The Invite
**** out of ****
2026, 107 mins, R
Directed by Olivia Wilde
Screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. Based on the Film “The People Upstairs” by Cesc Gay.
Produced by Ben Browning, Megan Ellison, and David Permut.
Cast: Seth Rogan, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton
“The Invite” is like eating perfect meal after 5 Star restaurant. Everything looks good on the menu including a talented Director, Writing Team, and Cast. The ingredients look appealing including a script that is sharp, incisive, meaningful, and hilarious. The execution and results are exceedingly satisfying and delightful.
The set up is deceptively simple: Four people in one apartment. The apartment is the home of married couple Joe (Seth Rogan) and Angela (Olivia Wilde). As the film begins, he is arriving home from work only to discover that she has invited their neighbors from upstairs over for dinner. He works as a Music Teacher at a Jazz Conservatory while she is a stay-at-home wife and mother who has sent the kids away for the evening. They have problems with their marriage, constantly arguing and their relationship has recently become sexless. They argue about these particular neighbors because of the noise they make at night, but Angela has chosen to look past that by extending her invitation and wants desperately to impress them.
The couple upstairs is Pina (Penelope Cruz) who is a divorced psychologist and Hawk (Edward Norton) who is a widower and retired firefighter. They are far more easygoing in their relationship and reveal that the noise they make is entirely because they have sex parties with their friends.
The contrast between the couples is rather fascinating rather obvious because the script is intelligent in how it presents both couples and sex is revealed to be the primary reason that either are the way they are. Joe and Angela are more high-strung, nervous, panicky, awkward, antagonistic, and anxious. A lot of restrained tension between these two. There is no tension between Hawk and Pina. They are relaxed, confidant, refreshed, open, and forward.
The differences play out in a variety of awkward yet subtle and very funny ways that clearly displays each of the character’s dominant traits and foibles. When Angela realizes that she forgot to get wine, she pulls a bottle of champagne from the fridge which is politely entertained by the guests. As Pina reveals her dietary restrictions and offers her own dish, Angela immediately pulls the food she was cooking from the oven and throws it in the trash. When Joe antagonizes the couple on account of the noise they are accepting of the criticism.
All four of these display an uncommon surety to how they approach their characters. Rogan has made a career out of playing highly anxious characters and this time he digs deeper and creates one with a tenderness to match in the most unlikely places. Wilde is pleasingly cheerful as someone who is altogether graceless and, like Rogan, finds the warmth inside that runs counterpoint to what’s on the surface. Cruz is titillating and exacting as a woman who is not manipulative and dominating when it comes to getting what she wants. Norton is cool and casual as the surprisingly even-tempered Hawk.
Wilde also Directs the film and very much displays the same positivity as her debut film 2019’s “Booksmart”. She nails this material with a sure hand and optimistic passion. She makes this story appealing, amusing, and gratifying. She is masterfully skilled in the art of listening to people talk.
