The Invitation is a tension filled thriller that will have you guessing to the very end. Will and his girlfriend Kira have been invited to a dinner by Will's ex-wife Eden. They haven't seen each other, or their mutual friends in two years. That's for a few different reasons. Firstly, Will and Eden share the devastating loss of their only child Ty who died accidentally a few years earlier. Secondly, Eden is now with a new partner, David, and has been out of the country for some time. So in an effort to re-connect with everybody she decides to throw a party.
It's clear from the start of The Invitation that this is not a dinner that Will, played by Logan Marshall-Green, wants to attend. It's uncomfortable for him to be back in the house with it's memories and while he tries to reconnect with his old friends, he remains guarded. The party starts off well enough. Drinks are poured, jokes are shared and everybody except Will seems to be having a good time. That is until Eden and David decide to share the fact that they have been in Mexico participating in ‘The Invitation' which is notorious for being a cult.
Next comes the video introducing the rest of the party go-ers to the concept of freeing oneself from hurt, grief and pain. Tensions rise as a few object but while their fears are quelled, Will's suspicion increases. Why are all the doors locked? Why is there no phone reception? Where is their missing friend?
And that's the twist in this movie. The whole way along you genuinely don't know who is crazy and who isn't. It's a thriller so someone has to be but is it Will? Is he just a grieving father seeing things that aren't really there? Or is it Eden and David, the cool, calm and collected couple who have moved passed their own grief? Or maybe it's neither and Pruitt – who admitted to killing his wife – is actually the crazy one?
The cast in The Invitation is excellent. Logan Marshall-Green plays the haunted Will with Tammy Blanchard as Eden and Michiel Huisman from The Haunting Of Hill House (review here) as David. If you like your movies to grip you with suspense then give this a go.
