The Invitation (2015 film)

The Invitation

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Produced by
Written by
  • Phil Hay
  • Matt Manfredi
Starring
Music by Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography Bobby Shore
Edited by Plummy Tucker
Production
company
Distributed by Drafthouse Films
Release dates
  • March 13, 2015 (2015-03-13) (SXSW)
  • April 8, 2016 (2016-04-08) (United States)
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $67,739[1]

The Invitation is a 2015 American horror thriller film directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. The film stars Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman and Emayatzy Corinealdi. The film premiered March 13, 2015, at the SXSW film festival.[2] The film was released on April 8, 2016 in a limited release and through video on demand by Drafthouse Films.[3]

Plot

Will (Logan Marshall-Green) drives with his new girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) to the Hollywood Hills home of his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard), who is hosting a dinner party with her new husband David (Michiel Huisman). Will and Eden divorced while trying to cope with their young son Ty’s accidental death. Eden then met David at a grief support group and their party will be the first time any of their friends have seen the couple in over two years. On the way to the house, Will hits a coyote and is forced to club it to death with a tire iron to end the animal’s misery.

Will and Kira arrive. David and Eden’s other dinner guests are Tommy (Mike Doyle) and his boyfriend Miguel (Jordi Vilasuso) and friends Ben (Jay Larson), Claire (Marieh Delfino), and Gina (Michelle Krusiec). Gina mentions that their other friend Choi (Karl Yune) is running late. Eden introduces Sadie (Lindsay Burdge), a girl she and David met while in Mexico who now stays with them.

Throughout the evening, Will wanders his former home alone and relives memories related to Ty’s death. Will goes for water and remembers Eden attempting suicide. In the kitchen, Will witnesses Eden slapping Ben when he makes a joke about her New Age ideas on expelling pain. Eden and David’s mysterious friend Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch) arrives. Will notices that David locked the front door. Will later goes for firewood and spies Eden hiding a pill bottle through her bedroom window.

David and Eden tell their guests about a group they joined along with Pruitt and Sadie called “The Invitation” to work through grief using spiritual philosophy. David shows everyone a video in which group leader Dr. Joseph (Toby Huss) comforts a terminally ill woman as she takes her last breaths. David answers a knock at the door and turns away the unseen visitors explaining to the others that they were strangers looking for a party nearby. The group play a game of "I Want" where Eden kisses Ben and Pruitt confesses to accidentally killing his wife Margaret. Unsettled, Claire decides to leave but is stopped by David, making Will think that David is purposefully keeping the guests inside. David changes his mind and Claire leaves accompanied by Pruitt whose car is blocking Claire's. Will watches Pruitt take Claire out of sight to talk to her, and Will is confronted by David about his suspicion.

During dinner, Will internally reflects on Ty’s death again. While walking through a hallway, Will spies Sadie making odd faces into a mirror. The two of them later have a strange poolside conversation. Will then has a separate discussion with Tommy about the odd atmosphere in the house. Will finally gets a cell phone signal and finds a voice mail from Choi indicating that he was at Eden and David's doorstep before the other guests. Presuming that David and Eden must have done something to Choi, Will confronts the couple about their apparent cult brainwashing in front of the other guests. Choi then enters unexpectedly, explaining that he was called away by work before he had a chance to come inside earlier. Will is embarrassed over the scene he created, but the others assume his residual grief over Ty’s death is causing Will to behave irrationally.

Will finds a laptop with information about The Invitation and their true motives. David starts pouring drinks for the guests. Will smashes the glasses fearing they are about to be poisoned as part of a group suicide ritual. However, Gina manages to drink hers before Will smashes it. Sadie attacks Will and inadvertently knocks herself unconscious in the scuffle. Gina suddenly collapses and dies revealing that Will was right and the drinks truly were poisoned. David, Eden and Pruitt attack the guests killing Miguel, Choi and Ben. Will, Kira and Tommy flee and hide in the house. Will overhears David telling Eden that what they are doing is the only way they can leave the earth and be freed from their pain. Will retrieves a fireplace poker from Sadie while she lies dying from her injuries.

Pruitt finds and attacks Will and Kira but the couple overpower him, and Kira beats him to death. Eden shoots Will and then shoots herself in the stomach, severely wounding herself. David attacks Tommy but Tommy manages to stab David to death. As she dies, Eden asks Will to come to her in her final moments. Kira, Will and Tommy reunite and head outside with the dying Eden. The survivors see helicopters flying above. As the group watch Will sees various homes with the same red lantern that David lit earlier in the evening. Will realises that Los Angeles is erupting in chaos as other cult members throughout the city carry out plans similar to David and Eden’s.

