'Forgiveness doesn’t have to wait': Be Sure to RSVP to THE INVITATION

Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

I love Karyn Kusama. Period. We truly don’t deserve her as a director. (If you still aren’t persuaded, listen to the episode of the podcast Switchblade Sisters where she and April Wolfe talk about Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, and you’ll convert faster than you can say “shit-kicker heaven.”) If you haven’t guessed, The Invitation is no exception. You have Logan Marshall-Green aka Mr. Trey Atwood HIMSELF (Absolutely no one should be shocked that I’m a diehard fan of The O.C.). You have cultist behavior. You have a badass female director. Go ahead and call Clooney because you have The Perfect Storm. 

Two years after losing their son in a tragic accident and divorcing, Logan Marshall-Green’s Will and his current partner, Emayatzy Corinealdi’s Kira, agree to a supper soirée (I know that no one has used the word “supper” in 50 years, but I really wanted an alliteration, damn it) with Will’s ex, Tammy Blanchard’s Eden, along with several of their friends. Naturally, Eden along with her new partner, Michiel Huisman’s David, are now members of a spiritual organization (yes, it’s a cult), and they want to share their lifestyle with their loved ones. Just add Lindsay Burdge’s Sadie, a girl from the cult living in Eden’s house (who also serves as a clever Manson reference), and John Carroll Lynch’s Pruitt, a higher tier member of the cult, and you have a real party. By party, I mean a nefarious night where you try to kill all of your friends and yourselves by taking a page out of Jim Jones’s playbook to cope with your grief. Kira and Will have to fight their way out of Eden’s hellish housewarming party, and, well, I’m going to leave it at that. 

Writing a summary of this movie seems so contrite because Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi create an uneasy atmosphere akin to a Carpenter joint, and I will never be able to do it justice. For the entire first act, things are just off. It leaves with you with that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach you can’t quite pinpoint (unless you recently ate Taco Bell). As everything begins to unravel, you’re still not quite sure what to believe until the big reveal, and what I think is one of the best horror endings of all time. For me, it addresses grief head-on like Hereditary and Midsommar sans mysticism (which isn’t a jab at Ari Aster because he’s a genius). Grief makes us all turn to unexpected things for comfort, so the idea of Eden joining something like “The Invitation” isn’t that implausible, and that’s why this film is so terrifying. 

I love this movie for a multitude of reasons. Karyn Kusama is a fucking badass. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi are brilliant writers. The personification of grief is being shown on a realistic plain. John Carroll Lynch, who is a personal favorite of mine (especially in Channel Zero: No-End House), delivers as a creepy, complex cult member and almost has us feeling sorry for him by the end. The tension in every scene is so thick that it would take nothing short of a chainsaw to cut through it. Also, the satirical look at “trendy” religious and spiritual groups, especially in cities like L.A. is just enough to get your feet wet but not so much that you’re walking on water. For me, this movie is absolutely perfect from start to finish, and there’s nothing left to wine about.