The Invite Review: A-List Ensemble Electrifies Hilarious Couples Night Gone Wrong Comedy
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton star in The Invite, a sharply written and stylishly directed comedy that premiered to a sold-out audience at the Sundance Film Festival. The film represents a notable new high for Wilde as both director and actor, delivering the kind of smart, well-crafted entertainment for adults that many have been craving.
A Smart and Funny Winner About Sex, Marriage and Partner-Swapping
Not enough people managed to see last year's self-billed "unromantic comedy" Splitsville, which was a shame given how tremendously entertaining it was. That film offered a seriously well-directed, genuinely funny, and relatably messy look at two couples dealing with the maelstrom of non-monogamy. Watching The Invite at its Sundance premiere provided a similar thrill, reminding audiences that the mid-sized movie gap for intelligent adult comedies might finally be getting filled.
Like Splitsville, this film focuses on two adult couples negotiating anxieties surrounding sex with other people. It's consistently funny and stylishly directed, made with the kind of care and precision that comedies rarely receive in today's cinematic landscape. While it doesn't have the same absurdist slapstick streak as its predecessor, being much more grounded in reality, it delivers equally energising viewing.
Star Power and Exceptional Craftsmanship
More people will likely see The Invite thanks to its impressive star power. The two couples are played by Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde as a married and miserable pair, alongside Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton as unmarried and happy partners. The film opens with a telling Oscar Wilde quote: "One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry," setting the stage for a night that Edward Albee would undoubtedly approve of.
This marks Wilde's third directorial effort following the fizzy teen comedy Booksmart and the visually stunning yet narratively flawed thriller Don't Worry Darling. She has quickly evolved into an impressively committed film-maker who collaborates with exceptional craftspeople, even when working with problematic material. The Invite represents a notably exciting new peak in her directorial career.
Technical Excellence and Narrative Precision
Despite being a mostly single-location comedy, Wilde shoots on 35mm film and assembles an impressive creative team. She works with Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) on the score, four-time Oscar nominee Arianne Phillips on costumes, Yorgos Lanthimos editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, and cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, who previously brought epic sweep to The Last Black Man in San Francisco and coincidentally, Splitsville.
The sharp and fastidious script from Rashida Jones and Will McCormack hardly needs such elevation to distract viewers, but the technical excellence gives the film a wonderfully glossy, classic feeling that feels like a cinematic miracle in today's landscape. As a remake of Spanish comedy The People Upstairs (which has been remade four times internationally), it focuses on one disastrous hangout where a married couple invites their freewheeling upstairs neighbours over for drinks.
Character Dynamics and Comedic Tension
Joe (Rogen) plays an unhappy music professor who prefers not to discuss his failed music career, instead focusing on an unending trail of complaints. His wife Angela (Wilde) is desperate to impress, deeply proud of the jamón she brought for Spanish neighbour Pina (Cruz), whom she already envies for both her effortless sexuality and the frequent orgasms heard through the ceiling. Joe feels less jealous of the impossibly named Hawk (Norton), but more irritated, though the couple represents a sexually liberated ideal that seems increasingly distant in his marriage.
The film takes some time to settle into its rhythm, with the initial stretch of Rogen and Wilde sniping before their guests' arrival pitched at such a high intensity that viewers might worry about exhaustion. Some of Wilde's early directorial choices feel slightly too fussy, as if she's determined to prove this isn't merely a staid chamber piece that should have remained a play. However, both the pace and film-making soon relax, allowing the uncomfortable sparring to unfold with graceful spatial expansion and elegant stylistic flourishes.
Masterful Performances and Nuanced Direction
There's nimble choreography to how everyone quips, crosstalks, interrupts and trails off throughout the evening. The film could easily be mistaken for semi-improvised if one weren't listening intently to the carefully crafted, detail-packed dialogue. Every aside reveals something meaningful, almost every joke lands perfectly, and each actor works intently to make every moment count.
Even though Rogen plays a barely tweaked version of a type he often portrays, he executes it so skillfully that audiences won't mind. Meanwhile, it's a genuine pleasure to watch Cruz and Norton cut loose, with the former proving especially funny as a sexologist who can't stop meddling. As both director and actor, this represents Wilde's triumph, following her vampy saving grace performance in Gregg Araki's Sundance sex farce I Want Your Sex just last week.
Sophisticated Dialogue and Emotional Depth
While comparisons to Woody Allen's vintage sophisticated pitter-patter dialogue over wine might seem too easy (and often serve as putdowns when others attempt to emulate his style), there are genuine shades of his best work here. Wilde, along with Jones and McCormack, understands how much audiences vicariously enjoy watching couples spar, turning viewers into deeply invested commentators on the unfolding drama.
Joe and Angela's rehearsed sitcom schtick has become their learned norm, but when performed before others, they begin to recognise how nasty and fatiguing it appears. As jokes start to sour and the night shifts toward more serious territory, Wilde and her dramatically experienced ensemble handle a difficult tonal descent without slipping. The delicately sad final scene had the Sundance audience on their feet applauding, proving that the chance to watch a genuinely funny and uncommonly intelligent comedy for adults represents an invitation many have been eagerly awaiting.
The Invite is currently screening at the Sundance Film Festival and actively seeking distribution, promising to bring its unique brand of sophisticated comedy to wider audiences soon.
