{"id":76053,"date":"2026-08-12T22:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=76053"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:29:00","slug":"review-the-invite-movie-review-olivia-wildes-adult-oriented-sex-comedy-doesnt-pull-its-punches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=76053","title":{"rendered":"Review | The Invite movie review: Olivia Wilde\u2019s adult-oriented sex comedy doesn\u2019t pull its punches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/08\/11\/44ca82d2-00d3-46ad-9f40-f75ef8f421e6_5edf9335.jpg?itok=QCdY6eqL&amp;v=1786417033\" \/><\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><strong data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa17\">4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The modern \u201csex comedy\u201d emerged in the late 1960s in the West, when such topics became acceptable for open discussion. With <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Invite<\/em>, actor-director Olivia Wilde (<span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Don\u2019t Worry Darling<\/em><\/span>) updates the genre for 2026 by throwing a conventionally minded couple into a risqu\u00e9 situation that forces them to reassess the state of their marriage.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Channelling the work of Woody Allen, Wilde delivers a breezy film making light of its characters\u2019 failings, with a dry wit that provides many genuine laughs. Although comedic, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Invite<\/em> makes its points better than more serious marital dramas of recent years, including the hollow HBO remake of Ingmar Bergman\u2019s classic <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Scenes from a Marriage<\/em> television series.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Invite<\/em> is not a wholly original work, as it is based on the 2020 Spanish film <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The People Upstairs<\/em>, written and directed by Cesc Gay. That feature was itself an adaptation of Gay\u2019s own stage play, and this talky American version is similarly theatrical \u2013 the script could have worked just as well in a live setting.<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"methode-html-wrapper oembed-wrapper e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"e2gky7d0 e1drg7e30 e1ciypty0 ehdmpxk0 css-1avyp1d e1hpd36k0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<div class=\"e1hpd36k3 css-79hwxn e1x11wau0\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-VideoTitleContainer\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"25\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 25\" fill=\"none\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-StyledVideoRecorder\" class=\"css-1nnwg93 e1x11wau1\"><default:path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M22 6.22926V18.4315L17.5463 13.9868V17.8655C17.5463 18.1618 17.4383 18.4248 17.2228 18.6531C17.0067 18.8829 16.7498 18.9967 16.4537 18.9967H3.13414C2.80989 18.9967 2.53968 18.8829 2.32425 18.6531C2.10808 18.4248 2 18.1618 2 17.8655V6.79519C2 6.49893 2.10808 6.23665 2.32425 6.00688C2.53968 5.77858 2.80989 5.66333 3.13414 5.66333H16.4537C16.7498 5.66333 17.0067 5.77858 17.2228 6.00688C17.4383 6.23665 17.5463 6.49893 17.5463 6.79519V10.674L22 6.22926Z\" fill=\"#001246\"\/><\/default:svg><\/p>\n<p>The Invite | Official Trailer HD | A24<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Wilde plays Angela, a homemaker living a suburban life in San Francisco with her husband Joe (Seth Rogen), a disillusioned music teacher. He is furious with their new upstairs neighbours, Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), whose noisy sexual trysts wake him nightly at 4am.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Angela is more intrigued than irritated and, despite her husband\u2019s protestations, invites them to dinner. The dinnertime chat gradually turns to sex, and Angela and Joe are pulled into a situation that challenges their views of sexuality \u2013 and of their marriage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3363515\/invite-movie-review-olivia-wildes-adult-oriented-sex-comedy-doesnt-pull-its-punches?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>4\/5 stars The modern \u201csex comedy\u201d emerged in the late 1960s in the West, when such topics became acceptable for open discussion. With The Invite,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[28133,2689,1778,28131,1543,25133,3641,9313,28,2395,28132],"class_list":["post-76053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-adultoriented","tag-comedy","tag-doesnt","tag-invite","tag-movie","tag-olivia","tag-pull","tag-punches","tag-review","tag-sex","tag-wildes","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}