OUT NOW: The Invitation

Following the death of her parents, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA test to learn more about her family.

She is quickly connected with Oliver (Hugh Skinner), a distant relative, who invites her to England to meet the rest of the family at a wedding.

What starts out as a family reunion begins to become more romantic when Evie is introduced to the devilishly charming Walter (Thomas Doherty), a close friend of the family who owns the palatial estate they are staying at.

As the nuptials draw closer, Evie becomes increasingly unnerved by the ancient house and the things that take place there…

I feel like I am going to be the one person who kinda liked this movie. 

I went into The Invitation knowing almost nothing about it - and that is the best way to see it.

If you are interested in seeing it on the big screen - make it quick because there were two other people in my screening - stop reading.

The Invitation feels like a combination of a couple of different influences - the set up feels similar to Get Out, although it does not feel like the message is as foregrounded

The other influence is from the real world: When the movie draws attention to Evie’s race, I was wondering if the movie was going to end up being a supernatural metaphor for Meghan Markle’s brief involvement with the Windsor family. If you want to get sweaty you could view the movie that way but the movie is not aiming for subtext.

And that is no bad thing.

The premise of the movie - Dracula is looking for a new bride - is solid pulp, and the movie has a pleasing lack of pretence. It does not have a lot to add to that twist, which is a problem, but the movie is not long enough to get that worked up about.

The movie does not waste time - a few minutes after Evie is introduced, she is winging her way to England. 

The best example of this movie’s straightforwardness, and the best aspect of this movie, is Tom Doherty as Walter.

Just from a physical POV, he is perfectly cast as an undead lothario.

I think the makeup department might have teased his eyebrows to give them a more diabolical curl, but other than that he looks so naturally uncanny, he is like a living special effect.

He is so diabolically good-looking he is a human spoiler, but it adds to the movie’s slight air of camp.

The movie pushes its clues to the foreground by focusing on key details and stepping outside of Evie’s POV to show specific scenes.

 

While it is not aiming for laughs, the movie begins to feel like a massive joke as we wait for our heroine to finally figure out what is going on.

As our lead, Nathalie Emmanuel is good. She handles the American accent well, and it does not inhibit the characterisation that much - there are times when British actors lose something in their performances with an American accent.

She has solid chemistry with Doherty and brings a spikiness to Evie’s interactions with the more suspect characters. 

The conceit is dependent on Evie showing a certain level of obliviousness, but the script manages to avoid making the character come off as an unsuspecting victim. 

Evie is not oblivious to her plight and the script does give her a healthy air of scepticism about the manor and its occupants. Another asset is her chemistry with Doherty, which also helps in getting over Evie’s eventual seduction.

To its credit, the script does not treat this seduction as the ultimate conversion - Evie is clearly attracted to her suitor, but she also laughs off the idea of a quick marriage. 

While I enjoyed it, The Invitation is not perfect. In fact, as a horror movie it feels like a modest failure.

While I liked the gothic stylings, I wish it was directed with a little more originality and flair.

The sound design is over-egged, and used to amp up some obvious jump scares.

Certain aspects of the movie reminded me of a music video - there are some shot choices and editing which prioritise mood over geography and work against some of the suspense.

The lighting is low and amplified by filters which make it feel artificial in a way that felt cliche rather than an evocation of the film’s genre roots. 

When the action shifts to daylight, the movie feels less generic and more unsettling - the mansion’s exterior, with its bright two tone colouring is so picture perfect it feels uncanny. 

While the relationship-building between Evie and Walter is fun, the movie around that dynamic feels a little less interesting.

The third act feels rushed, and aims for an emotional weight that the movie does not quite earn. It turns into a low-budget version of Van Helsing, and feels disconnected from the movie that comes before it.

As a twist on vampiric seduction, The Invitation is fun. But it never quite makes the landing.