150 Word Review: 'The Invite' (2026)
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf 2: The Woolfening
Oh, thank god, a grounded sex comedy about messy middle-aged adults. There’s a loose and improvisational energy fueling The Invite, a one-set, one-night trainwreck about would-be swingers. But director Olivia Wilde’s four-hander is never self-indulgent or, even worse, boring. She keeps this runaway train on the rails (but just barely).
Wilde also stars as one half of a failing marriage, a high-strung stay-at-home mom. Seth Rogan gets all the funny lines as a terminally unhappy stoner. They’re a pair of exposed nerves. Ed Norton and Penelope Cruz play their upstairs neighbors, invited, last minute, for a get-together. Rogan’s character resents their noisy sex. Wilde’s is desperate for connection with anyone but her husband.
Norton and Cruz are unbearably charismatic as enlightened lovers with an offer. Who wouldn’t say yes? The Invite is a rare and irreverent conversation about desire, aging, and loss. The laughs are uncomfortable, but so is life.