The Invite.

Years ago, I staggered1 out of Mad Max Fury Road, going, ‘How did they do that?’ I feel the same way now with The Invite. There are no flaming guitars and death-defying wire stunts here, though. Instead, it’s how did they write a script so funny and sharp and then direct the hell out of it so much that a four-person gab fest is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. Not just good, but good in a way that, almost from the start, you can’t look away. You gasp and laugh and wait to see what unforgettable thing will get said next. It’s gobsmacking. Could this be a play? Sure, but it’s cinema all the way down. Music, and editing, and a collusion of actors to make it all move with a wonderful, unbreakable pace. Does Olivia Wilde keep looking at the camera like Jim from The Office? Yes. But it’s still funny. The funny works all the way through. The drama at the end felt a little too tacked on. The morning after a hangover following a wild night. While I may not have loved it, it still…