A couple invites another couple, their new neighbors upstairs, over for dinner, but that ordinary thing opens the door to an evening neither couple seems likely to forget. The smart, dark comedy THE INVITE is part “Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and part “God of Carnage,” yet neither, as it deals with adult matters of relationships and sex with biting, frank humor. THE INVITE pits hosts Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen), a bickering couple dissatisfied with life who are dismayed by the noise the new upstairs neighbors make, against those upstairs neighbors, Spanish divorcee Pina (Penelope Cruz) and her widower husband Hawk (Edward Norton) as they dance around the issues the hosts have in their own rocky marriage and Joe’s resentment of the loud, late night sex noises they hear nightly from Pina and Hawk’s apartment.
with searing, frank humor. THE INVITE pits hosts Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen), a bickering couple dissatisfied with life who are dismayed by the noise the new upstairs neighbors make, against those upstairs neighbors, Spanish divorcee Pina (Penelope Cruz) and her widower husband Hawk (Edward Norton) as they dance around the issues the hosts have in their own rocky marriage and Joe’s resentment of the loud, late night sex noises they hear nightly from Pina and Hawk’s apartment.
Olivia Wilde directs as well as starring in this sophisticated, sometimes squirm-inducing comedy dealing with grown topics. The cast is superb, individually and as an ensemble, and Wilde’s direction is strong as well. THE INVITE is an excellent showcase for this fine cast, giving the actors real red meat to sink their teeth into. Although it is a comedy, THE INVITE is dark, even hard stuff, with many uncomfortable and even squirm-inducing, if funny, moments, as it frankly, and maybe even perversely, addresses matters of real-life relationships and life.
Joe and Angela’s marriage is in trouble, and the noisy neighbors upstairs are not helping matters. Neither of them are happy people. Seth Rogen’s Joe is a failed musician who now teaches at a local community college without enthusiasm, and seems to wallow in his despair, avoiding even touching the piano he still keeps in his study. He clearly feels a failure but seems determined to embrace that misery as his identity. Angela is a frustrated stay-at-home mom, who cares for their daughter and spends too much money, who is bursting with pent-up frustrations, including over her husband’s embrace of misery. They bicker constantly.
We see plenty of that bickering but the comedy opens with an orchestra performing in a theater. The sole audience member is Seth Rogen’s Joe, clearly their teacher. Yet when the performance ends, he says little and hurriedly leaves, exiting the theater with a bulky item that turns out to be a foldable bike.
After absurdly struggling up San Francisco’s hills on that ridiculous foldable bike with its tiny wheels, Joe arrives home and is dismayed to learn his wife has invited the upstairs neighbors to dinner. He chides her for not letting him know about the dinner party, although she contends she told him the night before. She chides him for not bringing home some wine, while he contends she never told him to do that. However, since the new neighbors are coming to dinner, Joe thinks it gives him the chance to confront them about the late-night loud sex noises they have been enduring since the new couple moved it. Horrified, Angela forbids him to do that, because she wants to try to befriend the neighbors before raising that topic.
Joe and Angela are still arguing when the guests show up. Everything goes wrong from the start, including what Angela planned to serve for dinner and the lack of wine.
Despite the missteps, things start to go better than expected. Joe is distant, grumpy and brutally honest even towards the guests, although he stays away from the banned topic of noise, but surprisingly, the neighbors’ reaction is an unexpected admiration for his refreshing honesty. It turns out Pina is a therapist, a sex therapist actually, and she and her husband Hawk value honesty above all.
The couples seem to be hitting it off, when new surprises emerge. However, Joe and Angela’s tendency to snipe at each other starts to set off Pina, who is outspoken and sometimes even prickly. When Joe takes a swipe at gentle, quiet Hawk, he gets a response he doesn’t expect. To avoid spoilers, we will leave it at that, and just say things go in very unexpected directions, surprising both couples, and the audience as well.
This is adult comedy, but not particularly graphic, more just honest, sometimes embarrassingly so, about sex and relationships. This also is not laugh-a-minute comedy, although it has wit and its farcical side with some laugh-out-loud moments. This is darkly humor to make you think as well. Many of the scenes are so honest and close to the mark, that couples (or anyone who had been part of a couple) may likely to squirm or cringe with discomfort at something familiar. Other moments are more likely to fall outside most personal experience.
THE INVITE, which was a hit at Sundance, is actually American remake of a 2020 Spanish comedy. The original Spanish film, THE PEOPLE UPSTAIRS. was an adaptation of Cesc Gay’s play and has been called an adult comedy for its focus on sex and relationships, although it is more frank talk that visually graphic. The original Spanish film also sparked French, Swiss, Italian and South Korean remakes. The Spanish film’s script was written by the playwright but this remake was written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. A planned 2023 version, with different cast and director, didn’t get off the ground before this present one.
The American comedy shows those origins as a play, by largely taking place in Joe and Angela’s apartment, apart from an opening sequence that sets the story firmly in San Francisco. Despite that bit of staginess, the comedy is intelligent, darkly funny and often uncomfortable as it fearlessly explores issues of relationships, sex and marriage in an adult way. The discussions are frank and adult but the film isn’t graphic. The original Spanish film was so good, there are also French and Italian remakes as well.
The major highlight of this smart comedy is the showcase it provides for this excellent cast, who relish the sharp dialog and its fearlessness in tackling uncomfortable subjects. The whole story takes place in Joe and Angela’s spacious, comfortable apartment, with the attractive setting contrasting with Joe’s palpable anger and despair about his life and Angela’s misdirected compensation for frustrations. The film runs a bit too long, sometimes lingering with a particular fight before it introduces some table-turning twist.
Still, the actors’ excellent work and intelligent, realistic way the script deals with relationship and life issues, makes this dark, biting comedy worthwhile, especially with its glimmer of something hopeful at the end. Long married couples and those who have experienced divorce or death of a spouse will find things that resonate emotionally here. It is a film that leaves you with something to think about, which seems like a good thing.
THE INVITE opens in theaters on Friday, July 10, 2026.
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
