What Is the Story About?
Inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the film follows a young woman Evie 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. The Invitation supposedly is an interesting rendition to the Dracula story that we’ve seen quite a lot.
Performances?
Nathalie Emmanuel is exceptional in The Invitation. The film is silly, predictable and all sorts of funny not in a good way, but Nathalie’s arresting screen presence and grace captivates you throughout.
Analysis?
The Invitation, written by Blair Butler and directed by Jessica M Thompson re-imagines Dracula and tries to twist the tale in an interesting way but fails to land where it was supposed to.
The film opens to a woman in white who suicides from a mansion as she murmurs ‘everything will end with me’. The screen then cuts to a struggling artist Evelyn “Evie” Jackson, who makes a living freelancing for a catering business with her best friend Grace. She takes a DNA test from a free test demo and discovers that she now has a distant cousin in England named Oliver Alexander. She meets Oliver and he narrates her the scandal of her great-grandmother, Emmaline, who had a secret child with a black footman.
Very conveniently Oliver invites her to an upcoming family wedding in England, where she meets the lord of the manor, Walter De Ville, and a longtime maid of the estate. She also meets the rest of the Alexander family and the maids of honor, friendly Lucy and condescending Viktoria. Quite expectedly, things start looking spookier to Evie and the visuals even tries to make a failed call back to Ari Aster’s Midsommar (only to deceive the audience with nothing).
The Invitation’s narrative tries to build up a shocking revelation, only to deliver some of the most cliched vampire sequences ever later. The Invitation unsurprisingly neither evokes fear nor mystery. Nathalie Emmanuel’s performance, however is so starry. She exudes so much grace and power that some of the most ridiculously shot scenes also appear watchable. She also shares good chemistry with Thomas Doherty.
In short, The Invitation actually had an interesting spin to go by it. A feminist angle to the tale, sure must have looked good on paper, but the execution failed big time. Dracula could’ve been reimagined more cleverly like the many reinterpretations we’ve seen onscreen earlier. The Dracula Untold, for example. But, The Invitation just refuses to rise over it’s mediocrity, predictability and ridiculousness. That said, if you’re in for some corny weekend watch the film could just not bore you.
Other Artists?
Thomas Doherty as the mysterious De Ville quite aces the mystery man tinge that his character had. Although he did share some good chemistry with Nathalie, he doesn’t quite stand a candle to her screen presence, unfortunately. Alana Boden is chirpy and funny, while Stephanie Corneliussen oozes the vamp energy quite literally.
Music and Other Departments?
Dara Taylor’s music is quite good when separated from the film, but doesn’t elevate the mood of the film. The writing being basic and predictable doesn’t help either. Autumn Eakin’s cinematography is also disappointing.
Highlights?
Nathalie Emmanuel
The idea of re-imagining Dracula
Nathalie and Doherty’s chemistry
Drawbacks?
Writing
Direction
Cinematography
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes. In Parts.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes. But with huge reservations.
The Invitation Movie Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
