A young woman is courted and swept off her feet, only to realize a gothic conspiracy is afoot.
Director: Jessica M. Thompson
Cast: Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, Alana Boden, Courtney Taylor, Hugh Skinner, Sean Pertwee
Release Date: August 26, 2022
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated PG-13 for terror, violent content, some strong language, sexual content and partial nudity.
Runtime: 1h 44m
Review:
Jessica M. Thompson's The Invitation opens on dark and stormy night, something that should make most savvy audiences wary about what's to come. After this clunky opening, Thompson tries her best to establish a gothic tone for the first two acts of the film. Sadly, this is the type of horror film that never quite finds it footing as it tries to find a balance between mystery and jump scares in a consistent manner. The biggest issue being that the mystery isn't all that complicated even if some of the details offer more intriguing ideas once revealed. Sadly, the film bungles most of it's better ideas leaving the audience to follow the hapless heroine who's slow to react to some fairly major warning signs before its too late. Nathalie Emmanuel's performance is committed but she struggles to find her any depth to the character which ends up coming off as flat and wooden. Thomas Doherty chews up scenery with impressive aplomb as her love interest but you are left wondering what this Jonathan Rhys Meyers knock off could do with better material. The usually reliable Sean Pertwee isn't asked to do much here outside of look annoyed and slightly constipated. Alana Boden and Stephanie Corneliussen do have fun supporting turns with a particularly effective manicure that's energetically staged and shot. Unfortunately, the film falls off a cliff in it's final act as it sheds it's reserved gothic tone and collapses into campy goofiness. The Invitation ultimately proves to be a frustrating horror film since its concept could be fun but it fumbles its chances at delivering the goods
D+
