The Invisible Man ending helps establish Blumhouse’s remake as a legitimately scary movie, but one with twists and turns that may confuse some viewers. The Invisible Man is one of the oldest ideas for a terrifying creature. The character was influential in literature when H.G. Wells first wrote the story. However, the character gained a rich, new life once he joined Universal’s stable of classical monsters in the early 20th century. Giving The Invisible Man a modern facelift hasn’t been easy.

Over the years, many updates to the material have occurred, but they usually struggle in some regard. Most of Universal’s classic monsters have failed to connect recently, but The Invisible Man has the best modern-day re-telling. Writer and director Leigh Whannell uses the basic template established for The Invisible Man but takes it to a much more cerebral and emotional place, amplifying the horror. It’s a story that manages to be frightening – in both realistic and supernatural ways – because of the unexpected and ambitious places the story goes.

Was Adrian Really The Invisible Man Or Not?

There Were Two Invisible Men Monsters

One of The Invisible Man’s ending’s biggest twists and revisions to the classic story is the fact that there’s more than one invisible man. The Invisible Man throws a major wrench into things, with the final act revealing that Adrian’s brother, Tom, may have actually been responsible for the crimes in the film. As the 2020 Invisible Man remake entertains the idea that Tom might be the real villain, it simultaneously attempts to redeem Adrian.

The Invisible Man keeps both the audience and Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) guessing as to what the truth is. This brilliantly extends the film’s theme of toxic relationships, trust, and doubt. The Invisible Man doesn’t just force Cecilia to wonder if there really is an invisible man but who that invisible man might be; there are multiple layers to it all.

And to leave things on a more ambiguous note would be wicked, but The Invisible Man eventually relents and implicates Adrian. It turns out that Adrian manipulated his brother into helping not only stage his suicide but also fake his kidnapping. Adrian is the guilty one, and it’s made clear that he is the murderous invisible man in the film, but Tom still holds culpability in the scenario.

What Was The Invisible Man’s Plan?

Adrian Wanted To Force Cecilia To Submit To Him

Other takes on The Invisible Man have been transparent concerning the motivations that drive the Invisible Man. However, the 2020 Invisible Man remake is a very different story, and it crafts a rather intricate mystery around its general horror premise. Films of this nature often hinge on the strength and plausibility of the evil master plan that’s put into motion. Adrian’s scheme makes sense and is a relatively satisfying and surprising reveal.

What’s terrifying about all of this is that, when invisible, Adrian’s actions aren’t different from how he operated beforehand. He’s not interested in using this incredible ability for scientific purposes or to better humankind; it just amplifies his abusive, predatory behavior toward Cecilia. When Adrian is together with Cecilia, he wants to break her spirit and make her dependent on him through emotional and physical abuse, not to mention toxic gaslighting. Even Adrian’s desire to trap her in a relationship with a child becomes more intense after his “death.”

Once Adrian becomes invisible, he takes these tactics to a whole new level as he tries to systematically make everyone (including Cecilia) believe she’s imagining things. Adrian slowly removes Cecilia’s support systems so she has no one else to turn to and needs to return to him. Since he couldn’t succeed in “life,” the only way to attempt this is “death.” To cap it all off, Adrian doesn’t just stop by convincing Cecilia that she’s having a mental breakdown; he also frames Cecilia for her sister’s murder and tries to force her back into a family with him.

When Did Cecilia Become Pregnant?

It Appears Adrian ᴀssaulted Cecilia After Their Breakup

Another one of the turns and complications in the 2020 Invisible Man remake is that Cecilia becomes pregnant with Adrian’s child, much to her horror. However, the film plays around with just when Cecilia becomes pregnant, with one alternative having a more disturbing implication. The Invisible Man’s ending intentionally keeps events murky. However, Adrian and Cecilia are in such a destructive place before his “death,” that it seems much more likely that he forces himself on her afterward as one of the ways he psychologically tortures her.

Both of these options are dark ideas, and Tom implies that Adrian swapped out Cecilia’s birth control beforehand. However, the more vengeful of the two scenarios seems more within Adrian’s capabilities. He’s hell-bent on ruining Cecilia, but Whannell’s film deserves credit for grimly entertaining both options. As a film that’s more about psychological horror, The Invisible Man lets the viewers fill in the blanks themselves, which drives that point home.

Cecilia Gets Away With Adrian’s Murder At The End Of The Invisible Man

Cecilia Uses The Invisibility Suit To Make It Look Like Suicide

The Invisible Man ending pushes Cecilia to confront Adrian, her abuser, but through the guise of reconciliation. She cleverly takes advantage of Adrian’s security cameras and invisibility suit to make it look like Adrian slit his own throat. Thanks to the scenario Cecilia orchestrates, with James recording her conversation with Adrian, she can sell the illusion, finally end Adrian’s horrors, and get away with the invisibility suit.

It initially seems like Cecilia’s plan is to trick Adrian into confessing to his crimes, but her strategy is much more vindictive and permanent. It’s also the perfect way for Cecilia to show how much she’s grown and that she’s much more clever than Adrian gives her credit. She views this extreme revenge as the only way to be free – and she does it by playing by Adrian’s rules, just to a different level.

What The Invisible Man’s Ending Really Means

This Is A Story About Abusive Relationships & Trauma

Part of what makes this adaptation of The Invisible Man narrative so engrossing is that it’s just as much a story about the dangers of toxic relationships and emotional abuse as it is a horror film about supernatural murders. Yes, Cecilia has to overcome fantastical obstacles and defeat a literal monster, but perhaps even more important for her is that she learns to be independent, respect herself, and avoid getting into a future relationship that preys upon her.

It shows the damage of abusive behavior and how it can fester and beget its own violence and revenge. This is the real message and triumph of The Invisible Man ending, and it’s a beautiful lesson to build into this monster movie.

How The Invisible Man Ending Was Received

The Movie Received Acclaim From Critics & Audiences Alike

The Invisible Man broke the trend of Universal Monster movies getting bad reviews. After stumbles by Dracula, The Mummy, and The Wolf-Man, The Invisible Man was certified fresh with a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score and picked up a high 88% fresh rating from the audience as well. When breaking down why the movie worked so well, one audience member wrote, “The Invisible Man is outstanding in every way. The ending (which I won’t reveal) caps the film perfectly. Oh, and it’s also a suspense-on-high trip.“

Film critic Stephanie Zacharek of TIME wrote that The Invisible Man ending was a tricky one because it walked a тιԍнт-rope between watching a woman abused and cheering for her to end the abuse. However, it is all set up from the opening scene and her escape:

“The movie enlists us as part of the gaslighting scheme, particularly in its tricky final act… In the movie’s precise and artful opening scene, Cecilia enacts her elaborate escape from the house she and Adrian share… As a woman escaping what we can already see is a bad situation, Moss is all nerve endings, a neurotic ninja—this early scene is a marvel of wordless physicality. In The Invisible Man she, and we, can’t always see the enemy. But she’s in our view at all times. In the end, to see her is to believe her.”

However, some fans were disappointed at The Invisible Man ending. One Reddit thread was set up with people asking how the murder could work. The OP said that the police know the invisibility suit is real by this time. They wrote, “The evidence shows her leave the room, Adrian slash his own throat in a jerking, forced motion consistent with crimes cops have seen committed using an invisibility suit, and then she returns.” While James will likely cover for her, it was the one hole in an otherwise fan-favorite ending.