Review of The Invitation (2016) by Matt C — 14 Apr 2016

I went into The Invitation solely based on its buzz. A thriller almost entirely set within one location isn't an entirely novel idea (Green Room just came out, as a matter of fact), and they typically aren't that notable because they are, more often than not, plot-driven and rather interchangeable.

The Invitation isn't a movie that you should research or read a ton of reviews about beforehand, as it's a rare example of a movie that truly benefits from going in cold. What you should know is that it's an effect, slow-burning, character-driven thriller that does a great job manipulating and shocking its audience.

Without spoiling anything, the movie follows a couple (Logan Marshall-Green and Emayatzy Corinealdi) as they go to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michiel Huisman), and upon reuniting with some old friends in the process, things get pretty bizarre rather quickly.

It's much slower than most thrillers that it could be compared to, and it spends ample time delving into the main characters' pasts. It's nice to see something high-concept that's willing to take some risks, most of which are in how the story is told.

The movie constantly toys with the audience's idea of whose point of view they should be watching the events unfold from, intermediately painting the protagonist as either hypersensitive or as an unreliable narrator.

It holds its cards close to the vest for a long time, only showing flashes of what some of these characters have gone through and what defines their relationships, and when it comes out, it makes sense and feels satisfying.

Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body) does a very good job gradually increasing the tension throughout, and the actors bring life to their characters. It's pretty rare to be cheering on characters or feeling sympathetic towards them, but when the third act comes around, the effectiveness of the subtle pathos really begins to shine through, and holy crap, it gets really tense.

The Invitation isn't perfect, though, and most of its issues stem from the script and could have been fixed pretty easily. One issue has to do with the movie's abundance of characters, some of who feel like they don't entirely bring anything to the table (hehe, dinner party puns).

There are maybe four characters that could have been combined into one or just fully exorcised. There's also one character that's pretty regularly mentioned as a means to toy with the audience, but that's his only purpose and doesn't contribute much of anything else.

They also make several references to the hosts' house not having cell phone reception, which is pretty hard to believe this day in age, especially when it's an incredibly nice house in Los Angeles.

With its blending of a mumblecore scope and a thriller genre, The Invitation presents itself with some strong thematic material that adds depth to the story without feeling out of place. The results are consistently engaging, and although it may not be as entirely cleaned up as it could have been in terms of its amount of characters and a brief lull in the pacing halfway through, the actors have presence and appeal.

When act two meshes into act three, it pulls off what it intends. 8.4/10, great, one thumb up, above average, etc.