Formula: Get Out * Ready or Not
It’s a fun challenge to try and sell someone on a horror movie. Horror relies on its ability to surprise an audience, yet marketing needs something to sell the movie on. So often, the biggest scare in a movie gets used as the stinger in the trailer. Some films are executed so well that the moment still lands in the theater but only a select few can rely on that. Then there are movies like The Invitation which spoil almost the whole movie in the trailer and the rest gets spoiled by every print description of the movie. Leading up to when I saw The Invitation, the only way I saw it described was as a vampire horror romance. The trailer covers all of the plot except the vampire part, so every description of it calling it a vampire movie left nothing unspoiled by the time I bought my ticket.
As the trailer details, Nathalie Emmanuel plays Evie, a broke artist working as a waitress in New York City. After taking a DNA test, she finds that she has relatives in England. One of them finds her and meets with her. He invites her to a family wedding in England. She’s pleased to have family, since she was recently orphaned, and accepts the invitation. In England, she ends up being the guest of honor at a palatial manor owned by a charming British lord (Thomas Doherty). Eventually, it turns out that there’s something nefarious going on there – vampires – and Evie is actually promised as the bride for this family wedding – because vampires.
Knowing about the vampires early on really steps on a lot of the unease in the film. The film itself is actually pretty effective at setting “something’s not right” moments. It’s obvious early on that Evie is getting unusual attention from everyone. In a lot of ways this plays like Get Out. Emmanuel sticks out in a sea of whiteness. She even has a loud best friend she talks to on the phone who keeps warning her. I try to imagine if I’d watched Get Out the first time already knowing that it was a community Stepford-ing black people. Get Out is a better made movie, so it would’ve worked better than in The Invitation. It definitely would’ve killed some of the fun of it though.
The main reason I saw this was for Nathalie Emmanuel. I still don’t have a grasp of what her optimal screen persona is. It’s strange that she, a Brit, opted to play an American who travels to England. I mean, her American accent is fine. It’s just a weird choice to me. Couldn’t she have been a Londoner invited to a more remote part of England? Anyway, she’s good enough playing this like someone who thinks they are in a romance movie, not a horror movie. Her hero moments late are a little silly, but this movie is silly. I didn’t recognize much of the rest of the cast. Thomas Doherty is a Disney Channel regular who moved onto the new Gossip Girl. And I’ll say that he doesn’t feel like a child star looking to do something different in this. Frankly, I was surprised to realize he’s actually 6 years younger than Emmanuel. Young Harry from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again - I mean - Hugh Skinner is appropriately uncomfortable to watch. I definitely looked at some of his body language and asked myself “Is he up to something or is he just British?”. Alana Boden and Stephanie Corneliussen make a good “Sweet & Sour” combo. Overall, I’d call the casting a strength of this in a Moneyball sort of way. A lot of gettable stars but well-chosen for their roles.
The Invitation is a Screen Gems movie through and through. That is Sony’s genre film division. The Invitation is equal parts Don’t Breathe (fun, high concept horror) and Obsessed (somewhat cheesy thriller). It’s very much a movie that will depend on your expectations going in. I didn’t expect much. It’s a Screen Gems late August release with few namable stars. It’s right to expect a little camp, a few telegraphed scares, and some decent thrills. I will say I was pleased with its handling of race and class issues. It’s impossible to ignore that the cast is utterly devoid of black cast members except for Emmanuel and her friend, mainly seen via Facetime. The film addresses it but doesn’t move it to the center in ways that its unable to pull off. I fully expect this kind of movie to beat me over the head with that. This movie isn’t subtle, but at least it’s not punishing. If I go into a movie expecting a D and getting a C-, it’s still below average, but it feels a lot better than expecting an A- and getting a B+.
Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment