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tonight's feature: The Invitation (2015) on Shudder
Some movies are such a slow burn they simply don't work. Some slow burns are too slow for a lot of people. The Invitation is a slow burn that hit me at just the right time. Because once it hits, it's like going from 10 miles an hour to 100 miles an hour straight into a brick wall, which could be good or bad, depending on the writing.
Will and Kira are headed to a dinner party at the home of his ex-wife, Eden (well, also his ex-home). A lot of old friends are there along with Eden's new husband David and a few of David's odd new friends. Will keeps getting weird vibes even though David says to just be cool. They start playing some suggestive word games and one friend decides she's had enough and leaves. Dinner is served and things seem fine but something is bothering Will. Despite finding out slowly that Will and Eden lost a child a few years ago, you find out that David is into some very weird hippy new age religious sort of shit. The group starts to wonder if David is trying to sell it like some Amway but he laughs it off. Will gets more and more suspicious to the point that he embarrasses himself. Eventually though, he was right all along and something very, very bad is about to go down.
The Invitation probably won't be for everyone, but if you've got a little patience for character building and backstory... and love a serious horror payoff, this flick will hit the spot. 9 glasses of red wine out of 10.
