to die in peace.
The connections between the characters are well expressed. The locations and cinematography are able to speak like a good compliment to show images without words from the actors. The difference between social statuses is evident in many of the scenes by the simple usage of different vocabulary and dialects when the characters talk to each other. There is also a connection in the way the characters interact. The director shows us an alternative, but very well done story, about a different way to understand the mystery of death. Unreal in few scenes but realistic in others, this story tells us of a reality beyond the mysterious. The director wants to give to the audience the perception and idea to keep this option open in our thoughts. A perception about the last hours before our soul leaves our body and the possibility to save ourselves in one way or another.
Sometimes we feel like we are dead, but it could just be a bad dream.
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Weak: 1 Star Average: 2 Stars Good: 3 Stars Very Good: 4 Stars Excellent: 5 Stars