You know, I think that Invitation truly could have been something special. It is not a bad movie and it feels like forever since I saw a movie about vampires on the big screen. However, it is ultimately a pretty predictable and forgettable movie that may be worth checking out when it comes to streaming, but I would not say it is worth a trip to your movie theatre to check out.
How to Download The Invitation
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform sometime after its theatrical release. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability. If you like vampire movies, check out our reviews of Blade, Interview with the Vampire, and Midnight Mass.
The Movie Review
The movie starts in New York City where we meet our protagonist, Evie. Evie is played by Nathalie Emmanuel and she is incredibly likable and probably the best thing the movie has going for it. She is trying to make it as an artist, but she is really struggling. She grew up as an orphan and her mother recently passed away.
This is a key part of the story as it leads her to doing a DNA test to find out where she is from. Evie finds out that she has family in the UK and she gets in contact with her cousin, a man called Oliver. Oliver tells her about their family and he manages to persuade her to come to the UK where there is a wedding so that she can meet her family.
The English country manor setting of the game is great and we are soon introduced to a man called, Walter DeVille and he is the man who is getting married. Walter is very charismatic and he has a real charm about him, but at the same time, we know there is clearly something off about him.
We find out that Evie’s great-grandmother had a troubled past and Evie has a vision/dream about her. Evie has a rather odd feeling the whole time she is in the house and it is made even more unconformable by the two “bridesmaids” Lucy who is actually ok and Viktoria who is pretty mean and seems to have a real problem with Evie.
Without going into spoiler territory, the movie soon turns into a trying to survive from a vampire kind of thing. To be honest, it is not terrible, but it is also very, very predictable and you can see where it is going a mile away. I do think that the backstory of Evie, her family, and her connection to Walter is very interesting and perhaps this family history would make for a good prequel movie one day.
While this is classed as a horror movie, it never once made me jump, sit on the edge of my seat or even feel real terror for any of the characters. It is a pretty basic kind of vampire story. If anything, I could see some people being more into the “love story” aspect of the plot than the actual horror!
I am not going to say that Invitation is a bad movie, but it certainly is not a great one either. I have to say that this is a one-and-done kind of movie for me, I am not sure I would bother watching it again. However, as I said, the family history aspect of the movie was rather interesting so a prequel about this and the vampire’s life before the events of the movie would be something that I would be interested in.
