The Invitation sounds good on paper, but it is uninspired, hoaky, more focused on teasing interesting ideas and concepts than exploring them.
In 2022 vampire movies are a dime a dozen, a few weeks ago Netflix gave us Day Shift and of course we all remember the twice-released box-office bomb known as Morbius!
It’s not easy to craft a wholly original take on this tried & true mythology, then again it isn’t easy to craft a good movie as a whole.
But THE INVITATION doesn’t do itself any favors… while not an original idea in its rawest form, there’s a conceptual freshness to the blending of Get Out + Ready or Not + Dracula, creating for an intriguing premise with an air of eerie mystery where Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), after the death of her mother, is approached by an unknown cousin who invites her to a lavish wedding in the English countryside. Soon, Evie realizes a gothic conspiracy is afoot and must fight for survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history.
If that description sounds interesting then you can probably come up with 100 different scenarios in your head to live up to it, which sadly isn’t the case with the end result here.
Nathalie Emmanuel does her best to carry us through this overly clichéd collection of vampire and horror tropes, fully committing to a role where she effortlessly conveys the real fear of finding ourselves out of our element, being in awkward family reunions, how uncomfortable it is to be the center of attention, and as a woman, particularly of color, surrounded by a group of elderly strange white men who unashamedly wear their pride, wealth, status and smugness on their sleeve. There’s a genuinely uncomfortable atmosphere throughout, and the perspective of Evie is effectively presented as the film does
its best to deliver the illusion of immersion. While it immediately feels like something is off, it’s up to the story to take Evie, and us along with her, along this journey of unravelling the uncomfortable mystery, as it is prime with gothic romance ideas and compelling scenarios are present from beginning to end, but the film never feels interested in exploring those scenarios.
Which is the shame as the ambiance is all there, the gothic production design is absolutely immaculate, displaying true craftsmanship and effort put on all countless set designers, the costumes are as lavish as the period they try to emanate. Only top of it, this vintage beauty is gorgeously captured with Autumn Eakin’s keen eye as DP, but all these technical aspects fall flat when the story doesn’t back any of them up.
Everything on a surface level is so promising, it’s as if the pitch was presented but then nobody went on to check the final script. It is a real shame when such an original idea falls so fundamentally flat in execution despite so much talent behind the camera…
The story moves at a glacial pace and slowly but surely reveals all the film’s tricks are just in the premise and it really won’t have anything up its sleeve. It’s so obvious in its intentions that you would be save in assuming the film itself knows that and won’t insult the audience’s intelligence when getting to the point… But it does, insufferably so.
You will have to wait until the third act for the film to act “get started”, for its first 2 thirds this is nothing but a jump scare-fest, and a lame one at that: the jump scares here are the type that are just for the audience, half the time the characters do not see/hear/suspect a thing. You will bear witness to endless scenes of characters we do not care about walking into lonely quarters in an old house where you will feel every excruciating second pass before it’s finally over and the story can keep going.
And before you think the third act saves anything… it’s an over-the-top conclusion to a hoaky soap-opera that thinks too highly of itself, the dialogue here is almost unbearable: another collection of of clichés, but this time from a soap-opera with love triangles and family betrayals left & right, and delivers a subpar, shoehorned in “girl boss” moment that is not earned whatsoever because the story is so unfocused it doesn’t properly tackle any ideas or character struggles, it barely even tackles characters at all resulting in each and every actor feeling like they took on a thankless role.
The film feels more focused on teasing interesting ideas and concepts over actually exploring them, there’s some nice interaction between characters that serve to be starting points on our “digging for the truth” but it’s never presented as if Evie is starting to figure anything out, making her a very inactive character, whom a lot of things happen to and around, but she’s almost a plot device for the villains, and not really a protagonist.
I cordially invite you to AVOID The Invitation: If atmosphere alone made for a great film then this sublime gothic production with a fresh blend of rich & compelling concepts would bear some fans but this glacially paced endeavor telegraphs itself so blatantly without a proper point to make.
Uninspired in story, phony in dialogue and lazy in characterizations: Gothic in style, soap opera in substance.
FINAL GRADE: D+
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About The Invitation
After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA test…and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, she’s at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.
The Invitation is in theaters now.
