The Invisible features an earnest cast of young actors, some beautiful locations in and around Seattle, a fascinating premise and a strong beginning.

Unfortunately, it badly strains believability not in the concept of its metaphysical premise but in the way in which it molds, twists and recreates the relationship of its two main characters, an over-achieving student named Nick and his equally under-achieving, criminal counterpart named Annie.

The film also bears the weight of false expectations as the result a scene which appeared in its promotional trailer but that appears nowhere in the version of the movie that's been released. That scene suggested that the movie was based on an entirely different and potentially more appealing plotline, one involving a mystery to be solved rather than a personality to be transformed.

As the story begins, Nick is in the throes of a parental conflict with a repressed, domineering mother over his desire to travel abroad and pursue a career as a writer. Annie is a rebellious wild child whose unhappy home life turns her into a cruel, thieving, drug dealer with an explosive, vengeful, violent streak. Her one inspiration for love and protectiveness is her little brother with whom she shares the mutual bond of enduring their apathetic and ineffectual parents.

Eventually, a tragic mistake and a vicious attack entangle the lives of Nick and Annie to a point where each needs the other, one for survival and the other for salvation.

Some teenagers, for whom the characters might resonate, will find an emotionally affecting story within The Invisible's increasingly unbelievable situations and contrived melodrama, but for most viewers, it's likely to seem like a movie with a great beginning, a decent middle and a painful end.