Film Review: The Invitation (2015)
United States
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writers: Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi
Available on Netflix
In the hands of any other director, The Invitation could have been a downright goofy film. Instead, it is one of the most unsettling horror films to have come out in years. It touches some feep dread that runs under grief. The story is about human relationships without jealousy, but running on fear and regret. The story shocks and strangles its audience in the subtlest of ways… and still leaves one in its last moment with that telltale chill creeping down the spine.
The story swirls around the tension between Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and Eden (Tammy Blanchard). The couple have divorced after the loss of their child, which is slowly revealed while they interact somewhat awkwardly with old friends and their partners, Will’s girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and Eden’s boyfriend David (Michiel Huisman). Eden and David have invited their oldest friends, and Eden’s ex husband, over for an elaborate dinner party.
A triumph of this film is the ability to communicate both the intimacy of the friends and the strength of the newly forged relationships by Will and Eden. It would have been easy to play off Kira and David as flings or new to the circle of friends, but every…
