Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Invitation Blu-ray Movie Review

RSVP or RIP?

Reviewed by Michael Reuben July 26, 2016

Director Karyn Kusama made a memorable 2000 debut with the independent feature Girlfight, which she also wrote. Two disappointing projects followed: the 2005 flop, Aeon Flux, which was subjected to major studio tampering; and the underrated 2009 dark comedy, Jennifer's Body. After several years of directing episodic TV, Kusama has returned to form with The Invitation, an independently produced feature that has been variously characterized as a thriller, a social commentary and a horror film. Scripted and co-produced by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, The Invitation has elements of all three, but what distinguishes the film is how deliberately its paranoid atmosphere is rooted in an exploration of character. Kusama has cited such classics of suspense as Rosemary's Baby and Klute as influences, and while The Invitation may work on a smaller, more intimate scale, it gets under your skin just as effectively. After winning acclaim at film festivals worldwide, The Invitation has been picked up by Drafthouse Films as the latest entry in their eclectic library.

Nominally, the title of The Invitation refers to a dinner party thrown by Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her current husband, David (Michiel Huisman, a familiar face from Game of Thrones and Orphan Black). The events are seen almost entirely from the perspective of a key guest, Will (Logan Marshall-Green, Prometheus), who is Eden's former husband and is accompanied this evening by his current girlfriend, Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Will and Eden divorced some years ago following a family tragedy from which Will has never recovered. Eden, by contrast, attended grief counseling, where she met her new husband, and the two appear to have healed together, but in doing so they dropped out of sight. Now, two years later, the couple has invited Will to dinner along with various friends from the old days, presumably to announce their return to normalcy.

But from the moment The Invitation opens on Will and Kira driving into the Hollywood Hills, nothing about the evening is normal. An encounter with a wandering coyote gives the pair a fright, but even more unsettling for Will is the fact that Eden still lives in the house he used to share with her, where terrible things happened and Will is confronted by bad memories wherever he turns. As the evening progresses, social niceties alternate with moments of awkwardness, and it's often hard to tell what's causing the discomfort. Is it Eden's mysterious serenity in these familiar surroundings, or it is Will's tense distraction, as he tries to shake off the ghosts of the past? (Maybe it's both.)

The additional dinner guests are an array of personalities, all of whom exhibit the smiling faces and tentative rapport of acquaintances who have not seen each other for some time. Ben (Jay Larson), Claire (Marieh Delfino) and Gina (Michelle Krusiec) have arrived on their own, although Ben has a wife at home with whom, as he confesses at one point, he is not getting along, and Gina is expecting her boyfriend, Choi (Karl Yune), whose non-arrival becomes a provocative question as the evening wears on. Tommy (Mike Doyle) and Miguel (Jordi Vilasuso) are a gay couple whose ease with each other indicates a longstanding relationship.

Two faces are new to the group, friends from the life that Eden and David have established during their two-year absence. Sadie (Lindsay Burdge) is currently staying with the couple, and her demeanor is provocative from the moment Will first lays eyes on her. Smiling too much, laughing at odd moments, and given to abrupt displays of sexual frankness, Sadie at first appears to be a wounded creature whom Eden and David have taken into their care. But as Will continues to observe her, Sadie's behavior assumes a more troubling aspect (at least to Will). The second new person is the very opposite of Sadie: an older man named Pruitt, who is the picture of calm and serenity, even when he tells a shocking story from his past. He is played by John Carroll Lynch, the talented character actor whose range extends from Marge Gunderson's husband in Fargo to the killer in Zodiac. (The part was written specifically for Lynch.)

As drinks and conversation are followed by dinner and party games, the awkwardness continues and the unease accumulates. Something sinister is indeed brewing under the surface, and Kusama carefully parses out information and modulates the pacing so that, when a cataclysm of violence finally erupts, it feels inevitable. Kusama has described The Invitation as an exploration of the consequences of denying pain and refusing to acknowledge grief, either by holding them at arm's length or by seeking quick-fix solutions. But the film also offers a lesson in the perils of ignoring obvious red flags for the sake of preserving civility and social decorum. The signs are everywhere that this pleasant evening on a hilltop is headed for tragedy, but almost everyone involved tries to tamp down their concerns and keep smiling. Only one attendee heeds the inner instinct signaling danger and tries to leave, but by then it's too late.

