The Invitation

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 The Invitation is about a man, who along with his girlfriend attends a party hosted by his estranged ex-wife. The two lost their son, and she had grown depressed, going so far as to attempt suicide. As the night goes on, the man grows more and more suspicious that there may have been an ulterior motive behind this dinner party. I’m not sure why, but from the second the movie began, I never really bought the acting. I feel like this is one of those movies that I just didn’t like, and I can’t entirely put my finger on why I didn’t. The setting is intimate, perfect for a horror-thriller like this one. The house was a normal house, which I liked, making it feel a bit more real. Outside of the main character and his ex-wife, I feel that the character development was either thin or non-existent (with the exception of the character of Pruitt, played by John Carroll Lynch, who I felt had some development and was the best-acted out of all the characters). Lynch manages to make the fact that his character’s a bit off work. But you also kind of understand his reasoning for his involvement in everything. If anything, I would say that this movie ultimately reminds me a lot of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. It’s a movie that didn’t really have much of anything visibly wrong with it, and for all intents and purposes, I should have been able to like. Also, like Henry, I think the script just wasn’t very engaging, for the first two acts anyways. The third act has the shit hit the fan and transition from something sort of dull into a tense, violent slasher flick. Sadly, a solid third act and some decent character development amid a whole lotta meh just isn’t enough to save The Invitation.

5 / 10