10 Risky Film Moments Directors Thought They'd Lose You

Leigh Whannell's terrific reimagining of The Invisible Man opens with a deliciously suspenseful prologue where Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) escapes from her abusive boyfriend Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) in the middle of the night.

What's especially notable about the sequence is that we don't actually see much in the way of abuse from Adrian, beyond him smashing the car window as Cecilia is driven away.

This was very much an intentional flourish by Whannell, who wanted to avoid cliched, played-out depictions of domestic abuse.

Post-release, Whannell opened up about test screening feedback, which suggested that mainstream audiences wanted to see more upfront abuse before Cecilia escapes, yet Whannell ultimately decided to disregard these notes and stick to his instincts. He said:

"We did get that note along the way. In test screenings, one thing we would hear was, ‘Well, I need to see more.' There almost seemed to be this need or a request for that scene of 'Let's spend five minutes with them before she escapes.' And I just didn't want to write that scene where it's like, 'You call these dishes clean!? (Whack.)' I’m never going to be able to write a scene that will make Adrian as scary as the audience can make him. In my mind, I hoped that Cecilia's reactions and the way she was acting told you everything you need to know."

And Whannell's instincts were absolutely right, because though test audiences are often indicative of what the popcorn-munching mainstream will think of a movie, in the case of The Invisible Man it both enjoyed rave reviews and grossed over $130 million worldwide.

By making the film on a budget of just $7 million, Whannell was able to toss the screening notes out and go with his gut, given that it was practically impossible for the film to bomb commercially.