01. The Invitation

01. THE INVITATION

Director: Karyn Kusama

Release date: May 11, 2016

From the moment our protagonist’s vehicle strikes a coyote and he’s forced to mercifully execute it, Karyn Kusama’s tense LA thriller, The Invitation, is on a simmer, building heat until its scalding conclusion.

The driver, Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and new girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) are on their way to a dinner party in the Hollywood Hills. The hosts are Will’s ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and new husband David (Michiel Huisman, or Daario Naharis for you Game of Thrones nerds). We learn that the death of Will and Eden’s young boy led to their relationship’s demise. It’s quickly apparent that Will still carries an immense amount of pain, but Eden has seemingly freed herself of grief’s burden by spending time with a New-Age spiritual group called The Invitation.

Further revelation of plot would be a disservice to would-be viewers. But know this – Kusama’s low-budget piece of psychological horror is a masterclass in filmmaking. The cast, none of them household names, are note-perfect, serving the script’s nuances and heavy themes.

The Invitation is rife with sleight of hand and misdirection, often deliciously executed, and the torturous pace, while almost unbearable, is ultimately crucial to the film’s success.

Kusama drags us to a final moment that was the most brilliant and terrifying of any film this year – perhaps of the last decade. They say a picture tells a thousand words – The Invitation’s final five seconds say a great deal more.