The Invitation

Name: The Invitation
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Released: April 8, 2016
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Emayatzy E. Corinealdi, Logan Marshall-Green, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 179 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 179 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Drafthouse Films | Release Date: April 8, 2016 | Not Rated

Starring: Emayatzy E. Corinealdi, Logan Marshall-Green, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard

Summary: The tension is palpable when Will (Logan Marshall-Green) shows up to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and new husband David (Michiel Huisman). The estranged divorcees’ tragic past haunts an equally eerie present; amid Eden’s suspicious behavior and her mysterious house guests, Will becomes convinced that hisThe tension is palpable when Will (Logan Marshall-Green) shows up to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and new husband David (Michiel Huisman). The estranged divorcees’ tragic past haunts an equally eerie present; amid Eden’s suspicious behavior and her mysterious house guests, Will becomes convinced that his invitation was extended with a hidden agenda.… Expand

Director: Karyn Kusama

Genre(s): Thriller, Horror

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

Chris Nashawaty

Apr 8, 2016

Kusama ratchets the story’s tension masterfully, building to a final shot that’s as chilling as it is perfect. Read full review

Peter Keough

Apr 13, 2016

Kusama’s handling of point of view is diabolically shrewd. She maximizes the terror potential of the vapidly ostentatious modernist mansion without fetishizing it. She intensifies the monstrosity of some of the characters by making them all too human. And as for guessing the ending — good luck. Read full review

Calvin Wilson

Apr 22, 2016

Psychological thrillers just don’t get any better than this. Read full review

Abby Garnett

Apr 5, 2016

The buildup stretches longer than it should, but the payoff comes with a satisfying bang. Read full review

Moira Macdonald

Apr 7, 2016

The horror is all the more effective for having sneaked up on us quietly. Read full review

The Playlist Kevin Jagernauth

Apr 7, 2016

A taut thriller that almost doesn't waste a single step. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Apr 21, 2016

The filmmakers keep trying to make Will appear paranoid, but he’s not fooled for long — and most viewers won’t be, either. Read full review

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User Reviews

spartacus215

Apr 9, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Holy Smokes. I will first state that this movie is Insane in the most
positive way possible and that it is a true Marvel to watch. I will start with the story which is about a man and his girlfriend who get invited to a dinner party at his ex's house with her new man along with a group of other friends after 2 years. The story then starts to unfold that something isn't quite kosher. The pace was scary good with some of the best pacing I have ever witnessed in cinema history. I will move onto the acting which is Absolutely Stunning with both "Logan
Marshall-Green" and GOT's actor "Michiel Huisman" stealing the show.
They both deserve awards for their performances. The entire cast did
Amazing but those two stole the entire movie. I will now continue with
the action and drama section. Wow this is where it truly comes to
fruition that this is a contender for the best movie of 2016. I mean
the atmosphere and the tension that builds towards what is in my
opinion the most Awesome culmination to a film I have seen in the past
decade. I will finish with the Cinematography which was Impeccable with
every scene building up something sinister and not quite right with the
whole entourage that is gathered for the dinner party. I will close
with saying that this movie is a Masterpiece and it kept me on the edge
of my seat the entire time. OMG the ending was Epic and of course no
spoilers. My hat comes off to Karyn Kusama who directed such a
transfixing film.… Expand

7 of 21 users found this helpful714

Utahbones

Jul 13, 2016

If you invest, well worth the payoff. Don't be perturbed by some of the negative reviews below. They likely have the attention and patience of a fruit fly who still like to call everything hipster since they are so out of touch. If you like a slow burning but good payoff movie, highly recommended.

2 of 10 users found this helpful28

NikolayG

Jul 31, 2017

I would give this a 7.5, but rounded up because Metacritic makes you select a whole number. The acting is excellent, so as far as that goes it gets a 9. My criticism is about the script. This is a thriller about a man who goes to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife. The best thing aboutI would give this a 7.5, but rounded up because Metacritic makes you select a whole number. The acting is excellent, so as far as that goes it gets a 9. My criticism is about the script. This is a thriller about a man who goes to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife. The best thing about this movie is the very last shot. The worst thing is that, instead of the plot unfolding at an incremental pace where the main character slowly puts together clues, building his understanding of what is really going on. the plot unfolds all at once in the last 20 minutes. Before that the main character has suspicions and things seem off and weird, but he's not really putting pieces together beyond knowing something's not right. There were a lot of opportunities, but the writers for whatever reason didn't go there. The consequence is that there is a period of about 15 or 20 minutes, no more than that, where you really start to think, "Is anything ever going to happen?" There's this little dead zone of time. Not because literally nothing has happened until that point, but because the level of suspicion and putting the pieces together has not kept moving forward. The protagonist gets to this point and then things just repeat, hover there for too long, with the protagonist not learning anything new but just reconfirming the weirdness of the situation without understanding or learning more detail about what's behind that weirdness. One big missed opportunity was to follow up on the woman who left the party early. Major miss there. However, all of this said, it was an entertaining thriller. It could have been a 9 if it had just been tweaked a little more. And as I said, the last shot is great, it actually for me is what lifts it from a 7 to a 7.5.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

Aladdin718

Jun 20, 2020

The build in intensity is well worth the wait for the crescendo. If you like a bit of a thriller / mystery, this one is well worth a watch.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TryASummersault

Apr 8, 2016

An extremely dull look into a yuppie cult. I had high hopes from all the positive critic reviews, but this really just didn't amount to anything really and left a gross taste in my mouth. Logan Marshall-Green was the only solid part of this.

4 of 13 users found this helpful49

wealthychef

Mar 2, 2020

Way way too slow burning. The tension is very effective, but after a while of that, after 40 minutes of thinking "OK what's going to ever happen here?" I started skipping ahead to speed up the pacing, which is unbearably slow. The action part is very good, and the acting is actually veryWay way too slow burning. The tension is very effective, but after a while of that, after 40 minutes of thinking "OK what's going to ever happen here?" I started skipping ahead to speed up the pacing, which is unbearably slow. The action part is very good, and the acting is actually very good too. But the glacial pacing ruins it for me, thus the low score.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

ds2020

Feb 12, 2020

Poorly made senario, people in the movie are missing the slightest sense behind their acts. Spare yourself from wathing this waste of time.

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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