This film seemed to just come out of nowhere for me. The trailer played before something I watched recently (I don’t remember what it was but if I was to stab a guess it was Scary Movie). The film caught my attention for a few reasons. 1. It looked like a simple premise with a fantastic cast and 2. Seth Rogen is arguably at his peak after his critically acclaimed series, The Studio.
The Invite follows Joe and Angela, a married couple that have been arguing a lot recently. With tension high, Angela has invited their upstairs neighbours round for the evening before the evening turns into unexpected places.
Sometimes with a film that is just set in one space, it’s difficult to make it feel like just taking place in that one room or one setting is justified, making the film feel very small and relying heavily on the script. The film can then often feel like it’s based upon a stage play depending on how it’s handled. This film is adapted from a Spanish film titled Sentimental by Cesc Gay, who adapted it for the screen from his own play. Since the release of Sentimental in 2020, it has been adapted multiple times by Italian, Swiss, French, Russian, Czech and South Korean filmmakers, before getting the American treatment, and if reviews are to be trusted it seems to clear that this adaptation is signficantly the strongest.
Olivia Wilde has had a mixed start to her directorial career. She broke out of the acting cage by jumping in with her directorial debut, Booksmart, a fantastic, funny, coming of age story before taking more of a swing with Don’t Worry Darling, a film that had a lot of hype and promise but ultimately never lived up to anything, flopping at the box office and disappointing critics and audiences. With the strength of both this film and of Booksmart, it seems to be that she operates better in the comedy genre.
The film is helped by having a small fantastic cast. There is great chemistry amongst the 4 characters and actors, no matter which other person they’re bouncing off. As stated in my opening paragraph, I think Seth Rogen is currently operating at his peak in his career, his timing and delivery has never felt more perfectly delivered than in the likes of The Studio and this film. Olivia Wilde manages to be a strong partner to balance out this couple, again with moments of timing creating laugh out loud moments. Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz both deliver fun comedic performances with great delivery and timing, and have great chemistry with everyone else in the room.
Writers, Rashida Jones and Will McCormack have worked together 3 times together with the most known writing credit being Toy Story 4. Jones is the more known of the 2 thanks to roles in a few projects, most notably in the long running comedy series, Parks and Recreation. She was around many actors who are considered some of the very best in the industry. McCormack however perhaps has the better CV thanks to winning an Oscar in 2021 for a short film, If Anything Happens I Love You. Both are clearly talented and had a difficult job adapting the film, I haven’t seen any of the other versions so I don’t know how much they’ve copied from previous versions, but the script is vital for a film in such a small space with a small cast that it has to be almost perfect to work, and it certainly is, with scores on every website and app backing up that claim.
Overall, The Invite might go down as the funniest film of the year. At a time where it feels like comedies often flop or are saved for TV, it’s important to support the good ones especially ones with a small budget even if they have a pretty all star cast. Great writing, performances and filmmaking make this one of the best of the year so far.
What did you think of The Invite?
Let me know in the comments below or via social media @floodersfilms.
Flooders Films 
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