The Invitation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Invitation was shot digitally by Bobby Shore (Fubar: Balls to the Wall) with post-production completed on a digital intermediate. Kusama and Shore have cast a red-and-yellow glow over all of the interior scenes inside the hilltop home of Eden and David, which serves as counterpoint to the increasingly disturbing events at the dinner party. This warm palette also establishes a clear contrast to the cold blues and grays that dominate Will's recollections of painful past events, as well as outdoor scenes at dusk and after dark, including the interrupted drive that brings Will and Kira to their hosts' home.

Drafthouse's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray beautifully renders the alternation and juxtaposition of the film's two dominant palettes, but the image is surprisingly soft for a digitally acquired project, appearing at times almost to be filtered. Just to take one example, in many shots, Will's wild growth of beard (an outward manifestation of his inner disorder) looks less like facial hair and more like a smear against his face. Video and color noise are often apparent in the background of the frame, and it's hard to tell whether this results from lighting choices in the original photography, mastering issues or a combination of the two. Compression-related mosquito noise appears from time to time, which is surprising on a Drafthouse release, as the studio typically masters its Blu-rays at high bitrates. In this case, however, they have placed the 100-minute film on a BD-25, of which several gigabytes have been left unused, resulting in an average bitrate of 19.92 Mbps. While this isn't shockingly low for digitally acquired images, The Invitation has numerous scenes of multiple characters interacting across the width of the frame. Better authoring and the more generous bitrate used on most previous Drafthouse releases might have eliminated some of the noise, while retaining more detail.

The Invitation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Drafthouse has consistently provided lossless audio on its Blu-ray releases in recent years, but in a curious turn, The Invitation's 5.1 soundtrack is offered only in Dolby Digital, albeit at the maximum bitrate of 640 kbps. Despite the lossy encoding, the track provides a solid audio experience, clearly reproducing and positioning the dialogue that is the soundtrack's main component. Key sound effects, which can't be described without spoilers, are rendered forcefully, and the minimalist, violin-heavy score by Theodore Shapiro (The Intern) achieves the desired discombobulating impact.

The Invitation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Director Karyn Kusama and Writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi: In an engaging discussion, the director and writer/producers explore the story's underlying themes, its characters' psychology and the cast's performances. There is reference to a deleted scene (which is unfortunately not included) and some discussion of lighting challenges, but for the most part production logistics are not discussed.



• The Making of The Invitation (1080p; 1.78:1; 10:00): Like the commentary, this behind-the-scenes featurette focuses on the characters, their backgrounds and their intentions. With comments from Kusama, Hay, Manfredi and members of the cast.



• Baby You're Gone (music video) (1080p; 1:1.20, pilllarboxed; 1:39): Both this video and "O My Child" (below) consist of a single shot on an enigmatic image. "Baby You're Gone" has the more obvious thematic link to the film.



• O My Child (music video) (1080i; 1: 1.20, pillarboxed; 1:49).



• Trailers
• The Invitation Teaser
• The Invitation Trailer
• 20,000 Days on Earth
• Borgman
• Cheap Thrills
• The Connection
• Spring
• Wake in Fright



• Booklet: The enclosed booklet contains a Director's Statement by Karyn Kusama; an insightful essay on the film by Britt Hayes, an editor for ScreenCrush; stills; and film and disc credits.



• Digital Copy: As always, digital copies from Drafthouse must be downloaded directly and are not available through services such as iTunes or VUDU.

The Invitation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's difficult to discuss The Invitation without betraying its secrets—I think the trailer reveals too much—but it's well worth your time, including repeat viewings to reevaluate every character's actions once you know the outcome. The film requires patience and close attention, as Kusama carefully maneuvers her ensemble of characters into positions of increasing insecurity and peril, using apparently innocuous details to raise questions that turn out to have deadly answers. The closing shot is a stunner. Recommended, despite a less than ideal audio/video presentation.