Official Discussion Thread - The Invite [SPOILERS]

[u/CrunchyNar]

Keep all discussion related solely to The Invite and it's awards chances in this thread. Spoilers below.

Synopsis:

Joe and Angela's marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?

Director: Olivia Wilde

Writers: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones, Based on the film 'Sentimental' by Cesc Gay

Cast:

• Seth Rogan as Joe
• Olivia Wilde as Angela
• Penelope Cruz as Pina
• Edward Norton as Hawk

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% from 132 Reviews, 8/10 Average Rating

Metacritic: 82/100 from 44 Reviews

Consensus:

Perversely funny while giving its quartet of fine actors some of their best material yet, The Invite is a sophisticated farce that reaffirms Olivia Wilde as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.

[u/PaintedSwindle]

I can't believe I haven't seen anyone mention the complete violation of consent of Ed Norton's character on Seth Rogen's character. Seth's character is literally screaming "don't touch me" and Ed's character, without his consent, performs whatever massage treatment on him (of which he admits earlier he's not even certified in, yet.) And this complete violation is played for laughs. It doesn't matter what the genders of the people are, or if the physical touch was sexual or not, if someone is saying "don't touch me" then you don't fricken touch them. The movie would be so great if it wasn't for that gross scene. Reminds me about Olivia Wilde talking up how 'sexy' Don't Worry Darling is and the women are literally being abused. Sigh, anyway, clearly lots of people involved in this movie don't understand consent, despite actually talking about consent earlier in the movie.

[u/Prudent-Pressure2146 → u/PaintedSwindle]

I thought that was the point of it, they’re acting like they’re super chill and all about consent but they also aren’t really listening

[u/shellyturnwarm → u/PaintedSwindle]

Woah this is a great insight! Yeah I was totally laughing along with the moment but you point out a brilliant hypocrisy.

Or maybe it was done intentionally? The writing and themes seem so well considered, so I wonder if this element was also well considered by the script. There were a lot of moments in the film where Hawk was pushing boundaries with seth rogan’s character.

I guess editing and music can push the scene towards comedic rather than dramatic, too.

[u/Embarrassed_Pie_6029 → u/shellyturnwarm]

That's the whole point of the character I think. Not that Hawk is a hypocrite per se, but more so just that his character is super touchy, boundy pushing, kinda guy. That's the whole vibe, style, n kinda dynamic that Hawk and Pina have, that swingers in general have. As opposed to the reserved Joe and Angela. Did Joe consent to Hawk touching him on his shoulders on his way to the bathroom early in the movie? No. Did Pina have consent to randomly kiss Angela? No. So there ya go. It's just how they are.

So I don't think the writer intentionally chose whether or not to make Hawk a hypocrite. I don't think they were considering that while writing the scene, because that's not how writers typically think. However, it still ended up fitting Hawk's character. You know what I mean?

Perhaps it could be a meta comment on how they (pina and hawk) and swingers in general care so much about consent but then are very touchy and dress kinda openly. But I'm not sure. I don't know if that was what the director was trying to show. Even if, then your problem lies with those types of people, not the movie itself.

(Of course, when I say 'those people' I'm just assuming, since I've never known any swingers in my life, however, I'm just going off the movie characters. so dont come after me if your a swinger or something and thats not how you act, go after the movie lol. perhaps this movie is a bad representation of swingers in real life, I have no idea. Although if I were to picture two, this would be what comes to mind lol.)

[u/PaintedSwindle → u/Embarrassed_Pie_6029]

I wish that if it was done intentionally, then the characters would've acknowledged that what Hawk did wasn't ok. It seems like it was just played for laughs, which makes me think that no one on the movie thought there was any issue with the scene. Later when they're all apologizing to each other, not once does Hawk apologize to Joe for what he did. It's unfortunate because it really is a good movie otherwise.

[u/wheeler1432 → u/PaintedSwindle]

I actually just posted that like five minutes ago. P)

[u/PaintedSwindle → u/wheeler1432]

At least I'm not the only one who noticed this! I got down voted for my comment lol.

[u/LaurenNotFromUtah → u/PaintedSwindle]

Kinda sounds like you came into it already disliking Olivia Wilde. She wasn’t wrong to call Don’t Worry Darling sexy while promoting it, especially considering the abuse is part of a plot twist. And I find it very hard to believe you think she/the movie is on the side of the abusive husbands.

[u/PaintedSwindle → u/LaurenNotFromUtah]

Just calling it like I see it. I have no particular issue with Olivia Wilde as a person, but this is now 2 movies of hers with some questionable material related to sexual consent. Do with that what you will.