By Glenn Kay, For the Sun
Rating: 3 out of 4
Running Time: 107 minutes
This feature from A24 opened exclusively in theaters in some markets on Friday, June 26, and expanding wide on Friday, July 10.
Attending an awkward dinner party with a sparse number of guests whom one barely knows can certainly be uncomfortable. But the new film The Invite certainly ratchets that tension up to new heights. It’s a movie that, once the get-together begins, never leaves its apartment setting, focusing on its uncomfortable characters talking about unforeseen subjects as the evening progresses. Like most parties, there are social missteps here and there, and you certainly wouldn’t want your children attending this event. But the final result should amuse adults in the audience.
Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are bickering parents who, although they don’t seem to realize it, are in serious need of therapy. After a dreary day of teaching, Joe returns home. Their daughter is out for the evening, and Joe learns that Angela is setting up for a small party with neighbors Pina (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton).
The husband is annoyed by the last-minute announcement, which his wife states was relayed to him much earlier. They argue about the arrangement, and Joe threatens to confront guests Pina and Hawk about their raucous lovemaking sessions, which can be heard by their neighbors. When the neighbors do arrive, the evening starts off uneasily. Eventually, the characters open up, with Pina and Hawk taking the conversation in a very unexpected direction.
This is actually a remake of a 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs, is entirely dialogue-based, and consists almost entirely of a series of conversations within one space. The story holds on the main characters squabbling and trying to push their issues with each other down. But Joe and Angela are clearly struggling, and are to some degree jealous and envious of their neighbors. And as the group chats, Joe’s and Angela’s issues with one another slowly bubble to the surface in an unwieldy manner.
None of this works without a capable cast, and the one assembled here is exceptional.
The constant squabbles could have grown tiresome (and almost do at a few points in the story), but there are enough uncomfortable laughs between Joe and Angela, as well as during their interactions with Pina and Hawk, to keep events interesting. Wilde keeps up the tension as the stressed Angela, and as expected, Rogen maximizes his role as the curmudgeon of the evening. He entertainingly mutters under his breath, quietly threatening to address his grievances, before being stopped by his partner in amusing ways. Joe’s reactions and inquisitiveness after learning secrets about Pina and Hawk result in the film’s biggest chuckles.
And, of course, Cruz and Norton are wonderful in their more subdued roles. They do initially come across as charming, but towards the final act one does see that not everything is perfect in their relationship. In fact, there is a degree of fraudulence to their behavior and their personal histories that comes to light. For this audience member, it made them question their authenticity, even after opening up about themselves.
Not everything here is perfect. The movie does play with ideas like voyeurism visually, but in a blunt manner. It brings up the subject and later cuts to shots of the cast getting into heated discussions with the camera outside of a window. One understands the point of the image, with the audience also taking part in the activity, but it’s a little too obvious in its delivery.
And the characters become overly earnest by the close. The film wants to give viewers a sense of hope for the future between some of the participants (the final scene wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t), yet it isn’t quite as moving as it could be because of the consistent nastiness that precedes it all.
Still, this comedy delivers dark laughs as it deals with a troubled relationship going off of the rails in a variety of expected and unexpected ways. It brings up alternative life choices that may result in some lighthearted conversations between viewers after the credits. And the cast is fantastic. So, while you probably wouldn’t want to spend an extended period of time with the movie’s characters, The Invite is still worth accepting.
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