Here’s a great fun comedy drama directed by and starring Olivia Wilde. It’s a remake of the Spanish film The People Upstairs (2020) and has an all-star cast… of just four people.
Set in one fancy apartment in San Francisco, The Invite explores the endless bickering of Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Wilde) as their dreary lives are upended by exciting new neighbours.
Centre Stage Soufflé in The Invite
The main thing about The Invite is it’s kind of grounded in realism, but not. The scenario that plays out feels more like a carefully crafted play, but that self-awareness is what makes the film so fun.
It’s set one evening when Joe (Seth Rogen) arrives home from work and finds out his wife Angela (Wilde) is holding a sudden dinner party. In need of some excitement in her mundane routine, she’s invited the new neighbours round.
As the reality dawns he has to spend the evening making polite chitchat, when he already hates the new neighbours due to the specific noise they make, the pair begin to bicker quite furiously.
We love the character Angela, who Wilde really brings to life. She’s very sweet, yet repressed and highly strung (plus, obsessed with her soufflé), constantly in a state of awkward anxiety. And she drops some of the best lines in the film, usually when angrily chastising Joe about something.
THUS! The set up here is one unhappy and repressed couple meeting a happy and very open couple in the form of Pina (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton).
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! As “the invite” of The Invite turns out to be on a kind of hanky panky amorous front (putting that in a polite way for any Conservative readers). Pina and Hawk have a special proposal for Angela and Joe, inviting them into an open sexual relationship.
The fallout from this is comedic and slapstick, with some genuinely great moments of comedy, but it does cleverly bring itself around full circle into more dramatic fashion.
Angela and Joe are so maladjusted to each other after years of a failing marriage they’ve become immune to a reality check. Until this dinner party, where they suddenly realise they’re going to have to get divorced and start life over.
After the chaos (and foul language) of the previous 60 minutes, it’s a surprisingly tender and very well judged ending. Angela and Joe share a moment of calm together, even if it’s unclear what their next move is.
If there’s any fault with The Invite it’s the premise, which we didn’t buy into as a real one. It feels contrived, as it is, but it’s also not the point. As the set up is to allow a fine set of actors to show off their comedic chops.
They’re all great here, with Olivia Wilde stealing the show for us. Although Edward Norton’s happy-go-lucky Hawk, always ready with an infuriatingly calm and clever response, also hits the mark big time.
Overall, just a great fun film. Echoes of Woody Allen from the ’70s are here, no doubts, but Olivia Wilde’s fast-paced and ultimately reflective direction has turned this into one of the best Hollywood productions of 2026.
The Production of The Invite
Yeah, again (as previously indicated!), this is a remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs. Will McCormack and Rashida Jones (of Parks and Recreation) adapted the screenplay for a US setting.
It’s also been adapted into French, Italian, Swiss, and South Korean movies.
As for the US one, it’s Olivia Wilde’s second film after 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling. It had a $15 million budget and made $55.7 million at the global box office. Considering it launched at the same time as Christopher Nolan’s smash hit The Odyssey, that’s a solid return for a quirky comedy like this.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris were initially hired to direct it, but dropped out. Amy Adams and Paul Rudd were expected to star in the film, for a 2023 release, then that fell through. Eventually, in April 2025, Wilde stepped in to director (and star in) the production.
The shoot took place in San Francisco. Unusually for films, everything was shot in chronological order. It took 23 days.
On a fitting note, The Invite is also dedicated to Diane Keaton. Given the Annie Hall (1977) vibes of Wilde’s film, it’s exactly the type of thing you’d have expected Keaton to star in.
And that, we believe, is a shining testament to the quality of this production.
