Dinner Parties, Secrets And Sex in “The Invite”
Directed by Olivia Wilde, The Invite brings laughs and some spice to a genre that has been painfully unfunny for years.
I say this all the time: I’m starving for good comedies. My particular dislike for the modern examples of the genre (especially the romcom subgenre) has been sufficiently documented in other reviews, so I won’t bore you with it again so soon. But I’m happy to report some good news: I found one!
Praise for The Invite has been floating around online for a few weeks now, but I was unsure whether to trust the critics on this one. My skepticism was based on two factors: firstly, that I’m not a big fan of the actors starring in the movie, and secondly, Olivia Wilde was directing it. I don’t know about you, but the pretentious feminist fever that was Don’t Worry Darling is still fresh in my mind.
It was a pleasant surprise to find that the film was not only competent but also very funny.
What is The Invite About?
Joe and Angela, a couple going through a marriage crisis, invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors, Piña and Hawk, for dinner. The evening takes a turn when the guests reveal a particular aspect of their relationship, bringing up desires and conflicts of everybody present.
An Improvement On The Original Film
In case you are not aware, The Invite is a remake of 2020’s Spanish film Sentimental, based on a play by Cesc Gay. However, The Invite is not a frame-by-frame copy of the original; it takes the most relevant situations and the general personality traits of every character and incorporates some new ideas.
For starters, it makes the hosts’ introduction more dynamic and wastes no time getting into that evening’s drama: Angela is bending over backwards to impress their guests, while Joe wants nothing to do with them.
The strongest point of the project is the constant verbal battles between these two; a nod to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s. That back-and-forth has an impeccable rhythm that is complemented by the use of the soundtrack to show the tension escalating. These two elements make the situation more dramatic and claustrophobic, a nice improvement on the original.
The film’s sense of humor is clearly adapted to the American audience and delves a little more into the details of the neighbors’ lifestyle and their “proposal.” I appreciated that, even though sex is one of the central topics, the script included no nudity or explicit scenes, putting all the drama and spice into the dialogue.
The Invite is also twenty minutes longer than Sentimental and uses that time to explore the characters’ backstories and shed some light on Joe and Angela’s marriage problems. This addition is key to sympathizing with them and understanding why their relationship reached such a critical state. It also makes it possible for the film to have a more optimistic ending, suggesting that maybe the couple can find each other again.
Being a film by Olivia Wilde, a slight feminist edge was inevitable, but I was pleasantly surprised to find so little of it. The few comments that reference the subject come from Piña (Penelope Cruz) and make sense for her character.
The Characters
Despite my reservations, both Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen do a great job in their roles and have a tense chemistry that really works for the story. In fact, this is my favorite performance by Wilde to date. Even though Joe and Angela’s relationship is so strained, there are still sparks of camaraderie between them throughout the film, and that offers us a glimpse of how they used to be.
When it comes to the neighbors, Edward Norton delivers a solid performance as Hawk, and Penelope Cruz plays the sexy and mysterious Spanish woman she usually plays. They make it work, but these two characters are the only point where I think Sentimental was superior.
The Invite gives the neighbors a creepier vibe; they come across as slightly intimidating in spite of their civility. In Sentimental, these characters are presented as the typical overtly social neighbors everybody has had. The man’s behavior feels just inappropriate enough to make you uncomfortable, while the woman is portrayed as a spiritual, optimistic, and joyful person. These are not people you would expect to be organizing orgies in their living room, and that is what makes the discovery more shocking, adding to the comedy. In that sense, Piña and Hawk’s portrayal in The Invite gives the audience a much clearer hint of where the situation is going. It doesn’t ruin the dynamic at all, but I feel they missed an opportunity here.
Overall, I think the script leaves room for the characters to show vulnerability and be flawed, while still holding them accountable for their actions. They are all kind of unlikable, but the movie acknowledges that from the start and does not pick sides.
Reception & Box Office
The Invite was critically acclaimed and was well received by general audiences, reaching a global box office of $37,832,932 so far. It must be considered that, while in the U.S. and other markets the film has been in theaters since the beginning of July (approximately six weekends), other countries have a later release scheduled. For example, in my country, it was released just two weeks ago.
The exact production budget for the project has not been made public. After consulting several sources, we seem to be talking about something in the range of $6,000,000 to $20,000,000. It is my hope that the film was on the cheaper side so it can turn a profit and make it possible for projects of similar scale and quality to find financing.
On my part, this is easily one of my favorite films of 2026. This project and The Roses last year give me a tiny flicker of hope that perhaps comedy can make a comeback in the next couple of years. We are not quite there yet, but this can be interpreted as a little progress.
