Nelly (Felicity Jones)

Women: How would you feel as The Invisible Woman?

By Jenny Alvarez

Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her memories, provoked by remorse and guilt, take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) with whom she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity.

Dickens – famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success – falls for Nelly, who comes from a family of actors. The theatre is a vital arena for Dickens – a brilliant amateur actor and Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, for both of them secrecy is the price, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility”.

Despite of the cold, emotionless for some characters, in some scenes attempts analyze how much bigger than “simple” infidelity can be this fact for the main character and the “victim”. The film is visually stunning, complete with consistently well-composed shots and breathtaking landscapes in few words it has an intriguing story and performances that convincingly brought it to life with a fine cast in period costume and setting, a quiet subtle score, and careful Victorian cultural references.

This film gives you a powerful final third documenting an ultimately tragic romance in deeply felt terms with drama and an unsaid secret.