Title: The Invitation
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writers: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
IMDB Link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2400463/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NO SPOILERS

After seeing this movie on Netflix, I will never say…

 

I no longer want invitations to anyone’s dinner party.  Keep your invites, really.

 

Synopsis

Will and Eden were once a loving couple. After a tragedy took their son, Eden disappeared. Two years later, out of the blue, she returns with a new husband… and as a different person, eerily changed and eager to reunite with her ex and those she left behind. Over the course of a dinner party in the house that was once his, the haunted Will is gripped by mounting evidence that Eden and her new friends have a mysterious and terrifying agenda. But can we trust Will’s hold on reality? Or will he be the unwitting catalyst of the doom he senses?

Opinion

I admit, the beginning of this movie bored me.  The man seemed out of it and his mood was flat.  I thought he was on some kind of medication.  It also made me wonder why the woman was with him.  Then, it turns out that they’re going to a party at the home of his ex-wife….with the new girlfriend.  That earned an eye roll, because, I wasn’t sure this was going to be a good idea.

Plus, the party was in the hills of California somewhere.  Ugh.  I don’t like going out into old crazy country without a way to get out of there.  In some of those places, you can’t even call a cab or Uber!!

Anyhoo, what a bunch of weirdos at the party. Folks not wearing any shoes.  Folks with vacant smiles and blank eyes.   As soon as all the characters get together, there’s a general feeling of unease. The folks seem loving and accommodating, but there is something just off about the entire gathering.  The man finds strange things around his ex-wife’s house.  In addition, we are subjected to hazy flashbacks about their shared past.

As the film rolls on we eventually realize that there is something going on, and it bubbles over the surface in a shocking scene.  Obviously, I won’t give it away, but I will say I was glued to the screen until the end.  

The film starts quite slow and threatens to lose the viewers’ interest.  But I advise you to stick with it and go along for the ride.  The ending will make you sit back in your seat, mouth open and head shaking.   Additionally, this movie will keep you from going from any strange dinner parties in isolated areas, I promise you that.

Grade A-:  Jeez, this was creepy and unsettling as hell.  

The Invitation:  Trailer

[wpdevart_youtube]9C_h4eipyCQ[/wpdevart_youtube]

Here’s to watching horror movies in the morning!

Dahlia