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Parents' Guide to

The Invisible

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Supernatural teen thriller is preposterous, awful.

Movie PG-13 2007 97 minutes
The Invisible Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 3 parent reviews

wonder dove
wonder dove Adult
December 28, 2012
age 13+

Give it a try - you may enjoy it!!

Not bad at all! You'll either love it or hate it. I find that a lot of reviewers seem to dislike films that create a sense of spirituality, for some reason. Sure, it's a little cheesy sometimes, but it has a good message about forgiveness and teaches a few good points about love and understanding. That is the kind of movie kids should be watching, something fun and thrilling with good action but also something to feel and learn from in the end! Although the violence in this is a bit frequent, it's necessary. Some guns are shown and used, a robbery is performed by a troubled teen girl, some bullying to the point of making them cry, an attempted suicide, verbal abuse by a dysfunctional family. Sexual content has kissing, one make-out scene on a bed, cuddling. Language is milder than most PG-13's today (includes a couple sh*ts). Alcohol is briefly used by teens and pills are implied to end ones life. A nice movie okay for 13+.
Movie Man
Movie Man Adult
August 15, 2009
age 14+

Oh, So Very Bad.

Wow. This was horrible. In fact, it was so horrible that I'm not even going to waste my time writing a full review about it. Good-bye.
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Ambitious high schooler Nick (Justin Chatwin) is thrown into a supernatural dimension after a run-in with delinquent classmate Annie (Margarita Levieva) and her henchmen in the thriller, THE INVISIBLE. Convinced that Nick ratted on them, Annie and her gang viciously attack Nick and throw his limp body into a manhole in the woods. Nick isn't quite dead, but he's not really alive, either, and his spirit must get someone to help his physical body before he succumbs. Nick haunts his perfectionist mother (Marcia Gay Harden) and his best friend, but he mostly hangs around Annie. She's guilt-ridden but unwilling to confess, even though the cops know she's involved. Her family life is messed up, Nick discovers, so perhaps her bad choices -- like accidentally offing him -- aren't really her fault. As out-of-body Nick continues to try to communicate with Annie, he becomes convinced she's his only hope.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (6 ):

Most teens aren't serious film buffs, but even casual movie-going adolescents know the difference between a compelling, well-crafted high-school flick and a muddled mess like The Invisible. What's most ridiculous about this film -- even by teen-drama standards -- is that eventually Nick and Annie develop a thing for each other. (Apparently being a ghost makes you extra forgiving, especially if your killer is gorgeous beneath her hoodie and skullcap.) In one scene, Nick has to repress his invisible-man urge to spy on her in the shower. And Annie, for some preposterous reason, decides to crash into Nick's room, where she caresses his face in old albums as if he'd been her boyfriend instead of, you know, the guy she bloodied.

By the time the climactic hospital scene occurs, it's hard to care whether Nick or Annie are ghosts, semi-conscious, or just plain dead or alive. But as long as teens buy tickets, the studios will just keep churning out these laughable stories.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about parental expectations and gender issues. It's unusual for a teen thriller to have a female villain like this one -- instead of a catty high school "mean girl," she's aggressive, violent, and in many ways "masculine." Do parents expect different behavior from boys than they do from girls? Why? Does the media play a role in establishing those expectations? If so, how?

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