One of the favourite approaches to filmmaking of late is making the audience feel uncomfortable. The Drama is a perfect example, as we watched a couple heading to the altar, but a secret spins their world around. You find yourself hiding in your hands as you watch things spiral out of control. Now we have The Invite, which could make a perfect double bill for the uncomfortable, as we watch a marriage on its last legs that gets worse when neighbours are invited for an evening. Directed by Olivia Wilde, who had already given us a winner in Booksmart and the less successful Don’t Worry, Darling, this is a nightmarish comedy that will have you laughing out loud while wanting to curl up and die.

Joe and Angela are walking on thin ice in their routine marriage. She has invited her neighbours to join them for an evening, although Joe is immediately on his guard. When Hawk and Pina arrive, the evening starts off politely, but things start to turn in a very unexpected direction that could pull Joe and Angela further apart.

Based on a 2020 Spanish movie, Snetimental, which had already been remade twice before, plays out like a four-hander stage production. Apart from the opening, where we meet Joe at a musical recital rehearsal, the rest of the film is set in Joe and Angela’s apartment, moving the action through its various rooms. Yet, this is never restrictive, as Wilde uses a series of neat little cinematic tricks, allows the performers to do their thing, and has plenty of trust in the script by Will McCormack and Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones.

It feels like a pressure cooker about to explode as Joe and Angela have very different approaches to life. He was in a failed band, and his dreams of pop success have led him to refuse to touch his keyboard in his office. She spends her days decorating and making the home look presentable. Very different from the touchy-feely Hawk and Pina, he’s a former firefighter, and she is a psychotherapist. Joe and Angela’s life is chaotic and hardly on the same page, and considering how much Angela is in touch with her home, they don’t seem to have wine or, indeed, wine glasses, while the other couple seem completely in tune with each other.

We watch as issues are being held back, as Hawk and Pina make a proposition to the other couple that could make or break them, and as they all react to each other, while you find yourself watching through your fingers. This is often as horrific as the scariest horror film. Yet at the same time, the balance between cringing and comedy is strong. This is very funny indeed, and you do question whether you should be laughing at this demolition of a marriage.

To make this kind of film work, all the elements must work. The script is cracking. Wilde’s direction is controlled yet cleverly chaotic. The one thing that needs to work more than anything is the performances, and they are first-class. As Joe and Angela, Seth Rogen and Wilde, for the first time, she has directed herself in a lead role, are brilliant. Rogan has always managed to make the slacker work, and he does it again here. He is a man brimming with frustration and anger, and has lost all his love for music and life, being more angry about a foldable bike, having to take his shoes off, and the frustration of listening to his neighbours’ nighttime activities. Wilde spends her time trying to make the best impression and is a woman on the verge of a total meltdown. Her facial expressions are often hilarious as she tries to warn Joe not to go where he wants to with their guests.

As Pina and Hawk, you couldn’t get better than Penelope Cruz and an incredibly smooth but sleazy Edward Norton. Cruz seems to be the only one in control; with her softly spoken Spanish accent, she seems to be the only adult in the room. Norton, however, is a revelation, delivering perfect comic timing for each line and coming across as Mr Nice Guy while having an element of being a jerk. All four complement each other, and yet these are three-dimensional characters made even more human by the cast, who inject life into them.

The Invite is a wonderfully spiky surprise. A smart, mature comedy that will have you laughing while wanting to stop them from talking. A compelling, original film that proves once again what a terrific director Wilde is turning into.

5 out of 5

Director: Olivia Wilde

Starring: Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton

Written by: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones and (based on the motion picture ‘Sentimental’ ) Caesc Gay

Running Time: 107 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 3rd July 2026