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The Invitation Review

As my first review, I decided to take on the horror/thriller movie, The Invitation. I’ve scrolled past it many times on Netflix, but the idea of a movie centered around a dinner party with a man and his ex wife didn’t seem all that appealing. I’m writing the review as I watch the movie so I can document my reaction in real time and if something happens connecting to earlier in the movie, I can connect it. Essentially making it as if the reader is watching along as well. I do leave out certain details if I feel they’re not necessary to the basic plot/

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

The opening conversation is an interesting one. Will and his girlfriend are in the car on the way to the dinner party and talking about his ex wife and her new man, David. I like the composition of this opening as they give just enough exposition that it feels like a normal conversation people would be having. It doesn’t feel like an exposition dump and the actors are very genuine in their performances. The coyote coming out of nowhere is a bit jarring and bizarre, but I appreciate there wasn’t your typical horror movie music sting. Killing an animal almost always brings a movie down to me, but at least it wasn’t a beloved pet. The fact they had Will kill the coyote was upsetting and it feels like they dwell on it way too long. The slow, shaky cam footage they play over the opening credits is terrible, as that type of footage always gives me a headache. Comparing it to what just happened, it feels like it belongs in a completely different movie. The shot dwelling on the house was nice, though Will’s line about Eden’s family having a lot of money seemed unnecessary. Of course, his follow-up that it was never his is something to note. Will’s vision of a young boy is a good clue to start piecing together why exactly he and Eden split up. Including one of his lines in the beginning, it’s starting to seem like their marriage ended due to tragedy regarding their son. When everyone meets up in the living room, the actors do a wonderful job showing how these people know each other without spelling it all out. They also do a great job showing the awkwardness of a failed couple seeing each other again after a being split up and finding new partners. David and Eden both seem a little loopy and overly friendly. Eden and Will’s moment in the kitchen is the perfect amount of uncomfortable, giving hints about the story and their past. Eden slapping Ben is also the perfect showcase that something is wrong, but it just can’t be pinpointed yet. Having Will interact with a few of the other friends is a great way to showcase each individual’s feelings and how easily he interacts with them compared to Eden and David. Having Will witness Eden in her room was an interesting choice. The directors make it so the audience sees exactly what Will sees and helps it feel more immersive. Despite not knowing a lot about the character, a few guesses can be made. Having Eden holding a medicine bottle is also telling to a point one could assume she has some type of mental health issue, especially when you include her behavior like believing negative emotions can be purged and slapping Ben. The denial by David of them being in a cult is very interesting to the story as it begins to explain their behavior, along with the presence of Sadie and Pruitt. The cult video set a tone that I feel will carry through the rest of the movie, making everyone uncomfortable and it raises a lot of questions. It also shows how Will is still hurt by the loss of his son and he feels that Eden isn’t taking it seriously, leading to more answers on the exact relationship they had. Introducing the “I want” game throws a roller coaster into the mix, starting out lighthearted and turning dark very quickly as Pruitt explains his wife’s death. Pruitt seemed like a strange person when he first walked in and his story only confirms the unsettled feelings I had about him since he walked in the house. It doesn’t explain why he told this story but my own theory is that he’s upset about the others having fun and enjoying themselves, possibly upset that they weren’t interested in joining the cult. It’s a bizarre reference to his past, but one that I welcome since we get little to no past on Sadie or David. The first time they start to show anything truly suspicious is when Claire gets uncomfortable and leaves the party. Pruitt parked behind her and leaves the house to help her, but before she drives off he stops her. Will, watching from the window, notices it but is interrupted by David. All I can guess is that there’s something dark involving all the cult members and they chose these people for a specific reason; therefore, they can’t have anyone leaving. Finally, during the dinner scene, we get some confirmation about their son’s death. It’s not explicit as to how he died, but there was a baseball bat shown in frame and my best guess is a head injury. The way the director chose to shoot this scene, with sounds and colors muted and distorted, shows just how hard it is for Will to let go of his grief. The next string of events all lead together nicely with Will being outside, Sadie pushing herself on him, and Will getting a voicemail from another friend saying he’d arrived early, despite not being at the party. It feels like everything’s starting to build up, and the climax of the movie is so close. The way the next scene plays out is integral to the core story; Will confronts the entire dinner party, assuming they did something to his friend. He insists that something dangerous happened when the doorbell rings and it’s the missing friend, alive and well. What this scene has effectively done is turn the others against Will and even turn the audience against him. Despite the strange way Eden and David were acting, confirmation that their friend is safe, is enough to settle the mind. There is a cult at work here, but with everyone turned against Will, no one will be willing to leave or listen if he tells them something is wrong. We finally get the exact confirmation that it was another boy that Will’s son had been playing with who accidentally killed him. Will asks to see his son’s room after 2 years and the actor here does an amazing job at showing all the pain that comes with losing a child, and that no matter how much time has passed, it’ll still hurt. What’s really telling here is that Eden has changed the room; something Will would likely never do. From his son’s old bedroom, he sees David light a suspicious red lantern that raises even more red flags, and after snooping on a laptop, he finds a video from the cult leader that insinuates the night is special. The real climax hits when Eden and David are revealed as having tried to poison the group. One of them dies from the poison, then another dies after being shot by David. The technical choice to cut audio for this scene is marvelous, and the actors portray the horror and shock very well. Almost everyone has been killed, Will and Kira are locked in the house and David seems to be the mastermind behind the whole thing, preying on Eden when she was at her lowest. Sadie and Pruitt are taken down fairly easily and I wasn’t disappointed to see it. They were a little too obvious when it came to the cult and I just overall didn’t enjoy their presence in the movie. Eden manages to shoot Will in the arm before turning the gun on herself. Their last surviving friend manages to get the drop on David and kills him, which I think was a great choice. We might not have gotten as much backstory on the others in the group, but I feel like it would be same old, same old if Will had been the one to kill him. His friend was also avenging the death of his boyfriend, who David shot. At her request, Will takes Eden outside to die. Once outside, he notices the lantern that David lit and sees several more lights in other home’s backyards. He and Kira hold hands, police sirens are heard, and the screen cuts to black.

As a movie, it’s well shot, well edited, well acted, and just all around a good watch. The actors are amazing and really understand the roles they’re playing, which makes it more immersive. The soundtrack is fantastic, not relying on loud startling sounds to actually scare you. While I did like this movie, I can’t ignore the issues I had with it. They don’t go into very much depth on how the friends know each other which was a little frustrating because I found myself asking, “Who are these people and why should I care about them?” The cult ritual story is a bit overdone and considering this movie came out in 2015, suicide cults had already made their way into mainstream media. There were times when the story felt slow, with characters going inside, then outside, then inside, then to the kitchen. You get my point. Overall, it’s a great psychological horror movie, it’s nice to sit down and watch for a casual night in. I’d rate it 7/10. Thanks for reading my review, hope it was helpful and hope you enjoyed.