The Invite

After succumbing to the sophomore slump a few years ago with the dreadfully dull psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling (2022), Olivia Wilde has reaffirmed herself as a phenomenally talented filmmaker with her third feature, The Invite. It is as astute a dissection of long-term relationships as this year’s The Drama was of the honeymoon phase. Wilde stars as an anxious woman named Angela, who secretly invites her new neighbours for a casual get-together in a naked attempt to impress them. However, she neglects to run this by her husband Joe, a failed musician-turned-teacher played by Seth Rogen. He isn’t into it one bit. Joe has an axe to grind against the neighbours, because their love-making has kept him awake for weeks. He doesn’t know whether to be angry or jealous, but he most certainly isn’t going to be rolling out the red carpet for them. Played by Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, the neighbours are the perfect foils to utterly bored Angela and Joe. Even before the chic couple from next door arrives, the two are at each other’s throats about everything from back posture to charcuterie boards.

Perhaps nothing spoils a meal faster than bad company. Scratch that. It takes bad company trying to put on a happy face to make it really stink. And, Angela (Olivia Wilde) is trying hard, really hard. Why she is, is evident to us by and by as layers are peeled off the resentment and bitterness that have built up between her and husband Joe (Seth Rogen). The guests for whom Angela plans a spread, from an elaborate charcuterie board to a from-the-recipe-book soufflé, are their upstairs neighbours. Pina is Spanish and “beautiful” and “cool” and “has presence” (an effortlessly posh, and aware of it, Penélope Cruz). Angela clearly is taken in by her and, if not that, with the clearly loud sex-filled relationship she has with boyfriend Hawk (Edward Norton).

The Invite, directed by Olivia Wilde, opens with an Oscar Wilde quote, “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.” The Hollywood comedy is set in a San Francisco couple who invite their neighbours over one evening. It exposes the two couples to own up to some uncomfortable admissions and realise some suppressed truths about themselves. With only four actors in the cast, The Invite works as an engaging play that delivers steady one-liners and insights as the characters experience every emotion under the sun. Wilde impressively guides the feature to an absorbing ending that perfectly sums up human relationships.