The Invisible

As if in a dream or in the movie Ghost, Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin), a troubled rich kid, can see himself dying in the woods but is powerless to do anything — he’s in limbo and unable to interact with the material world. In this retooling of the 2002 Swedish film Den Osynlige, David S. Goyer (writer of Blade and Batman Begins) pipes the high-school halls full of class division, bullying, and trendy tunes. The tough cookie who puts Nick in a coma happens to be a girl: the product of a broken home, Annie Newton is a vengeful goth who jacks cars by night. Problem is, waifish actress Margarita Levieva doesn’t command the malice her head-busting role requires; her slightness makes the violence near-cartoonish, and the moments of compassion and hope she shares with her baby brother feel implausible and tossed in. Too bad: The Invisible locates the pulse of teen angst, but amid the supernatural mumbo-jumbo it’s hard to see or hear.