You're invited to a creepy reunion of estranged friends. In a perfect world you read no further and trust that 'The Invitation' is a low budget thriller with a third act that makes your investment in the slow first 2 acts worthwhile. But if you, like me, have a hard time going in completely blind...read on.
THE PREMISE
Will (Logan Marshall Green from Prometheus and Upgrade) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) agree to attend a dinner party thrown by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her new boyfriend David (Michiel Huisman from The Haunting of Hill House, most recently the boyfriend/murder victim from The Flight Attendant and a dozen other water cooler shows you've watched in the last 5 years). Will and Eden's marriage didn't survive the trauma of their son's death and they each dealt with their pain in different ways; Will internalized it and spiraled into a disheveled mess he hasn't fully recovered from and Eden joined a bereavement group and disappeared for a few years.
SPOILERS
Eden has now emerged from her sabbatical, in Mexico it turns out, with a new spirituality about her, some new friends and seemingly cured of her grief. The gathering appears to be a means of reconnecting with Will, several of their mutual friends and introducing them to her new friends but as we slowly learn throughout the first half of the movie, the bereavement group is really a new age cult, 'The Invitation', and the dinner party may be a recruiting event or something even more nefarious. As the night goes on Will becomes increasingly suspicious of Eden and her new friends' intentions. The newcomers are unsettling in their own right... Sadie (Lindsey Burdge) is overly flirtatious and Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch) reveals he served prison time for killing his wife...whom he misses dearly. Will's friends and even his girlfriend, try to convince him he is being paranoid but why DID David lock the front door with an inside key, why DOES he feel like they are being plied with expensive wine, who WERE the strangers at the front door and why DID Eden and David try so hard to keep their friend Claire from leaving the party early?
The whole charade finally blows up when Will notices the final round of wine is not being poured from a fresh bottle. He suspects poison and smacks the wine glasses from everyone's hands. All pretense gone, Sadie begins to stab the guests as David and Pruitt try to shoot them. Will and Kira escape the dining room and cat & mouse around the house as they look for ways to escape. They ultimately survive by disarming Pruitt and stabbing David. Eden, in a fit of guilt for dragging her friends into terror, shoots herself. The final shot of the film, which I absolutely will not reveal, is a doozy.
Director Karyn Kusama tells a story with a frenzied third act that rewards the patient audience. While I enjoyed the movie, I found the script to be something of a paradox; it handles some complicated themes well but some basic tenets seem to be fumbled. The screenplay aptly mines concepts of when does being a supportive friend turn into being an enabler, when is it time to stop being polite for the group and leave a personally uncomfortable situation and it competently turns an awkward social gathering into Will's ballooning paranoia, yet it stumbles with cheesy and simplistic character introductions. There are enough little clues through the script, such as the thick card-stock party invitation, the locked door, the lost strangers at the door or the red lantern to keep you invested but the opening scene, where Will accidentally hits a coyote with his car and euthanizes it with a crowbar is irrelevant to the rest of the movie... it doesn't provide any information about plot or character that we can't get other places. The second act, an opportunity to learn more about all the houseguests and make them relevant, is wasted on some filler dialogue that teeters on boredom and they end up feeling more disposable than integral to the plot. The played out plot trope of 'truth or dare' is retooled as the self empowering 'I want' and provides important information about Sadie and Pruitt but girlfriend Kira is a completely wasted character and almost disappears in the movie. You could almost argue that if Will arrived without a girlfriend it would better indicate he is still grief torn for the loss of his son.
Screenplay strengths and weaknesses aside I was impressed with some of the cinematography. Someone made a smart decision to switch to natural lighting for the final scenes and the change of atmosphere enhanced the final act.
In the end Kusama combined all of the above to give us an enjoyable, albeit slow burn, thriller that teaches us all over again, you can't dismiss ANY cult and maybe teach us a new lesson that people will go to almost any means out of desperation to end pain, even if it's only of the emotional variety.
7 stars.
THE PREMISE
Will (Logan Marshall Green from Prometheus and Upgrade) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) agree to attend a dinner party thrown by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her new boyfriend David (Michiel Huisman from The Haunting of Hill House, most recently the boyfriend/murder victim from The Flight Attendant and a dozen other water cooler shows you've watched in the last 5 years). Will and Eden's marriage didn't survive the trauma of their son's death and they each dealt with their pain in different ways; Will internalized it and spiraled into a disheveled mess he hasn't fully recovered from and Eden joined a bereavement group and disappeared for a few years.
SPOILERS
Eden has now emerged from her sabbatical, in Mexico it turns out, with a new spirituality about her, some new friends and seemingly cured of her grief. The gathering appears to be a means of reconnecting with Will, several of their mutual friends and introducing them to her new friends but as we slowly learn throughout the first half of the movie, the bereavement group is really a new age cult, 'The Invitation', and the dinner party may be a recruiting event or something even more nefarious. As the night goes on Will becomes increasingly suspicious of Eden and her new friends' intentions. The newcomers are unsettling in their own right... Sadie (Lindsey Burdge) is overly flirtatious and Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch) reveals he served prison time for killing his wife...whom he misses dearly. Will's friends and even his girlfriend, try to convince him he is being paranoid but why DID David lock the front door with an inside key, why DOES he feel like they are being plied with expensive wine, who WERE the strangers at the front door and why DID Eden and David try so hard to keep their friend Claire from leaving the party early?
The whole charade finally blows up when Will notices the final round of wine is not being poured from a fresh bottle. He suspects poison and smacks the wine glasses from everyone's hands. All pretense gone, Sadie begins to stab the guests as David and Pruitt try to shoot them. Will and Kira escape the dining room and cat & mouse around the house as they look for ways to escape. They ultimately survive by disarming Pruitt and stabbing David. Eden, in a fit of guilt for dragging her friends into terror, shoots herself. The final shot of the film, which I absolutely will not reveal, is a doozy.
Director Karyn Kusama tells a story with a frenzied third act that rewards the patient audience. While I enjoyed the movie, I found the script to be something of a paradox; it handles some complicated themes well but some basic tenets seem to be fumbled. The screenplay aptly mines concepts of when does being a supportive friend turn into being an enabler, when is it time to stop being polite for the group and leave a personally uncomfortable situation and it competently turns an awkward social gathering into Will's ballooning paranoia, yet it stumbles with cheesy and simplistic character introductions. There are enough little clues through the script, such as the thick card-stock party invitation, the locked door, the lost strangers at the door or the red lantern to keep you invested but the opening scene, where Will accidentally hits a coyote with his car and euthanizes it with a crowbar is irrelevant to the rest of the movie... it doesn't provide any information about plot or character that we can't get other places. The second act, an opportunity to learn more about all the houseguests and make them relevant, is wasted on some filler dialogue that teeters on boredom and they end up feeling more disposable than integral to the plot. The played out plot trope of 'truth or dare' is retooled as the self empowering 'I want' and provides important information about Sadie and Pruitt but girlfriend Kira is a completely wasted character and almost disappears in the movie. You could almost argue that if Will arrived without a girlfriend it would better indicate he is still grief torn for the loss of his son.
Screenplay strengths and weaknesses aside I was impressed with some of the cinematography. Someone made a smart decision to switch to natural lighting for the final scenes and the change of atmosphere enhanced the final act.
In the end Kusama combined all of the above to give us an enjoyable, albeit slow burn, thriller that teaches us all over again, you can't dismiss ANY cult and maybe teach us a new lesson that people will go to almost any means out of desperation to end pain, even if it's only of the emotional variety.
7 stars.