The Invitation
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: August 26, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ColliderCarly LaneAug 26, 2022
The Invitation offers an inventive reimagining of a literary classic while asserting itself as a fun addition to the modern Gothic canon. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJack SmartAug 26, 2022
Emmanuel makes for an empathetic audience stand-in and charming heroine; it’s easy to see how she’s pivoted from thankless Game Of Thrones and Fast And Furious roles to leading lady status. If The Invitation proves nothing else, it’s that she belongs at the top of the call sheet. Read full review
60
IGNMatt DonatoAug 31, 2022
The Invitation represents everything that makes for a middle-of-the-road vampire experience, but doesn’t deserve to be wholly written off. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineTara Bennett Aug 26, 2022
The Invitation takes way too long getting to its most interesting ideas, leaving us with the distinct feeling of “too little, too late.” Read full review
58
IndieWireJude DryAug 28, 2022
The pace picks up when the slashing finally begins in the third act, but it’s too little, too late to get the blood going. Read full review
55
TheWrapCarlos AguilarAug 26, 2022
Though The Invitation doesn’t land in the “worst of the year” territory given its lead performance and notable flares of style, it’s neither particularly scary, nor sexy enough or as intellectually progressive as it wants to be. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredScott CampbellAug 26, 2022
The Invitation aims high, and while it's regularly impressive on a visual and aesthetic level, the storytelling lets the Gothic horror down in the end. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaAug 26, 2022
I want to see more from Jessica M. Thompson, who has an eye for atmospheric creepiness that would be better served with stronger material. And I want Nathalie Emmanuel to land a lead role worthy of her talents. As for The Invitation, there's not much to sink your fangs into. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJenny NulfAug 30, 2022
Often too slick and too posh for its own good, there’s nothing really enjoyable about The Invitation. It’s technically fine, but fine is not want you want from your lusty vampire genre. There’s no glitz or glamour to set it apart from the pack, and that’s ultimately its demise. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe LeydonAug 26, 2022
The predictability of events during the film’s first hour of gothic-thriller setup is all the more annoying because of the plodding pace. Evie finally stands up for herself during some modestly clever third-act turnabouts, but, really, that’s not quite enough to regenerate a rooting interest in the character. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireAug 29, 2022
Director and co-writer Jessica M. Thompson establishes an unsettling mood that suggests we’re about to enter a dark and twisted world. But then eventually, her film is just dark – as in, it’s hard to see what’s happening, with herky-jerky visual effects that are especially off-putting. And when the twist comes as to what’s actually going on, it’s like: Really? That’s it? Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 28, 2022
No wit, few frights and not much in the way of thrills, either. Read full review
37
PolygonAusten GoslinAug 26, 2022
The Invitation never manages to be scary, and it hides its vampires behind a lifeless love story. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNatalia WinkelmanAug 26, 2022
Had the movie emerged as a friskier game of eat the rich, it might have had a fighting chance of survival. Instead, it’s middling, morbid pap. Read full review
More From This Movie

45 Critic Reviews

3.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL