'The Invite' Review
- Tiffany McLaughlin
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 07/10/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Comedy. Drama. Romance.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: A24.
The Verdict: A Must-See
Directed by Olivia Wilde, The Invite is a very punchy, situational comedy that feels like it could have been made 30 years ago and still hit.
We follow two couples at a dinner party. Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen) are hosting. They aren’t super agreeable with one another, and they seem to be on rocky terms. But they’re having their upstairs neighbors over for the first time, and there’s a tense anticipation in the air. Enter Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), who carry themselves much more calmly and seem far more collected. They’re immediately upfront about hearing Angela and Joe fighting from the hallway and even offer to come back another time. Angela and Joe insist they stay. From there, the dinner party begins, and we’re invited along for the wild ride.
It's no wonder the writing feels so well-rounded when it comes from writing duo Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. Having both male and female perspectives layered creates a symphony of dialogue. At no point was I ever thrown off by disjointed word choices or anything feeling out of place. Sure, it's raunchy, but it feels like things real people would actually say in real life, not just movie characters saying naughty things for a laugh. This is one of the tightest scripts I've seen so far this year, and I hope it gets an Oscar nod.
The entire film takes place in one apartment, itself becoming a character itself, serving a different purpose as we get to know everyone. The cinematography and blocking are damn near perfect. Every frame feels incredibly intentional and thoughtfully composed, accompanied by the brilliant score. There's a vintage feel to it while also feeling timeless. It's a comedy, yes, but not in the sense that it relies on the flat studio lighting we're so used to in modern movies. This film lets shadows exist and uses lamps in creative ways creating the sense of being in this apartment at night.
I can’t seem to pick a favorite performance. I think all four actors really knocked this one out of the park. Honestly, this might be my new favorite performance for each of them. As much as I love the whole film, my favorite scene has to be the opening credit sequence. It pulls you right in and is so stylistic and fun. Modern films don't bother to do things like this very often and I am still thinking about it days later.
If you can, try to see this in the theater as soon as humanly possible as it is now playing everywhere!