Olivia Wilde’s 'The Invite' Opens July 10, Adapting 2020 Spanish Film

Q: With mixed reviews calling her performance a 'weak link,' can Olivia Wilde's directing save her new film 'The Invite'?

Yes. Even if some early notices question Olivia Wilde’s performance in front of the camera, the stronger critical consensus is that her directing is one of *The Invite*’s main assets and is likely to carry the film for many viewers. Reviews and festival reactions have largely praised Wilde’s control of the material: the single-location San Francisco apartment setting, the actor-focused staging, and the “living-document” rehearsal process that helped shape the script by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. Critics have pointed to the cast chemistry among Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz, and to Wilde’s ability to keep the film tense, funny and visually alive despite its chamber-piece structure. That is a meaningful strength in a dark comedy that depends almost entirely on performance, rhythm and escalation. The premise that Wilde is broadly being singled out as the film’s weak link is also not firmly supported by the available coverage. Some reviews are mixed overall and note that the film loses momentum in its third act or ends too openly, but several others explicitly praise Wilde’s acting alongside her direction, calling the ensemble persuasive and sharply matched. So the more accurate reading is not that Wilde’s directing must “save” a failing film, but that her direction is the clearest reason *The Invite* works as well as it does. If the film stumbles, the bigger risk appears to be its ending, not Wilde’s command behind the camera.

3 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Jun 26

July 10 marks the wide release of Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite,” which opens in select U.S. theaters this weekend after being adapted from 2020 Spanish film “The People Upstairs.”
One San Francisco dinner party drives the film: two strained couples trade confessions and barbs in a single-apartment setup built from the source material and reworked by writers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.
Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz and Wilde anchor the ensemble, with the review highlighting their chemistry as the main reason the familiar relationship-comedy premise lands.
Wilde’s direction is framed as a step forward after “Don’t Worry Darling,” using tight framing and sharp editing to turn a contained chamber piece into what the review calls her best work yet.