Whannell plays with the notion of Cecilia being crazy, winding the tension by slowly building up to the mystery of Adrian’s death and the mechanics behind his invisibility; however, there’s never really a doubt in the viewer’s mind that Cecilia is perfectly sane — in fact, the film would still be highly successful even if Cecilia wasn’t being literally stalked by an invisible ex. We are always on her side, locked firm into her perspective and effectively shaken by the idea that there could be something lurking sight unseen, and part of the film’s horror is watching Cecilia’s unraveling due to Adrian’s extreme gaslighting. Whannell’s direction is smooth and fluid, full of pans that build and ratchet tension. Occasionally, his direction veers into moments of flashy style, which doesn’t entirely mesh with the pared down minimalism of the rest of the film’s approach, but he is successful at making the audience feel dread and anxiety, making a shot of an empty doorway feel like an imposing threat.

The story is full of twists and turns, some of them weaker than others, but we were always along for the ride, whether it veered into camp or remained more realistically grounded. A lot of that is due to Elizabeth Moss’ go-for-broke performance as Cecilia. The role is extremely physical, and Moss uses her eyes and body language to convey what words just couldn’t do justice. She makes Cecilia fully-rounded and wrings every drop of pathos out of her situation, locking the audience in every step of the way. While she’s without a doubt one of the greatest actresses working out there today and can do just about anything spectacularly well, she may have found her true calling in horror, which allows her to experiment and perform in ways that other genres don’t permit. Storm Reid and Aldis Hodge also give quality performances, often giving the film some much needed levity by filling out the story’s inherent heavy darkness with some much needed lightness and warmth.