Second Sight, out now

‘We have a lot to talk about…’ 

Returning to her low-budget roots, after bigger movies like Aeon Flux and Jennifer’s Body, director Karyn Kusama this time takes on a script by husband Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi – a meditation on life, grief and how well we really know those who mean the most to us.

Reluctantly accepting a strange dinner party invitation, Will (Logan Marshall-Green, from Prometheus and Upgrade) returns to the home he once shared with his ex, Eden (Into the Woods’ Tammy Blanchard), but now has his new flame Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi from Roots) in tow. Located up in the hills of LA, mobile signal is intermittent and, once they’re inside, the couple are effectively shut off from the rest of the world. Also invited are a bunch of Will’s old friends, including gay couple Tommy (Mike Doyle) and Miguel (Jordi Vilasuso), joker of the pack Ben (Jay Larson), Gina (Michelle Krusiec) and academic Claire (Marieh Delfino). However, Eden and her new partner David (The Haunting of Hill House’s Michiel Huisman) have included a couple of their own friends, Sadie (Lindsay Burdge) and Pruitt (Channel Zero and American Horror Story’s John Carroll Lynch): all four of them members of ‘The Invitation’ group, founded by self-styled guru Dr Joseph (Toby Huss from Carnivale).

Advocates of letting go of grief, these strangers have all lost someone – just like Eden and Will lost their young son, the real reason they split. And when the ‘promo’ video is played about their methods it begins to look a lot like the others have been summoned there to join them. Already seeing painful memories wherever he turns, Will begins to sense that something is very wrong about the evening… or is he just over-reacting, perhaps even losing the plot? To find out, you’re just going to have to watch.

The Invitation is one of those movies that delights in wrongfooting the viewer at every turn. Just when it looks like you might have things figured out, something happens to make you question that assumption. Not afraid to take its time, the sense of unease Kusama’s direction builds threatens to become overwhelming at times and gives the finale that much more impact. It’s also one of those films that you’ll be talking and thinking about for days, if not weeks, after you’ve witnessed it.

Included in this release are a bunch of extras which consist of a fascinating commentary from Kusama, Hay and Manfredi, a making of – in which Logan describes Will as a ‘party-pooper’ – plus separate interviews with Kusama (‘If The Invitation was one of my children, it would be the one that speaks softly and carries a big stick!’), Hay and Manfredi – who started out doing improv and comedies together, but wanted with this one to examine belief systems and ‘What would happen if someone you knew went away and came back different?’ – producer Nick Spicer and finally Lindsay Burdge gives us her thoughts on ‘Playing Sadie’. All very highly recommended.

Verdict: ‘Each of us is on a journey…’ 10/10

Paul Kane