Lobby display at Lincoln Square Theater in NYC
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For the last several years, there’s been one or two movies that really resonated as masterpieces — and this year The Invite kept that streak going.
Knives Out — 2019
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood — 2019
Hamilton — 2020
Babylon — 2022
Barbie — 2023
A Complete Unknown — 2024
Saturday Night — 2024
One Battle After Another — 2025
The Invite — 2026
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I’ve watched it 14 times as of this pub date. And still laugh out loud every freakin time!
Adapted from a 2020 Spanish film called The People Upstairs — this is the fifth country to make their own interpretation of it (!) It’s basically a two-couple play entirely set in one location. And yes, in many ways it’s contemporary update on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It’s basically written and staged like a play — but was created specifically for the screen.
It’s about relationships and the truth.
When it premiered at Sundance in January 2026, it immediately ignited a bidding war from virtually every studio & streaming service, and director & star Olivia Wilde held out for the longest theatrical run, which A24 won. She’s referred to the streaming services’ offers as a “bribe.”
Following her in-theater advice, I first went to see it in a nearly full house at Lincoln Square in Manhattan, and the whole theater was laughing from start to finish. When I got home to Toronto I looked for a screening with the most seats sold, and the same thing happened, except I laughed (along with the audience) even more the second time.
I went in simply thinking I’d have a fun theatrical experience . . . but repeat viewings reveal this to be an absolute masterpiece.
Directors set the tone of a picture both on set and on screen. Olivia pulls off this magic trick of dealing with heavy subjects and an unhappily married couple but has you buoyant and laughing all the way through.
Two of the most important elements to me to making a great film is — it’s gotta have humor and it’s gotta have love — and this has both in spades.
Then, of course, it has to have a great script. My very first takeaway in Manhattan was — This has GOT to be nominated for Best Screenplay! It’s SO smart, SO fast-paced, SO sophisticated — and so the opposite of so much that’s being made these years. The director, actors & screenwriting duo of Rashida Jones (Quincy’s daughter) & Will McCormack workshopped the play (which is really what this is) together for two full weeks — then continued evolving it all through the 23-day shoot.
How it’s all handled — from the macro tone to the micro glances — by director/star Wilde & her cast & cinematographer & editor should sure also make this Best Picture & Best Director nominated.
So, I was so happy when Variety just did an Oscar frontrunners piece and has this listed as being up for Best Picture, Director & Adapted Screenplay — plus Olivia for Best Lead Actress and Penelope Cruz for Best Supporting. It also deserves nominations for Best Casting, Cinematography, Editing, Score and Production Design. More on all that ahead.
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How Olivia directs the movie and delivers this performance is beyond me — although she’s said that working among the actors made her directing job clearer. It sure has resonance with Diane Keaton (to whom the film is dedicated!) in Annie Hall, and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinnie in that she’s an adorable character, mesmerizing (you can’t take your off her) and carries the movie. And both those other two women won Oscars for their work.
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I think this is probably my favorite Lead Actress performance since Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich … 26 years ago!
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The two male leads also deliver master performances in different ways. Seth Rogan as Olivia’s put-upon wise-cracking husband is as funny as he’s ever been — and Ed Norton as the calm male half of the couple upstairs who accept ‘the invite’ is as masterful as he is in every other role he’s taken this century.
And not only is Penelope on Variety’s Best Supporting nomination list — but she was the one who suggested speaking Spanish with her husband — a resonant reality of our 21st century life — and a cool nod to the country of the film’s origin.
The score is only a cello for the first 3/4s of the film — reminding me of Birdman which is entirely scored by drums. Written by Devonté Hynes and played by Kirin McElwain (a woman), it’s punchy, poignant, funny, romantic, and pitch-perfect. And there’s even some super dramatic plucking! What a gutsy brilliant choice by director Olivia!
Oh, and the beautiful song that’s played on the piano in the opening & closing scenes is called I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You). (a cue for anyone unsure about the ending’s meaning). It’s a jazz standard from the 1930s that was first recorded in 1930 by Louis Armstrong, then later by Thelonious Monk, Django Reinhardt & many others,
The film was shot in 35mm — and in chronological order to give the cast the option to evolve their roles as the story played out — and all these experienced thespians ran with it.
