Movies
[SFF ’15 Capsule Review] ‘The Invitation’ Is a Seething Slow Burn
While I really dug Karyn Kusama’s last film, the Diablo Cody scripted Jennifer’s Body, it seemed like a lot of people didn’t feel the same way solely because it was trendy to trash Megan Fox (it still is, isn’t it?). Either way, all bets are off six years later with Kusama’s latest film The Invitation – a completely different beast than the poppy sweetness of Jennifer’s Body. The Invitation addresses very adult issues and is a very dark slow-burn that escalates towards a wickedly shocking climax.
Two years after the tragic death of his son, Will (Logan Marshall-Green) is still a man weary with grief. Now he’s attending a dinner party at his former home, where his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) has invited him and a group of their former friends for a quaint reunion of sorts. After their son’s death, Eden disappeared to Mexico and the dinner party will be the first time Will meets her new flame David (Michel Huisman) and her newfound spirituality that borders on the creepy. Well, “border” is too light a word. It’s full on unnerving.
We’re being held to a capsule review until The Invitation is closer to release, so I can’t say much. The film is worth the wait as it’s currently burning up the festival circuit. Kusama and writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi do a masterful job keeping the audience in their grip – with each new revelation more questions are brought to the surface. The film addresses adult issues such as the loss of a child and the fear of being considered impolite in an impossibly polite society. It’s a dinner party, no one wants to be the first to say, “Hey Eden, why the hell are you acting so weird? Something’s not right.”
The tension absolutely seethes until The Invitation erupts into violence. Despite the sudden shift in mood from anxiety-ridden mystery to survival thriller, the filmmakers maintain that palpable tone rich with suspense. And it all leads up to a seriously jaw-dropping and wholly satisfying conclusion.
The Invitation has been acquired by Drafthouse Films. We’ll keep you updated on any new information as it comes along. Join us.
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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