8) The Invitation (2015)
Grief can be one of the most unbearable aspects of any person’s life. It has the potential to become a psychological cancer, destroying one’s capacity for love, pleasure, friendship and other humanist experiences. It’s never easy – especially for Will, the protagonist of The Invitation. After having recently lost his son in a tragic accident, Will’s marriage with his son’s mother deteriorates and they divorce. Now in a new relationship, Will makes the effort to attend a dinner party at his ex-wife’s house with her new husband David to overcome his grief and move on like his ex-wife seemingly has.
As the dinner party begins, everything seems innocuous enough. People are drinking wine, discussing work related issues and joking with one another. But soon, more and more strange guests begin showing up and the party begins taking a bizarre and unsettling turn.
Mind you, nothing is out of the ordinary – at least at first. Something is just…off. Thanks to Karyn Kusama’s brilliant direction and the sharp writing from Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, The Invitation expertly builds tension, forcing the audience to creep closer and closer to the edge of their seat before finally falling off from the jaw-dropping finale. The Invitation is perhaps one of the best “dinner party gone wrong” films to come out in quite some time, using its inconspicuous setting as a means of constructing an unease that few other movies can.
