The Invitation (2022 film)

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The Invitation
The Invitation (2022 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJessica M. Thompson
Written byBlair Butler
Produced byEmile Gladstone
Starring
CinematographyAutumn Eakin
Edited byTom Elkins
Music byDara Taylor
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • August 26, 2022 (2022-08-26) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[1]
Box office$33.6 million[2][3]

The Invitation is a 2022 American horror thriller film directed by Jessica M. Thompson and written by Blair Butler. The film stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty. Inspired by the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the film follows a young woman who, following her mother's death, meets long-lost family members for the first time, only to discover the dark secrets they carry with them.[4]

Originally titled The Bride, the film was produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert's Ghost House Pictures, with Butler writing the script. However, Raimi and Tapert exited due to scheduling conflicts. By 2020, the film's director, producer and new title were announced. Casting occurred from May to October 2021, with filming beginning that September in Budapest.

The Invitation was released theatrically in the United States on August 26, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It received generally negative reviews from critics, praising Emmanuel’s acting but criticizing the story, screenplay, and scares, and grossed $33 million worldwide on a $10 million budget.

Plot[]

In New York City, struggling artist Evelyn "Evie" Jackson makes a living freelancing for a catering business with her best friend Grace. At Grace's suggestion, Evie takes a DNA test, discovering she has a distant cousin in England named Oliver Alexander. Although hesitant, Evie agrees to meet Oliver the next day. He tells her the scandal of her great-grandmother, Emmaline, who had a secret child with a Black footman while engaged to be married. He then invites her to an upcoming family wedding in England, which she reluctantly accepts. Evie arrives in Whitby at the New Carfax Abbey, where she meets the lord of the manor, Walter De Ville, and Mrs. Swift, a longtime maid of the estate. She later meets the remaining Alexander family members, as well as the maids of honor, friendly Lucy and condescending Viktoria.

Evie gradually begins to notice unsettling occurrences during her stay as a guest. She sees an apparition of Emmaline, who was shown in a flashback, hanging herself from the foyer staircase. Maids start disappearing as they are attacked by a shadowy figure. Meanwhile, Evie finds herself romanced by Walter and they leave a party to go to his room, where they share a kiss. Evie later discovers he had been researching her before her arrival. She confronts him about it and threatens to leave, but the two eventually reconcile and have sex.

The family hosts a rehearsal dinner, where Evie expects to finally meet the bride and groom. Walter announces to everyone that he and Evie are to be wed, shocking her. The butler, Mr. Field, slits a maid's throat and pours her blood into a bowl, much to Evie's horror. Walter, Lucy, and Viktoria are all revealed to be vampires who then drink the maid's blood. Evie's ancestors, the Alexanders, are one of the three families who, for centuries, have each offered one of their women to become Walter's wife, in exchange for protection and wealth. Emmaline was originally intended to be Walter's third bride, but she killed herself after becoming a vampire due to her guilt of killing off humans, so he plans to marry Evie instead. Evie is taken to a cellar by Viktoria and Lucy, before Viktoria locks a frantic Evie inside a coffin. Evie is freed from the coffin by Mrs. Swift and escapes while Mrs. Swift is killed by Mr. Field. Evie makes it into town by nighttime, where she is tricked and knocked unconscious by an elderly couple, who used to work for Walter.

Evie wakes up to find herself with a maid she met earlier, Diya, and Walter in his room. Walter indirectly reveals himself to be Dracula as he mentions he was once known as the "Son of the Dragon". Evie then watches Walter bite into Diya's leg and falls unconscious. Upon waking up, Evie is now in a wedding dress and veil, walking down the aisle to wed Walter. As they finish exchanging vows, she bites Walter's arm, consuming his blood, and instantly transforms into a vampire. She sets the wedding chapel on fire, stabs Walter in the heart, and flees with Diya to the foyer. An enraged Viktoria soon ambushes Evie, but Lucy intervenes before Viktoria can kill Evie. The two brides fight each other before Lucy impales both Viktoria and herself into a spear, killing them both and turning them into ashes.

Evie is then attacked by Mr. Field, who insults her biracial heritage and mentions her great-grandfather being killed, before she manages to kill him. As Evie heads back to the front of the foyer, she is chased by an aged Walter, who grabs her neck and tells her that he could have granted her immortality. She breaks free of his hold by severing his wrist with a cheese wire and kicks him into the flames behind him. As he dies, she reverts back to human form and leaves the manor as it burns down. Two weeks later, Evie and Grace track down Oliver in London and follow him into his office, intending to attack him for selling Evie out for money.

