Invitation (The)
- Director: Karyn Kusama
- Writer: Phil Hay; Matt Manfredi
- Producer: Nate Bolotin; Dan Cogan
CGiii Comment
For sensible people, reunions should be a no-go...is there such a thing as a genuine reunion? Rather, it's an opportunity to show-off your worldly possessions & partners, to contrast and compare your lot with those who don't have alot.
Ever heard of a poor man organise a high-school reunion? No...didn't think so.
Well, this reunion has all the warts and blisters you would expect...with an added insidiousness. It's more a recruitment drive than a reunion...and, considering it's based in the dippy-lands of Southern California, the stereotypes and would-be cultists abound.
When someone declares that 'this is not a cult' - you just know that it is - indeed - a cult. And, c'mon let's be real, cults are a tad sinister.
Kusama - the director - manages to keep the tension throughout, it's cat and mouse with some clever little twists and turns... albeit let down - in part - by some sub-standard acting. Shame. But...the writing does keep the whole film buoyant.
Cultish skullduggery moves in mysterious ways...here, there are the obvious victims of the fiendish plot...the gay couple scream 'VICTIM', as do a few others...but, will they cast off their mortal coils without a fight...or, deliver some bitchy one-liners while sustaining some incisive defence wounds?!?
Yes...the film is rather compelling...and, involving...in that, screaming abuse at the screen feels like an anti-cult catharsis...safe on your sofa, immune to the claws of cult...muttering...no, never would I be that stupid, not in a month of Sundays!
If ever invited to one of these go-compare events...suggest a Facebook reunion instead...it's safer.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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?
Cast & Characters
Logan Marshall-Green as Will;
Emayatzy Corinealdi as Kira;
Aiden Lovekamp as Ty;
Michelle Krusiec as Gina;
Mike Doyle as Tommy;
Jordi Vilasuso as Miguel;
Jay Larson as Ben;
Marieh Delfino as Claire;
Tammy Blanchard as Eden;
Michiel Huisman as David;
Lindsay Burdge as Sadie;
John Carroll Lynch as Pruitt;
Toby Huss as Dr. Joseph;
Danielle Camastra as Annie;
Trish Gates as Follower