The Invite Is the Funniest, Most Uncomfortable Dinner Party of the Year
★★★★½ 4.5/5
Sharp, uncomfortable, and very funny.
Is The Invite good?
Yes — critics have rated it very highly, though it carries an 82% Celluloid Score once you factor in a noticeably cooler general-audience response. Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton anchor a single-location comedy-drama that critics have called some of the best ensemble work of the year.
What is The Invite about?
A married couple, worn down by their upstairs neighbors’ noisy sex life, invites them over to talk it out — and the dinner spirals into confessions about swinging, jealousy, and the state of both relationships. What starts as farce keeps sharpening into something more sincere as the night goes on.
Should you watch The Invite?
If you like a tightly constructed, dialogue-driven comedy that isn’t afraid to get uncomfortable, this is a clear yes. It rewards patience with tone shifts — the biggest laughs and the most genuine gut-punches often arrive back to back.
How does it compare to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Several critics have reached for that comparison, and it holds up — both films trap two couples in one room and let long-simmering resentments do the work. The Invite is broader and funnier by design, but it’s chasing the same kind of slow-building discomfort.