Cast[]

Production[]

In April 2019, Screen Gems acquired an untitled pitch from Blair Butler, who was also attached to write the screenplay. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert were on board to produce the film for their production company Ghost House Pictures; however, they eventually exited the project.[5][6] In June 2020, it was revealed that the film would be titled The Bride and that Jessica M. Thompson was set to direct, with Emile Gladstone producing without Raimi and Tapert.[6] The original script was written by Butler, who drew inspiration from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, with revisions by Thompson.[6][7] In June 2022, the film's new title was announced as The Invitation.[8][9]

Nathalie Emmanuel and Garrett Hedlund were cast in lead roles in May 2021.[7] That August, Alana Boden and Stephanie Corneliussen were added to the main cast.[10][11] In October, Thomas Doherty, Hugh Skinner, Sean Pertwee, and Courtney Taylor joined the cast, with Doherty replacing Hedlund.[12]

Principal photography began in September 2021 in Budapest, Hungary.[13]

Release[]

The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 26, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing.[14]

Box office[]

As of October 16, 2022, The Invitation has grossed $25 million in the United States and Canada, and $8.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $33.6 million.[3][2]

In the United States and Canada, The Invitation was released alongside Three Thousand Years of Longing and Breaking.[1] The film made $2.6 million on its first day (including $775,000 from Thursday night previews)[15][16] and grossed $6.8 million from 3,114 theaters during its opening weekend.[17] It was the lowest-grossing film to top the box office since Spiral ($4.5 million) in May 2021.[18] In its sophomore weekend the film made $4.7 million (and a total of $5.7 million over the four-day Labor Day frame), dropping 30.7% and finishing fifth.[19]

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 26% of 57 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's consensus reads, "Despite a very likable lead and a refreshingly light touch, The Invitation is ultimately too predictable to thrill as either a romance or a horror story."[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[22]

Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times wrote: "For a fright-fest as broad as this one, there's an awful lot of banal dialogue, and the scare patterns are repetitive enough that even the easiest startlers (I count myself among them) grow immune early on."[23] Joe Leydon of Variety wrote in his review: "Despite some ambitious efforts to revitalize hoary horror movie tropes with allegorical commentary on race, class and male privilege, [the film] is too wearyingly hackneyed for too much of its running time."[24]

Notes[]

  1. ^ TSG Entertainment's first credited film to be co-financed with Sony Pictures under Screen Gems

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Rubin, Rebecca (August 24, 2022). "Box Office: Box Office: Three New Movies Slink Into Theaters, With Limited Expectations". Variety. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Invitation". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Invitation". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Noraas, Dana (July 24, 2022). "'The Invitation': Release Date, Trailer, Cast, and Everything We Know So Far". Collider. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Kit, Borys (April 15, 2019). "Screen Gems Picks Up Bride Horror Thriller With Sam Raimi Producing (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Kroll, Justin (June 10, 2020). "Jessica M. Thompson to Direct Horror-Thriller 'The Bride' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Kroll, Justin (May 17, 2021). "'Game Of Thrones' Alum Nathalie Emmanuel And Garrett Hedlund To Star In Screen Gems' Horror Pic 'The Bride'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  8. ^ Squires, John (June 23, 2022). "'The Invitation' – Sony's 'Dracula'-Inspired Horror Movie 'The Bride' Gets New Title and August Date". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  9. ^ Hamman, Cody (June 24, 2022). "The Bride: Dracula-inspired film is set for August release under the title The Invitation". JoBlo. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  10. ^ Grobar, Matt (August 16, 2021). "Alana Boden Boards Screen Gems Film 'The Bride'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Grobar, Matt (August 24, 2021). "Stephanie Corneliussen Joins Screen Gems Film 'The Bride'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 4, 2021). "'Gossip Girl's Thomas Doherty To Star in Screen Gems 'The Bride'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Daniels, Nia (August 26, 2021). "Exclusive: Horror feature The Bride to shoot in Budapest with Garrett Hedlund". KFTV. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  14. ^ Renner, Brian D. (August 17, 2022). "Everything You Need to Know About The Invitation Movie (2022)". Movie Insider. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  15. ^ Welk, Brian (August 26, 2022). "'The Invitation' Scares Up $775,000 at Thursday Box Office". TheWrap. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 27, 2022). "Horror Pic 'The Invitation' Leads Worst Weekend At This Summer's Box Office, All Pics Grossing $54M". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (August 30, 2022). "Without Any New Major Releases, Will 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Return to No. 1 at Box Office?". Variety. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  18. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (August 28, 2022). "'The Invitation' Tops Box Office With $7 Million in Catastrophically Slow Weekend". Variety. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  19. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 3, 2022). "Rebound Summer Loses Heat With Ice Cold Labor Day Weekend — Even With $3 Tickets On National Cinema Day; 'Top Gun: Maverick' Nearing $700M – Saturday AM Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  20. ^ "The Invitation". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Invitation". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  22. ^ Murphy, J. Kim (August 27, 2022). "'The Invitation' Opening on Top as August Box Office Ends With a Whimper". Variety. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  23. ^ Winkelman, Natalia (August 26, 2022). "'The Invitation' Review: Bringing Down the Haunted House". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  24. ^ Leydon, Joe (August 26, 2022). "'The Invitation' Review: Numbingly Predictable Horror Thriller Packs a Few Last-Minute Twists". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

External links[]

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