The Invite (2026)

Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Don't Worry Darling) directs her third film, also co-starring with Seth Rogen as a beleaguered married couple living in San Francisco.  One fateful evening, her housewife invites over the earthy couple from upstairs (Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz, Oscar-nominee Edward Norton) for a dinner party.  And things go awry.....what results is one of the most highly acclaimed comedies of 2026 so far, let's see if it lives up to the hype!  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

THE INVITE - 2026

Directed by Olivia Wilde

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

Genre: Farcical Dramedy

I think I just saw THE best comedy since previous episode Booksmart....and wouldn't you know it, it came from the SAME director. 😀 Olivia Wilde (with screenwriters Will McCormack and Rashida Jones) has directed a very sharp and extremely funny chamber piece (actually adapted from a Spanish film) focusing only on four characters mainly at one location. It could be a stage play but it still works SO well as a theatrical experience thanks to career-best or NEAR-career-best performances from its cast...and that includes Wilde herself whom I'm pretty sure has never been better as beleaguered San Francisco housewife Angela. 

Angela had decided to host her upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, to the surprise of her equally beleaguered husband Joe played by Seth Rogen. The neighbors are an earthy couple whom she clearly wants to impress, having only encountered them briefly up until this point - they are Pina played by Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz and Hawk played Oscar-nominee Edward Norton. Now to be fair, Cruz, Norton, and especially Rogen have all played characters like these before....but they each make it each it look just so effortless that you can't help but be impressed. 😉

And that's taking nothing away from Wilde acting chops here - she's pretty much on par with their work, I honestly just haven't really seen her in this kind of meatiee role before. Sorry I just mainly remember her as an actress from obvious genre stuff like Tron Legacy or Cowboys & Aliens....though she WAS also pretty great with a smaller role in Rush. She just NAILS portraying some one who is both daffy and sad, which is a great counterpoint to Rogen who's mostly deadpan....and sad. There's actually a deep sadness within just about everyone we meet on-screen, it just becomes revealed when we least expect it. 

But make no mistake, this IS a comedy....it's actually a farce for most of its runtime and when it comes to big laughs, it delivers. 😆 Undoubtedly, this will draw a lot of comparisons to biting relationship-based comedies from the '70's like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice or Carnal Knowledge...definitely some Woody Allen stuff from back in the day too. But for me walking out of the theater, I couldn't help but be reminded somewhat of a kinda forgotten comedy from the '90's....The Ref, starring Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis. 🤔

Not to spoil too much and don't get me wrong, this is a VERY different movie from The Ref, which was at its core a broader holiday comedy....and at least initially more of a vehicle for Leary to riff. But there's a dynamic in that movie between Davis and Spacey playing an embittered (often fighting) married couple which eventually took over that movie....and a somewhat similar dynamic occurs here between Wilde and Rogan's couple. We mostly get wrapped up in the comedy of what transpires both between them and the couple they're having over dinner. But the tonal tightrope walked here by all involved (Wilde pulled this balance off so beautifully in Booksmart as well during some key moments) still adeptly acknowledges the pain felt by these two and it doesn't diminish it, leading to a genuinely touching ending. 

There are several points of the story here which are both uproariously funny AND uncomfortable...and topping out at a tightly wound 107 minutes, I'm kind of in awe of just how well this sticks the landing at the end. 🤗 I don't know...maybe I'm lavishing it with such high praise (as so many others seem to be doing right now....after watching/reading some raves, I tried hard to manage expectations walking in) because I'm starved for more movies LIKE this. 

Best Needle-drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

The score for this film is mostly cello-based and very effective at helping to maintain a tense, comical tone through most of the film…..WHEN it’s just not simply dialogue driven, it’s actually a great complement to much of the dialogue and it comes to us from an up-and-comer from London, Devonte Hynes…..he hasn’t conducted the scores for that many films but most notably just a couple of years ago, he collaborated with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on some genuine banger tracks for previous episode – one of my recent favorites – Challengers. (Audio clip) 

Now obviously his music for this film is VERY different, pretty much all cello and often quite spare.  Unfortunately as of the time of this recording, virtually none of the score is available online – however I found one track which plays early on and while I doubt it’s my favorite, it IS quite representative of the overall vibe of the film…we hear this Angela and Joe are getting tense with each other JUST as their guests come knocking…...this track is fittingly called, “Contentious Environment.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

This is a pretty tight production overall and I honestly don’t believe that ANY talent was wasted.  HOWEVER…..I implore folks out there to SEE THIS IN A MOVIE THEATER.  We need more movies like this, we simply need more comedies in theaters, and I’ll even leave it to the director herself to put it out there…..bottom line if we DON’T show up for movies like these, then most of them will continue to be relegated to streaming. (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Tough call here as this whole film is basically just three or four extended sequences at one location all stitched together….but if I had to choose a highlight, it likely occurs just over a hour into the film when Pina and Hawk FINALLY reveal their true intentions to Angela and Joe about why they’re there….beyond just seeing their apartment.  I’m not going to spoil it but you can KINDA guess it from the lead-up up until this point and if I’m being honest, even the trailers pretty much allude to it.  But no matter because when it happens, it’s an acting AND comedy masterclass from all four involved, probably even moreso Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton as they’re driving this conversation.  Cruz and Norton are just funny as hell here describing their proposal while the reactions from both Wilde and Rogen are priceless, just a GREAT scene! 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Honestly everyone involved brought their A-game to this film – it looks great, it sounds great, the production design for this particular fictional apartment in San Francisco is pitch-perfect, and as I have stated all of the performances are pretty great.  And while I’m not completely sure that she is QUITE as good as Norton or Cruz (which is admittedly setting the bar pretty high) Olivia Wilde has never given a better performance as far as I can tell.  (Audio clip) 

And even moreso, she simply directs the HELL out of this: chamber pieces are extremely difficult to pull off….constricting your main character (or characters) to ONE select location for most if not all of the runtime that most of even THE most talented directors can’t quite land that plane.  Tarantino couldn’t pull it off with The Hateful Eight, that movie just felt like a slog…..my man Danny Boyle TRIED to do it with 127 Hours which is a great movie but he REALLY fudges it with that premise too to pass the time.  Here, Wilde simply never breaks that seal once Pina and Hawk have come over roughly about 15 minutes into the movie…..we never leave this apartment nor do we NEED to.  All of the necessary drama and comedy comes from sharp writing with well-drawn characters, terrific performances, and most importantly…..a confident, assured director to pull it all together.  For directing what I believe is her best feature to date AND THE best film so far of 2026….Olivia Wilde is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5

Simple, straightforward character-based comedies which were being released in theaters much more frequently back in the '90's. But it simply delivers. And props to the smart folks at A24 (yes I know they simply acquired this at Sundance) - between this and The Drama from a couple of months ago (that was good, this was even better), they're making an honest effort to bring those kinds of movies back to theaters, consider me grateful. 🙂

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And that ends another CONTENTIOUS review!