Cast

Production

In May 2012, it was announced that Luke Wilson, Zachary Quinto,Topher Grace and Johnny Galecki had been cast in the film, with Karyn Kusama directing from a screenplay written by Phill Hay and Matt Manfredi, with XYZ Films producing the film alongside Martha Griffin, Manfredi and Hay.[4] In July 2014, it was revealed that production on the film had concluded, with Logan Marshall-Green, Michiel Huisman, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Lindsay Burdge, John Carroll Lynch all starring in the film, and also making the second feature to be financed by Gamechanger Films.[5]

Reception

The Invitation holds a 91% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 65 reviews and has an average rating of 7.6/10. The critical consensus reads: "The Invitation makes brilliant use of its tension-rich premise to deliver a uniquely effective – and surprisingly clever – slow-building thriller."[6] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 78 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[7]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "This teasingly effective thriller represents director Karyn Kusama's strongest work in years."[8] Josh Kupecki of The Austin Chronicle wrote, "There are some very interesting ideas about grief, depression, and how we cope with life-changing events in this modern world, but ultimately, the film doesn't offer anything new to the 'dinner party from hell' subgenre."[9] Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence of Sound rated it A− and wrote, "In so many words, The Invitation is supremely well-crafted."[10] Samuel Zimmerman of Shock Till You Drop wrote, "The Invitation is a startlingly adult thriller that, unlike Eden and her guests, is willing stare down the weight our lives can bear."[11] Peter Martin of Twitch Film wrote, "The sincerity and craft on display notwithstanding, the movie achieves a limited, unsettling level, and then stops right there."[12] Drew Tinnin of Dread Central rated it 4/5 stars and wrote, "The Invitation works so well because it taps into our general distrust of the world around us and how our survival instinct has been muted and ignored in order to maintain the appearance of being polite."[13] Matt Donato of We Got This Covered rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "The Invitation is a slow, SLOW burn that fails to find the winning ingredient that makes for a perfect dinner party thriller."[14] Heather Wixson of Daily Dead rated it 4.5/5 stars and called it "some of the most assuredly confident and nuanced work from her to date and one of the most devastating horror films I’ve seen in years."[15]

Release

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 13, 2015.[16] Shortly after, it was announced Drafthouse Films had acquired distribution rights to the film.[17] The film went onto screen at the London Film Festival on October 9, 2015.[18] The film was released on April 8, 2016, in a limited release and through video on demand.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "The Invitation (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ LaBrie, Sarah. "Director Karyn Kusama talks about her ensemble horror film The Invitation". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Collis, Clark (February 11, 2016). "Mayhem is on the menu in new trailer for The Invitation". EntertainmentWeekly.com. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  4. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (May 11, 2012). "Luke Wilson, Zachary Quinto, Topher Grace Accept Karyn Kusama & XYZ's 'Invitation'". Deadline.com. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  5. ↑ Yamato, Jen (July 14, 2014). "Karyn Kusama's 'The Invitation' The Next Gamechanger Pic". Deadline.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Invitation (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Invitation". Metacritic. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  8. ↑ Chang, Justin (March 15, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: 'The Invitation'". Variety. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ Kupecki, Josh (March 17, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: The Invitation". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ Suzanne-Mayer, Dominick (March 15, 2015). "SXSW Film Review: The Invitation". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ Zimmerman, Samuel (March 14, 2015). "SXSW Review: Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ Martin, Peter (March 15, 2015). "SXSW 2015 Review: THE INVITATION Asks Pensive Questions". Twitch Film. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  13. ↑ Tinnin, Drew (March 15, 2015). "Invitation, The (2015)". [Dread Central]]. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  14. ↑ Donato, Matt (March 18, 2015). "The Invitation Review [SXSW 2015]". We Got This Covered. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  15. ↑ Wixson, Heather (March 14, 2015). "SXSW 2015 Review: The Invitation". Daily Dead. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Invitation". South by Southwest. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ Kang, Inkoo. "Karyn Kusama's 'The Invitation' Bought by Drafthouse Films". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  18. ↑ Thickens, Holly (October 6, 2015). "#LFF 2015 BFI London Film Festival: THE INVITATION Review". ScreenRelish.com. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ Jaugernath, Kevin (February 11, 2016). "Watch: Dinner Gets Deadly In New Trailer For Karyn Kusama's 'The Invitation'". Indiewire.com. Retrieved February 12, 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.