IT’LL BE FUN.
In my last apartment, I used to have neighbors upstairs whose sexual activities occasionally woke me up in the middle of the night. His climax would be my alarm clock. I really didn’t mind that much, because it didn’t happen that often, I fell asleep again immediately, and, you know… good for them.
In The Invite, Seth Rogen intends to address the issue of loud fucking with his neighbors, taking them all on an unexpected journey.
Inviting the neighbors
To Joe (Rogen) it comes as a surprise when his wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) tells him that they’re having their neighbors over for dinner that night. He is in no mood to entertain guests and an argument erupts, not unusual in this San Francisco apartment, since the couple’s marriage has been shaky for a long time now. Suddenly, the neighbors are at the door: Piña and Hawk (Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton) are in time for Angela’s dinner, which consists of no wine, a spread of cheese and jamón (which Piña can’t eat) and a burnt soufflé. The conversation quickly turns interesting though, and the neighbors have a surprising idea they want to share.
Women through different ages
This is the third film that Olivia Wilde directed, and she’s increasingly interesting as a filmmaker. She started out with Booksmart (2019), a comedy about high-school seniors about to go off to college, and followed up with the stylish Stepford Wives-type thriller Don’t Worry Darling (2022). In a recent interview, Wilde was asked about her interest in portraying women through different ages; this was definitely something she wanted to do as a filmmaker. The Invite takes us into the 40s, a time when marriages may unravel and some degree of experimenting might take place.
At first sight, Angela and Joe may seem very unhappy and a typical example of a couple where everybody asks themselves why the hell they’re still together, while Piña and Hawk may come across as sexy and comfortable with their arrangement, which, granted, isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. As the story progresses, we get to know the couples better and things become more complicated. The film was based on a Spanish play, which was turned into a film in Spain called The People Upstairs (2020). There’s no doubt that playwright Cesc Gay hit on something universal: apart from the U.S., the play was turned into a movie in four other countries, and yet another adaptation will premiere in Belgium next year. Will McCormack and Rashida Jones did an excellent job Americanizing the play, an important part of a great collaboration involving Wilde and her cast, including Norton who wrote a speech for his character near the end of the film that becomes an emotional high point.
Seth Rogen is first-rate as the thoroughly miserable Joe.
On the whole, The Invite is very good at that, touching on the issues, problems and perhaps even fantasies that we recognize, addressing them with an authenticity and sense of humor that we readily embrace; this is a very funny movie. Rogen is certainly one reason for that; he’s first-rate as the thoroughly miserable Joe, and so are Cruz and Norton as the adventurous neighbors. At first, Wilde comes across as a tad too hysterical as Angela, but there’s a lot more depth to the character and her motivations, which we soon learn.
The last scene is a nice bookend with what plays out over the opening credits, but Wilde and Rogen disagree on how to read it. In the latter’s view, it’s a hopeful, positive ending. Wilde sees it differently. We in the audience can draw our own conclusions. In other words, there’s much for couples to chew on here.
The Invite 2026-U.S. 107 min. Color. Directed by Olivia Wilde. Screenplay: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones. Play: Cesc Gay (”The People Upstairs”). Cast: Seth Rogen (Joe), Olivia Wilde (Angela), Penélope Cruz (Piña), Edward Norton (Hawk).
Trivia: At one point, Amy Adams, Paul Rudd and Tessa Thompson were slated to star.
Last word: “The use of wide shots versus extreme close-ups was heavily influenced by both Lumet and Mike Nichols. The idea that the audience would feel at times intrinsically connected to one character’s emotional crisis and at other times, like more of a voyeur, it takes advantage of the medium in a way that you feel inspired to do when I think you’re doing a movie based on a play, because you’re asking yourself the whole time, ‘Why is this a film and not just a play?'” (Wilde, RogerEbert.com)