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Watch for the framing choices by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra . . . and how the lamps are handled in the apartment, appearing effectively as though they’re all that’s lighting the room.
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Enjoy the heck out of all his wonderful pull-focuses of different facial reactions throughout — and the cool voyeur shots like we’re spying on them thru windows & French doors. And dig how there’s no fancy oners or sweeping showoff shots. It’s all steady — not distracting the audience with movement but letting us learn from the characters’ faces. Not only is it written like a play, it’s shot like a play with us focusing on the actors’ faces. And watch for the playful & super-effective use of mirrors. So often when you’re in an apartment with small rooms, you see what’s going on via mirrors, and he smartly makes great use of that truth.
Here’s a fantastic Sept 2026 interview with D.P. Adam explaining how he shot it.
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Olivia is a one-camera director — meaning it’s not two or more cameras capturing a scene. Every single shot is its own setup — and all the actors buy-in and are on set delivering the lines to their castmates for them to react & respond to.
And thus, watch for the brilliant editing by Anthony Boys & Yorgos Mavropsaridis. This is a human interaction drama, and the revealing reaction shots to the non-stop twists tells so much of the story. And dig the pacing. There’s intentionally long-held shots, and there’s often funny and always impactful fast-cut edits to the different characters’ contrasting reactions. This is so skillfully edited with ‘telling the story’ in mind.
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And then there’s the incredibly detailed production design of the apartment where the entire play takes place. Also reminiscent of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the set becomes a rich fifth character in the drama. Production designer Jade Healy & her team spent a lot of time exploring old San Francisco apartments to get the smallest details exactly right.
Usually when you see a ceiling in a scene you can assume it’s a location shot. Rarely does production design eliminate the all-important overhead lighting grid. As director Olivia told it in a great interview with IndieWire, once the four actors & spartan crew were in the fully built apartment set, they all forgot they were anywhere else.
The costumer is Arianne Phillips — Oscar nominated for and knocked it out of the park with both A Complete Unknown and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — two of the other best movies of the last few years. The foil characters (Ed & Penelope) are dressed in black — contrasting with Olivia & Seth’s earth tones — but it also really allows for those movie stars’ faces to pop on camera.
And the sound editing by Simon Campbell from Abbey Road is fantastic and absolutely pins the peaks — but just about nobody ever thinks about how important sound editing is. There’s so many times he accentuates something funny or dramatic — from the back cracking to the light switches turning off — and they’re just a one-second moments in the film.
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This is an important movie to be recognized & celebrated because there are not many films being written & created for adults that are getting into theaters these years. And this could never have been written & directed by a man. It’s almost an arthouse film — there’s only four characters, one set, and no guns or car chases or CGI. And it has the poetry of dialog of our greatest dramatists — but with more laughs-per-minute than anything Shakespeare or any of the other hall-of-famers ever came up with.
To my eyes & ears this is as good as filmmaking gets.
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For another recent masterpiece — here’s a complete scene-by-scene breakdown of One Battle After Another including lotsa quotes and background . . .
One Battle After Another – Scene-by-Scene Breakdown – Time-Coded, Quotes & Deets
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Or here’s the same kind of scene-by-scene breakdown of A Complete Unknown also full of dialog transcriptions and background on all the songs and real people who make appearances . . .
“A Complete Unknown” Scene Breakdown – Time Codes, Song Titles, Quotes & Context
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Or here’s the 7½ hours of The Beatles: Get Back broken down and time-coded so you can find whatever your’re looking for . . .
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Or here’s my Top 30 Greatest Movies of All-time with explanations and links . . .
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Or speaking of great dramatists — here’s the story of the day I met Arthur Miller and was able to thank him for making my and my father’s life better . . .
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Or here’s when On The Road made its North American premiere and I ended up hanging with director Walter Salles . . .
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by BrianHassett.com
karmacoupon@gmail.com — BrianHassett.com
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