The Invitation

Written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, The Invitation is a 2015 thriller directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard and John Carroll Lynch.

Will (Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend Kira (Corinealdi) have been invited to dinner party in the hills of Los Angeles by Will's ex Eden (Blanchard). The two broke up after the accidental death of their son put too much strain on the relationship and they haven't seen each other for two years. In fact, the dinner party has been thrown by Eden and her new partner David (Huisman) in order to bring a Will and Eden's old group of friend together again as none of them have been in touch since the accident. But Will immediately feels like something is off and the addition of two new guests, Sadie (Lindsay Burdge) and Pruitt (Carroll Lynch), to the party only makes him feel more skeptical of the hosts' motives for this get together...

Well written and confidently directed, The Invitation takes simple yet clever premise and keeps building tension from start to finish whilst also dealing with some hefty themes like loss and grief and how to different individuals cope differently with these emotions. Logan Marshall-Green is particularly strong in the lead role and the film easily mixes suspense, horror and drama to great effect. The Invitation won the International Critic's Award at the Neuchâtel International Fantasy Film Festival, where it was also nominated for Best Film, Best Motion Picture at Stiges and the Jury Prize at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. Not that well known, thriller fans should definitely seek this one out.