The Invisible parents guide

The Invisible Parent Guide

Overall C

Nick (Justin Chatwin) is the victim of brutally attack, which leaves him neither dead nor alive. Caught in limbo, his only hope of breaking free is to solve the mystery of his unfortunate circumstance --which is further complicated because he's invisible to mortal eyes.

Release date April 26, 2007

Violence D+
Sexual Content B
Profanity C
Substance Use C+

Why is The Invisible rated PG-13? The MPAA rated The Invisible PG-13 for violence, criminality, sensuality and language - all involving teens.

Run Time: 102 minutes

Parent Movie Review

So what happens between life and death? Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) hasn’t really thought much about it until he finds himself in the twilight zone between both realms. Only weeks away from high school graduation, the seemingly perfect student has a run in with the wrong crowd. Mistakenly accused of ratting them out to the police, he is attacked on a quiet street, brutally kicked and hit before ending up at the bottom of a sewage pipe.

But even after the severe gang thrashing, the golden boy, who supplements his allowance by writing and selling essays to his classmates, doesn’t realize he is dead. Showing up at school, he can’t understand why everyone ignores him, talking about him as if he weren’t there. Only slowly does the high school senior begin to realize he is invisible to the other students, his mother and the world.

However, Nick isn’t the only one who is invisible. The script is built around characters that are seen but never really noticed. Nick, who lost his father at age 13, sees his mom (Marcia Gay Hardin) as a cold, controlling woman without a shred of sympathy or compassion. Even after his own death, Nick blames her for his unhappy home life, never understanding the pain she is hiding. His schoolmate Annie (Margarita Levieva) is a defiant rebel who glowers from beneath her hood and inflicts painful penalties on anyone unwise enough to cross her path. Hanging out with a paroled con (Alex O’Loughin), her tough appearance and criminal actions conceal a horrible home life full of abuse and neglect. The real core of the characters unfolds as Officers Larson (Callum Keith Rennie) and Tunney (Michelle Harrison) begin their investigation.

This detective-style screenplay has more depth than the average teen horror film, avoiding unnecessary special effects as well as the usual jump scenes and gory ghosts. Instead, it focuses more on the unveiling of the characters and the emotional consequences for the perpetrators. Still, the movie has plenty of violent incidents, like when bullies corral a boy in the school bathroom, using knives to encourage him to pay an overdue debt. Brutal beatings and close-range shootings are also portrayed with bloody results, and personal lives are torn apart by family fights, a suicide attempt and out-of-control criminals.

Living in a separate dimension, the unseen Nick tries to work his way back to the world of the living—but to do so he has to catch the attention of someone who’s already there. Based on a Swedish film, the chilling storyline has a promising premise, however the graphic violence may have many parents choosing to leave this movie on the unseen list.

Starring Justin Chatwin, Marcia Gay Harden. Running time: 102 minutes. Theatrical release April 26, 2007. Updated

The Invisible
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Invisible rated PG-13? The Invisible is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence, criminality, sensuality and language - all involving teens.

Nick Powell gets a whole new view of the world when he realizes he is dead following a brutal gang beating. Others are also beaten, bullied and attacked by the criminals who kick, hit and threaten them with knives and guns—with bloody results. Characters are shot at close range as well. Stealing cars and merchandise, the crooks use force and threats to keep others in check. Family life is full of neglect and abuse for many children. Teen suicide attempts are depicted. A couple makes out in a bedroom and a girl’s naked back is seen in the shower. A nude figure on a billboard is shown. The script uses some profanities and scatological slang.

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The Invisible Parents' Guide

People notice but don’t really see one another in this film. In what ways are the characters invisible to each other? How do their attitudes about each other change once they see the real person?

The public images and private lives of the characters are often very different. How do those differences keep people from connecting in meaningful ways? How has Annie’s public persona changed since elementary school? In what ways has Nick changed?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Invisible movie is October 16, 2007. Here are some details…

The Invisible appears on DVD with an audio commentary by director David S. Goyer and writers Christine Roum and Mick Davis. Also included are thirteen minutes of deleted scenes and the music video The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars. Audio tracks are available in Dolby Digital (English, French and Spanish), with subtitles English and French.

Related home video titles:

This film’s producers were also behind the thriller, The Sixth Sense, where a young boy is suddenly able to see the spirits of dead people. The question about life after death is a theme in the movie The Others as well.

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