On Olivia Wilde’s third directorial outing, The Invite, an adaptation of the Spanish film Sentimental (2020), she scales back to a more contained, intimate story but delivers her most confident and most stylish effort yet. 

The film takes place almost entirely in the apartment of Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Wilde), a couple on the verge of collapse, who are hosting their mysterious, noisy neighbors, Pina (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton). Pina and Hawk feel like everything Joe and Angela struggle to be: they are communicative, passionate, and connected.

The night devolves like a play as this quartet maneuvers through the intricately laid dialogue, each moving in and out of control of the night. All four performers operate at the top of their respective games. Each brings their own distinct comedic sensibility to accentuate Wilde’s carefully crafted chaos, but they aren’t afraid to keep their characters’ pain readily available. They’re passionately devouring Rashida Jones and Will McCormack’s precise script and somehow elevating these characters who are so deeply layered. Every conversation has another conversation wrapped up in it, and each actor pulls it apart delicately and thoughtfully.

Although this is contained to a single location with just four performers, Wilde and cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra infuse Joe and Angela’s apartment with an incredible sense of space and depth. Wilde’s always been a good director, but here it feels like Wilde really steps into her artistry. Every shot is intentional in the way it isolates a character, makes the audience feel voyeuristic, or pulls them right into the heat.

In all of The Invite’s chaotic, comedic glory (the overlapping dialogue, the sharp edit choices via Yorgos Mavropsaridis and Anthony Boys), a much more melancholic story cuts through. Wilde underscores the film with a tangible ache to be seen, to be understood, to feel connected. The comedic heights and the devastating lows culminate in something deeply human and incredibly entertaining.

Capsule Review Courtesy of Adam Patla

Feature Image Courtesy of A24 via Slant Magazine