Directed By Jessica M. Thompson

Starring – Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Alana Boden

The Plot – After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie (Emmanuel) takes a DNA test… and discovers a long-lost cousin (Doherty) she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, she’s at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.

Rated PG-13 for terror, violent content, some strong adult language, sexual content and partial nudity.

THE INVITATION – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTube

POSITIVES

For all of the abundance of genre crossovers that have more than convoluted the creative landscape, I’m shocked that romantic horror films are the ones least explored in that hybrid. “The Invitation” looks to change that sentiment, with breathtaking production designs and meticulous pacing that, like our protagonist, is used to seduce us into this world of lavish tastes. On the latter, there are a few thrills scattered sporadically throughout, but for a majority of the first hour of this screenplay, it’s used to vividly paint us into a false sense of security, saving all but the movie’s final half hour to indulge us into the aspects of this upper-class family that completely sweep Evie up in this whirlwind romance. This is not only attained in the mesmerizing chemistry of Emmanuel and Doherety at the forefront of the narrative, in turn cementing a duo of impactful turns between them that are far too good for the project they’ve both become saddled with, but also in the unfurling of their dynamic, which contrasts the periodic aforementioned chills in the night with a contradictory nourishing warmth in the elicited fire continuously burning between them. This sentiment is further reciprocated by the detail to interior set designs and boldness of ever-changing wardrobes, which often make the most of the movie’s miniscule 10-million-dollar budget with a commitment to believability that wholeheartedly illustrates the cultural divide of the movie’s established setting. Beyond this, as previously mentioned, the work of Nathalie Emmanuel solidifies a protagonist with enough ferocity, vulnerability, and especially humanity to certify her as an investing presence, but it’s in her underlining tender loneliness that is most engaging, in turn not only motivating her every character movement, but also conveying the bigger picture in Evie’s evolutionary arc, which makes her anything but the kind of one-dimensional protagonists we’re typically afforded in these films.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, almost everything that I expected from this film came to fruition from an overtly revealing trailer that left very little surprise or impact withstanding. First is the horror itself, which is not only handicapped by a PG-13 rating that scrubs it of any influential gore or impactful devastation, but also the kind that diminish detection with some of the worst visual effects work that I have seen in a film this year. Whether in laughably bad fire designs, or wounds from the heat of battle, the lack of blood, especially in a vampire film, is deeply concerning, robbing the most basic of qualities in a film that absolutely requires it. While also on the hinderances of the visuals, the whole presentation of the film is the kind of ugly that magnifies incoherence, with the same blue hue that many films since “The Haunting of Hill House” have tried to capitalize on. Why it doesn’t work here is because much of the interior visuals elicit little to no lighting, in turn obscuring sequences of physicality that require firmly committed attention, but in turn jar the engagement with tightly cramped shadows that are continuously a chore to coherently interpret. There’s also no shortage of cliches to take away from the experience, with as many timed jump scares, fake-out dream sequences, and intention-heavy dialogue to hurl annoyance whenever this film isn’t being downright boring from the narrow path of direction it continuously takes from its revealing marketing. On that dialogue, there’s lines delivered that you just know will eventually come back into play, once more with an internal montage and overhead monologue that ties many of these deliveries together, but never as anything that is as shocking or riveting as other horror films that use it as the emphasis where everything comes together for the character at the focus. Instead, it’s just the emphasis behind all of my aforementioned predictability, made laughable at this point with a film that I’ve never actually seen, but one whose actions I consistently see coming nonetheless from the familiar beats that hinder its originality. This leads to a third act where all bets are off with an unraveling that nearly sacrifices everything beneficial in its grasp. Part of the problem is certainly in the rushed emphasis of this final half hour that crams what feels like an hour of material into a single act of storytelling, but for my money the bigger problem comes in the resolution of the conflict, which only echoed my feelings of disappointment in the journey of this experience, all the while leading to a confrontation that is forgettable even five minutes after it concludes. This feeling is certainly because it’s riddled in the kind of convenience to easily alleviate it, but beyond that even more problematic by the unfulfilling regret conjured by an ending that just resonates out of thin air, in turn undercutting the justice and vengeance of the character who arguably started this whole underwhelming predicament.

OVERALL
“The Invitation” is a soulless shell of a bodily cavity with not enough bite or brains to wholeheartedly justify the level of its big screen existence. Watered down horror and inescapable predictability limit the possibility of this being the premiere romantic horror hybrid, and for our troubles eliciting a 100-minute diversion from reality that you shouldn’t R.S.V.P to.

My Grade: 4/10 or D-