The Invitation (2022)
The Invitation is a stylish horror thriller aimed at people who are afraid of real horror movies. Like me.
So, as a self confessed scaredy-cat, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s got style, it’s got grace and in the final stages it got so silly, it definitely put a smile upon my face.
I missed the movie when it was in cinemas last year, so when it popped up on Netflix Europe a little while ago, I just couldn’t resist.
The Invitation tells the story of Dracula, but from a new angle. It’s about a young Newyorker, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), who doesn’t have a family anymore and who, on a whim, takes a DNA test. To her surprise she discovers a long-lost British cousin she never knew she had.
When she meets up with Oliver Alexander (Hugh Skinner), who just happens to be on a business trip to New York, he immediately invites Evie to an all-expenses paid family wedding in the English countryside.
Evie’s best friend Grace (Courtney Taylor) warns her that this invitation sounds a little too good to be true, but what the hell.
So far, so good. The movie is stylish to a fault, and Emmanuel (Game of Thrones), makes for a great leading lady. She is also a woke modern woman, who makes Walter apologize not once but twice for the obnoxious behavior of his head butler (Ren)Field (Sean Pertwee).
Walter is, of course, a prime example of white male privilege, but he is so charming - while looking like a young Sean Connery - that Evie cannot help falling in love with him.
But that is before she is thrown into full survival mode when she finally discovers her new family's true intentions and the truth of the matter is presented to her, well, on a plate.
The Invitation takes at least an hour to get going, which is fine by me but will probably make you restless, and in the final half hour it gets more silly than scary, which also worked for me but will probably make you shake your head and give up in disbelief.
Unless you’re like me, of course. Then you will enjoy The Invitation for the guilty pleasure that it is.