THE STORY – Joe and Angela don’t have people over often. Tonight, their mysterious upstairs neighbors are coming down for dinner. What follows is an evening of unexpected twists and turns, revealing deeply repressed emotions and unexplored sexuality.
THE CAST – Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz & Edward Norton
THE TEAM – Olivia Wilde (Director), Will McCormack & Rashida Jones (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 107 Minutes
When communication begins to break down in a marriage, ruts begin to form. Dreams begin to fade. Emotions get stuffed down. It becomes a matter of simply going through the motions without really feeling alive, without truly feeling as though you can be honest with your partner. In real life, maybe therapy or a good, honest series of conversations can help uncover that love once again. But in the movies, there’s little that will shake up a stagnant marriage more than an older, wiser, more sexually charged couple pushing you to the edge. In Olivia Wilde’s electric “The Invite,” that idea delivers in spades. It’s a chamber piece operating on a tightrope, unfolding with hilarity and pinpoint accuracy, and anchored by a perfectly balanced ensemble.
Joe and Angela (Seth Rogen and Wilde) know they’re in a tough spot in their marriage. In his teaching gig at a middling music school, Joe’s energy and artistic ambition have been completely drained. As a stay-at-home mom, Angela has nowhere to channel her energy, so she channels it into renovating their inherited San Francisco apartment. They go through all the motions, but they’re stuck, spending most of their time arguing. So when Angela invites their cool upstairs neighbors over for an impromptu dinner party, she’s desperate to impress them, while Joe has no interest. Hawk and Pina (Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz) arrive with easy confidence and a chill, sexy vibe, entirely opposing Joe and Angela’s tense, walled-off disposition. This quartet couldn’t be better, each sinking into their roles so flawlessly it’s impossible to imagine any other actors in the mix.
Written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, who previously collaborated on “Celeste and Jesse Forever” and “Toy Story 4,” the film adapts the 2020 Spanish movie “The People Upstairs.” Their crackling, whip-smart script never lets up, balancing frustration and anger with biting comedy. Joe’s inability to open up and Angela’s desperation to please crash into Hawk’s easygoing charm and Pina’s honest clarity. Even as they fight, argue, and insult one another, the film never lets the bickering cross into unlikability. It’s also unbelievably funny from beginning to end, an adult comedy that’s mature and vulnerable but unafraid of big swings. Their conversations are electric, sexy, and painfully honest.
It’s an anti-rom-com, plumbing the depths of a failing relationship for all its absurdity and honesty, with every joke and conversation tinged with sadness. The pain and anger that permeate the script only make it funnier. No matter how wild the night gets, it remains rooted in deep authenticity. Throughout the evening, Hawk and Pina peel back the crusted-over layers of Joe and Angela’s relationship, pushing them to open up to one another finally. We know both of these marriages. We know Joe’s judgment and disbelief that a relationship could look like Hawk and Pina’s. We know the openness Angela sees in them and covets for herself. It’s deeply sad to watch the cracks that were already there split wide open once their marriage is finally investigated. While every cast member shines, Seth Rogen has never been better, flexing his comedic chops while weaving in the pain and frustration of this never-ending night.
Never once does “The Invite” feel too isolated because of its setting. Yes, it’s confined to a single apartment, but Wilde’s crystal-clear direction and Adam Newport-Berra’s cinematography keep the energy flowing from scene to scene. A cello-driven score amps up both tension and comedy, and there’s even a Sade needledrop that brings the house down. Though Wilde had a bigger budget and a wider canvas with “Don’t Worry Darling,” “The Invite” is undeniably her best work yet. Her direction is confident and controlled, never letting the story’s turns veer too silly or the emotional twists feel manipulative.
Rare are comedies this funny and this mature. Its rich themes hit home, especially for anyone in a long-term relationship. We constantly compare ourselves to others, or worse, to the dreams of our younger selves. It’s all too easy to let the moments that didn’t turn out the way we hoped overshadow everything else, even the good we still have. Dreams may die, but not everything has to die with them. With wit and hard-earned clarity, “The Invite” explores marital communication in ways that feel honest and earned. It’s a razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud comedy that is both blisteringly funny and deeply sad.
