The Invite (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Olivia Wilde

Starring:  Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton

The Invite is a simple tale that I'm not surprised to learn started as a stage play and has been adapted to the movies on two other occasions.  The Invite has four characters and we spend ninety minutes with them at fragile stages of their lives, although none of them will admit it.  One constantly bickering couple is Joe (Rogen) and Angela (Wilde-who also directed).  Angela invited their upstairs neighbors Hawk (Norton) and Pina (Cruz) over to dinner without informing Joe, likely because he would've said no.  Angela burns the souffle, but otherwise puts on a dog-and-pony show in order to impress their neighbors.  Joe, however, isn't so quick to welcome them, because their late-night sex parties keep Joe up.  

Hawk is an affable retired firefighter who is open to sexual experimentation like his therapist wife Pina.  Their stories of orgies, swinging, and BDSM acts shock Joe and Angela, who rarely have sex as their years of marriage wear on.  Hawk and Pina attempt to entice Joe and Angela into becoming their next partners, but Joe has to say his piece about the all-night banging which keeps him up.  Not that he's not attracted to Pina, while Angela lets Hawk know she may be interested.  We wonder if there is more to Hawk and Pina, and not surprisingly, there is.  Both use sex to mask vulnerabilities and insecurities about growing older.  Both are generally kind people who despite their parties seem lonely.  

Joe and Angela are in a mid-marriage crisis, while neither wants to admit it.  Joe gave up his dream of rock stardom to take on a professorship at a local university that he clearly hates.  They have a daughter who is staying over at a friend's house, but Joe and Angela wrestle with the idea of staying together for her sake.  The Invite is populated by accomplished actors who relish the material.  Seth Rogen is known mostly for comedy, and his affable presence is always welcome, but he's more than capable of handling dramatic turns such as The Fabelmans and Steve Jobs.  The Invite maintains a tone straddling the line between what's comic and what's pathetic.  It ends predictably, and under the circumstances, rather touchingly.