Review of The Invitation (2016) by Mark M — 19 Apr 2016

Making her feature film directorial debut with the acclaimed Michelle Rodriguez-starring Girlfight sixteen years ago, writer-director Karyn Kusama has since directed two other films before The Invitation; Aeon Flux (2005) and Jennifer's Body (2009). Aeon Flux was an unredeemable mess of an action film and Jennifer's Body was a misfire for the horror-comedy subgenre, but applying what worked with the latter - genuine moments of creepiness washed over by bad writing -, Kusama weaves a taut, white-knuckled thriller - and a career comeback - with The Invitation.

Bar the opening scene, the film takes place entirely within a single house, slowly pitting Will against his ex-wife over the central incident in the past that everything else in The Invitation pivots around, her new boyfriend, and the latter's guests, Sadie and Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch), two strangers that stand out from Will's friends like sore thumbs. A horror film that preys on manic suspicion, uneasiness and anxiety, The Invitation stars relatively unknown talents - except John Carroll Lynch - and is front-lined by Tom Hardy-lookalike, Logan Marshall-Green, and Broadway star, Tammy Blanchard, with the rest of the unassuming B-list performers aiding in The Invitation's gestating sense of dread, pitting even the viewer against the lead character's perception of reality.

If John Carroll Lynch's sudden appearance doesn't send alarm bells ringing, everything else in the slow-burn horror film will. Though predictable to a tee, The Invitation excels at being a thriller/horror film due to the machinations of Kusama's direction, the cast that goes above and beyond what is needed from them, the excellent use of droning sound mixing and score, along with screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi's handling of their characters as realistic adults that allows the film departure from usual horror tropes of outright clueless characters. Kusama's The Invitation invites viewers into the indie realm of effective horror and begs them to stay for the wine.