The Invite (MA) – 107 minutes

It starts with a pointed quote from Oscar Wilde: “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”

Then, a whip smart script and some seriously good acting transport us to eye opening conversation between two couples living in the same apartment block.

Music teacher Joe (Seth Rogen) and his wife Angela’s (Olivia Wilde) daughter is sleeping out for the night.

The couple isn’t exactly on the same page when Angela invites their free-spirited upstairs neighbours over for dinner.

Angela and Joe, having recently completed a refurbishment of their place in San Francisco, are at loggerheads.

Truth be told, their marriage is on very shaky ground and Joe’s regularly miserable countenance isn’t helping matters.

When he arrives home from work that day, Joe isn’t in the right frame of mind for visitors.

But Angela gives him no choice because she has spent considerable time preparing. 

Joe and Angela are still fighting when psychotherapist and sexologist Piña (Penelope Cruz) and her former firefighter boyfriend Hawk (Edward Norton) ring the doorbell.

Joe has an axe to grind with them due to the loud noises coming from their apartment when they are having sex.

Much to Angela’s horror, Joe tells her he intends to confront them about it.

Joe hardly makes them feel welcome, but Hawk tells Joe that he appreciates his candour.

Conversation between the couples lurches back and forth from awkward and heated to convivial, with an emphasis on the former.

Also, it is clear that there is sexual tension in the air, which will get a whole lot more charged. Joe and Angela are about to be shocked.

With a screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, The Invite is an English-language remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs by Cesc Gay.

In turn, The People Upstairs was adapted from Gay’s play of the same name that opened in Barcelona in 2015.

A four-hander, The Invite has a decidedly theatrical feel, although, importantly, there is no shortage of twists in amongst the blunt talk and soul-searching.

It is a most engaging work, courtesy of fine performances. None is better than Seth Rogen, who generates humour, antipathy and surprise as Joe.

As Piña, a smouldering Penelope Cruz heats up the screen with her confidence and charisma. 

There is an inherent sadness, anxiety, disappointment and frustration in Olivia Wilde’s portrayal of Angela.

Wilde also doubles are the film’s director, and a most accomplished one at that.

She made her mark with Booksmart (2019) and continues to convey that aptitude in The Invite.

Edward Norton conveys a pleasant demeanour, while cutting to the chase, as Hawk.

I also appreciated the sound bed that accompanies the work. Devonté Hynes is responsible for the stirring composition.

There are no beg pardons about The Invite and that is its strength.

Rated MA, it scores an 8 out of 10.