The Invite

I am so fucking here for the resurgence of play-like movies we seem to be having, never forget our roots are on the stage!! This one is adapted from a play so it makes perfect sense, but I still think Olivia Wilde went above and beyond in making it feel Theatrical. I love how exaggerated the comedy is when we're in an era of dry satire being the preference, I love how the camera weaves through the set and how props are getting constant interaction, I love the erratic orchestral score, all-around fun time! The everyone-talking-over-each-other chaos is so evocative of The Studio, I'd say that show is a good litmus test for whether or not you'll like this and it's probably not a surprise that I like both. Lots to love from Ed Norton and Penélope Cruz, but Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde's performances are the beating heart of this film. Sure some of the comedic scenes are a tad overacted (that's theatre babey!), but whenever they come back to earth, they're both such Real People. They both embody tropes that are extremely easy to do horribly wrong ("quippy man using snark as a defense mechanism" and "controlling perfectionist bitch wife"), but you can tell they did a TON of character work and it pays off in spades! Rogen's self-hate is just oozing the entire time, you can see and feel such a clear difference between his casual quips and his lashing out when someone strikes a nerve. Similarly, Wilde's constant mania paints a picture of someone motivated by debilitating fear of her future, and I think that anxiety is such a refreshing angle to take the 'stifled housewife' character in (as opposed to the stressed and angry 'female rage' schtik that feels more common). And like, the fact that Wilde was directing on top of giving that performance??!? She definitely has talent and I'm glad she's recovering from whatever Don't Worry Darling was! My attention did fizzle in the last 20 minutes, but I think that's more due to personal taste than the film itself— failing marriage dynamics are not my cup of tea, especially when they're as by and for straight people as this is, so I can't pretend to care about their couples therapy or impending divorce or whatever. And that's my only real gripe, it's a simple but effective piece and I'm happy to see 2026 has been delivering a lot of those so far!