The Invitation follows Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and a group of friends that haven’t seen each other since tragedy Will and his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) two years prior. Eden invites her ex and their old friends to a dinner party with her new husband David (Michiel Huisman), and new friends Sadie and Pruitt (Lindsay Burdge and the ever consistent John Carroll Lynch) where Will grows increasingly suspicious of their true intentions.
The theme that the movie deals with is one of pain and grief and how people choose to deal with them. The film opens with Will and his new girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) driving to the party when they accidentally hit a coyote. Will grabs a tire iron and puts the severely wounded animal out of its misery. As the events of the film unfold and Eden and David’s intentions for their guests become clear, it is evident that Eden is projecting her own pain and grief from her past onto her friends and seeking a similar act of mercy. It is only as events unfold and she recognizes that her pain is not their pain, that she comes to have regret for what she has set in motion. The coyote scene also sets the stage to make a statement about who or what is worth showing mercy and compassion for when Will and Kira are in a similar situation later in the movie and make the opposite decision.
The Invitation does a good job of keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat as their own suspicions about what Eden and David are up to grow alongside Will’s. The tension is great and though the buildup can seem a little long, the ultimate payoff of the reveal was worth it.
Logan Marshall-Green does a good job of paying a man overcome by grief and tragedy as Will and I couldn’t help but compare his performance to Casey Affleck’s in Manchester by the Sea as another man still dealing with a painful past. While The Invitation was the more interesting film with the more substantial plot, I’d have to give the edge in performance to Affleck. I think he sold the portrayal of a burdened man more and really brought forth the agony and pain onto the screen. Still, Marshall-Green was not disappointing in the least. I also came away really impressed with Lindsay Burdge as the eccentric Sadie and how she was able to sell the sweet but weird young woman with a bubbling madness just underneath the surface. I really had to think if her performance was nomination worthy in my eyes but, don’t think the role had the substance or gravitas in a year with numerous Best Supporting Actress potentials. I am however anxious to see her in more films moving forward as I really saw potential in her here. John Carroll Lynch was great as always as Pruitt, playing another asshole/creep who the audience will feel may be bad news as soon as he walks on screen. He’s become a consistent character actor whose face everyone knows but name they do not, and I was glad to see him get the opportunity to play more than a bit part here and get a character with a bit of a backstory. He does very well with the role and provides the quality you’ve come to expect from him.
The Invitation does drag slightly between the second and third acts but its exploration of the theme of grief, pain, and misery and pretty good third act makes it movie worth pulling up on Netflix and watching on a night inside.
Image: Drafthouse Films
