Nick's somewhat stupid best friend Pete (Chris Marquette) has made some poor choices as of late. It seems he bought a stolen cell phone from local high school thug chick Annie Newton (Margarita Levieva), a beanie-wearing badass who has no problem whipping out her knife and giving ol' Pete a little slice as an incentive to pay his bills on time. When Nick comes to Pete's aid and pays her off, they get into an altercation with Annie jumping on Nick in a very violent way. Annie is, as Nick calls her, "broken" and beyond help. Since her mother died and she and her little brother have been left at the mercy of her father's new wife, she has turned to a life of crime and brutality.
Annie and boyfriend Marcus (Alex O'Loughlin, Moonlight), an ex-con, decide to jack a car and Annie, spiraling out of control, does a smash-and-grab at a jewelry store. Since things are getting a little too uncomfortable for Marcus, he turns Annie in to the cops. Annie immediately suspects Pete as the rat and in a serious beat-down, Pete breaks and points the finger at Nick, simply because he believes Nick is on a plane to London. The resulting showdown finds a drunken Nick walking down the road and a very angry Annie and her team of thugs out for blood. The beating is so serious that they assume Nick is dead and dump his body in a storm drain. Having roped Pete into believing he was party to the murder, Annie believes her secret is safe.
The next day, Nick goes to school and can't understand why everyone is ignoring him. He believes he is dead, but then realizes that he is merely almost dead. It then becomes a race against time to guilt Annie into revealing his "resting place" before he dies. As the story progresses, Annie discovers that she can hear Nick, that it is almost as if he is there, right next to her - which he is. The resolution of the story is an interesting one and probably the best way to end things, all things considered.
Special Features include several deleted scenes, one of which you will recognize from the trailer, but never made it into the final cut. While the deleted scenes do give the viewer more insight into what the original concept was for the film, I like the fact that they went a slightly different way and I think The Invisible is better for it. Also contained in Special Features are music videos from 30 Seconds to Mars and Sparta, along with commentaries from the director and two of the writers. The Invisible has its share of heart-wrenching moments, as well as nail-biters and while The Invisible is certainly no match for The Sixth Sense (the producers of the two films were the same), it's still a good ghost story and has some terrific character development. You may not want to view it over and over so a purchase may not be warranted, but it's a definite rental. Popcorn, a spooky night and the lights turned low are the recipe for a great movie night.
