Surprisingly an amazing film. From start to finish this movie manages to maintain a sense of tension which drives the movie into its best moments. The acting was very genuine and dynamic, all the actors merged exceptionally well together and contrasted brilliantly.
The premise is simple: A long-suffering couple invite their sexually liberated neighbors into their homes for dinner. Once the wine, weed, and revelations begin to flow, all bets are off and it’s ON.
Written by partners Rashida Jones and Will McCormack and starring the Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Ed Norton, and Penelope Cruz, the comedy stays off-kilter in the best of ways, weaving a narrative that takes the audience through a cornucopia of feelings from trepidation, seduction, titillation, and more.
This may be the first film to truly establish Seth Rogen as a bonafide lead, as he only minimally leans into his familiar pothead persona here, instead playing Joe — miserable, petulant, and antagonistic, a man who has completely zoned out of his job as a music teacher, his relationship, and everything else. He ponders his life choices as he goes through the motions with his significant other, who has her own set of issues. Olivia Wilde, who also directs, plays his quite pent-up wife Angela, a woman desperate for attention and yearning for a true connection. This couple is happiest when either fighting or giving one another the silent treatment. Their grievances are petty, yet it seems to be the only thing keeping them alive.
Enter their neighbors, who are a breath of fresh air by comparison.
Their banter and engagement is on the other end of the spectrum, with Edward Norton delivering per usual as the sexually charged, mentally formidable, and a crazy-sexy-cool Penélope Cruz as Pína. All four of these people are annoying in their own singular way. But at the end of the day, who isn’t?
Four Walls of Sound
The movie plays out like a theater production, with all the action taking place in the confines of an apartment. Wilde traps the audience there with her four characters, orchestrating a psychological deep dive that presents resentment, frustration, fear, and desire all about to spill over into every direction. Even with the many comedic elements ushered in by the cast (particularly Rogen), there is an underlying thread of uncomfortable tension which pulsates throughout each scene. The pacing is quick, the dialogue is cutting and sharp, with all four leads admirably injecting their own crackle of electricity that brings energy to the film. These are clearly flawed characters, but you are invested from beginning to end.
To Sleep with Angst
This film offers a piercing, deeply relatable insight into how relationships work, and how they so often fail. Kudos are due to the entire cast, but Olivia Wilde deserves special praise; with The Invite, she proves she can craft a film that is both grounded and full of heart. On the surface, it plays as a tense and very funny comedy of manners, a sharp, claustrophobic social satire that delivers plenty of laughs. What lies beneath, however, is something more incisive: a brilliantly drawn study of a marriage slowly suffocating under the weight of what’s left unsaid. Life’s quagmire is all too easy to get lost in, and the cruelty of stagnating relationships has long made for great cinema. The Invite serves raw, uncomfortable truths while retaining its heart and soul.
