The Invitation: Is It Worth Watching?
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Image Courtesy Of Screen Gems
This 2022 horror film follows Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), a young woman who recently lost the last of the only family she knew. So, she decides to take a DNA test to find more family and to learn where she comes from. Through that, she meets a cousin that invites her to England where she’s introduced to the charming, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), and sparks start flying between the two. But while here, she realizes that her new found family isn’t as they seem, and discovers things that will change her life forever.
So if you’re looking for a movie to watch tonight that’ll give you a good scare, why not watch this?
The Characters
In most, if not all horror films, you know something is off right from the beginning. So, naturally you might start to theorize what’s going to happen, and as you’re introduced to more characters, you might start to guess who’s good, who’s bad or maybe you just don’t know. Then as the movie continues, and you start to gain more information, your opinion on a character, or prediction of where the story will go, might shift.
One example of this could be Evie’s cousin, Oliver (Hugh Skinner). Evie and him find each other through the DNA test that Evie takes. Once they start talking, they decide to meet in person for lunch. During that time, he invites her to a wedding that’s coming up. She’s hesitant, but he’s persistent and keeps pushing it until she finally agrees. This action can be seen as sketchy considering they just met, and even though they are technically family, they don’t know each other. But this could also be brushed off as simple as a guy who’s really excited to find out about a long lost relative, and just wants to introduce her to everyone else.
Post Production Added The Final Elements
The crew that work on post-production come in after filming is finished, and put it all together. They oversee editing, music and special effects. That might include changing lighting, adding rain or fire, or creating and adding a monster of some kind. In this movie, they did a great job of putting everything together in a way that can make your heart jump into your throat at times.
Take the first three minutes of the movie. They had a blue grey colour for night and had the camera focus on a pair of shoes and then heightened the sound of the shoes as well. There wasn’t much dialogue in this scene, but when someone did speak, you might have heard a slight echo. Then they abruptly add this very intense and suspenseful music that when put together with everything else, will make you jump back in your seat.
Link to this scene is here if you want to watch it
They Made References to Original Novel
The original story of Dracula was written by Abraham Stoker in 1897. Overtime though, the story has changed many, many times. However, throughout the movie, they make loads of references to the original story. Which if you’ve had the opportunity to read the story of Dracula, or a big fan of movies about Dracula, I’m sure this is something that might interest you, or something you might even appreciate.
One instance is when Evie runs away after the “Wedding Rehearsal“, and she meets an elderly couple named Mina & Jonathan. They let her come into their home, and give her some tea. But they end up drugging her to bring her back to Walt. In the original story though, there was also a couple named Mina & Jonathan. But in the story, Dracula turned Mina, and the couple kills him so Mina will become a human again, and they can live out the rest of their lives together.
Then also in the original story, with the help of Jonathan, Dracula buys an estate called Carfax Abbey. In The Invitation, De Ville’s mansion is called New Carfax.
But these are just two examples of how the film paid homage to the original tale. There are more. CBR has a list of other references and IMDB also has some in their trivia section for the film if you’d like to check those out.
Kaitlyn is a 19 year old college student from the small city of Brockville, Ontario. Kaitlyn is attending Algonquin College, and currently in the Professional Writing program, and she aspires to be a writer for TV & Film. All of her life, Kaitlyn has been a huge nerd for fictional books, shows and movies of all genres. She’s especially grown up watching anything & everything related to crime, and it was only a few years ago that she became a fan of horror.
If you’ve like to see more of her content, check out her YouTube channel, Maze Craze, as well as her Quotev account of the same name.
Hope you have a good day. And remember: Always watch your back…
