‘Forgiveness doesn’t have to wait. I’m free to forgive myself and so are you…’
As a man in his thirties, there are few things more terrifying to me than the prospect of a dinner party. If you were thinking of inviting me to one, I implore you to think again. The small talk. The forced fun. Someone else’s inevitably terrible taste in music. It’s not for me. Too many uncontrollable variables. The Invitation presents us with perhaps the most unbearably awful dinner party of all time and it does so in the most ominous way possible…
Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) accept a dinner party invitation from Will’s ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her smarmy, condescending partner David (Michael Huisman). They arrive to find a group of old friends that haven’t seen each other in a while. Very quickly, Will starts to notice something is off. Why are all the doors locked and the windows barred? Why is Eden acting so strangely? Over 100 excruciatingly tense minutes, all is eventually revealed. When I say eventually, I really mean it. If you’re not a fan of the slow burn, I’d probably skip this one. Director Karyn Kusama (working from a script from Phil Hay and Michael Manfredi) is much more interested in character building and atmosphere rather than plot.
While there are a few twists and turns along the way, The Invitation plays out more or less like I expected it would within the first five minutes. This is a film, however, that leans in on the journey rather than the destination. As we are fed more and more backstory, the charged atmosphere begins to make a little more sense. The presence of John Carrol Lynch, always an uneasy addition in any horror film, only exacerbates the quiet sense of menace that pervades the film.
The Invitation will be too frustrating and slow for some, but I found it to be mostly captivating and in its finest moments it recalls films like Hush or Don’t Breathe in its ability to build tension and create suspense. While it’s a little too derivative to really stand out from the pack, this is still a competent and compelling horror thriller. It’s dark too. Particularly the haunting final shot. Don’t say you weren’t warned.