"The Invitation" - Film Review
It’s a bold choice to decide to set a movie exclusively during a dinner party. In this film, the singular setting adds a well-crafted sense of claustrophobia that radiates from the screen to the audience. Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation is Hitchcockian in the level of dread that builds from the beginning as the camera winds its way up into the Hollywood Hills.
Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) have been invited to a dinner party thrown by Will’s ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband David (Michiel Huisman). Will and Eden divorced after the accidental death of their young son about two years ago. The specifics of what happened to their child aren’t immediately known to the audience. After the divorce, Eden became involved with a grief support group in Mexico, where she met David. Also attending the party are several old friends of Will and Eden: Tommy (Mike Doyle), Tommy’s boyfriend Miguel (Jordi Vilasuso), Ben (Jay Larson), Claire (Marieh Delfino), and Gina (Michelle Krusiec). Gina’s boyfriend Choi (Karl Yune) is expected to attend, but he’s running late. After the party gets underway, a strange woman named Sadie (Lindsay Burdge) emerges from the shadows of the back of the house and joins the party. Eden and David met Sadie and became friends with her at the grief support group in Mexico.
As the party begins, it’s clear that this will not be a friendly get-together. Eden and David have ulterior motives for hosting the event that are related to their experience with the grief support group in Mexico. What follows is 100 minutes of a study of the many ways people can be taken advantage of as they deal with grief and loss. To reveal more of the plot would be a disservice to the audience.
Drafthouse Films
The Invitation has one of the best final shots of a movie in recent memory. It is painfully simple, but the implications are grand. It is also an ending that would have packed a larger punch had the runtime been shorter. One hundred minutes is not an excruciating length by any means, but it feels about twenty minutes too long for the tension that is building throughout the movie. At times, the sense of foreboding and the timing are pitch perfect, but then, in order to flesh out the runtime, long scenes of banter among the old friends are inserted. Some of those scenes are essential to help the audience understand the depth of the friendships, to show they’ve known each other for years, but others can’t help but feel too drawn-out. When its pace is quick, the movie is at its most compelling.
While not the best example of the genre of tense dinner parties, The Invitation is certainly a great watch for a night in with friends. What really elevates the film is the ending. Movies are often good at creating dread, but can flounder when all the built-up tension dissipates and the audience is left with disappointment. That is not the case here. While meandering at times, The Invitation cements itself as a standout, while the final moments stay with the audience long after it is over.
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