45
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75ColliderCarly LaneColliderCarly LaneThe Invitation offers an inventive reimagining of a literary classic while asserting itself as a fun addition to the modern Gothic canon.
- Emmanuel makes for an empathetic audience stand-in and charming heroine; it’s easy to see how she’s pivoted from thankless Game Of Thrones and Fast And Furious roles to leading lady status. If The Invitation proves nothing else, it’s that she belongs at the top of the call sheet.
- 60Paste MagazineTara BennettPaste MagazineTara BennettThe Invitation takes way too long getting to its most interesting ideas, leaving us with the distinct feeling of “too little, too late.”
- 55TheWrapCarlos AguilarTheWrapCarlos AguilarThough The Invitation doesn’t land in the “worst of the year” territory given its lead performance and notable flares of style, it’s neither particularly scary, nor sexy enough or as intellectually progressive as it wants to be.
- 50SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaI want to see more from Jessica M. Thompson, who has an eye for atmospheric creepiness that would be better served with stronger material. And I want Nathalie Emmanuel to land a lead role worthy of her talents. As for The Invitation, there's not much to sink your fangs into.
- 50We Got This CoveredScott CampbellWe Got This CoveredScott CampbellThe Invitation aims high, and while it's regularly impressive on a visual and aesthetic level, the storytelling lets the Gothic horror down in the end.
- 40VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonThe predictability of events during the film’s first hour of gothic-thriller setup is all the more annoying because of the plodding pace. Evie finally stands up for herself during some modestly clever third-act turnabouts, but, really, that’s not quite enough to regenerate a rooting interest in the character.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreNo wit, few frights and not much in the way of thrills, either.
- 37PolygonAusten GoslinPolygonAusten GoslinThe Invitation never manages to be scary, and it hides its vampires behind a lifeless love story.
- 30The New York TimesNatalia WinkelmanThe New York TimesNatalia WinkelmanHad the movie emerged as a friskier game of eat the rich, it might have had a fighting chance of survival. Instead, it’s middling, morbid pap.