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The Invitation

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Watch The Invitation with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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Despite a very likable lead and a refreshingly light touch, The Invitation is ultimately too predictable to thrill as either a romance or a horror story.

The Invitation comes with some good acting and interesting ideas; unfortunately, it also takes way too long to really get going.

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Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Jessica M. Thompson

Nathalie Emmanuel

Thomas Doherty

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“The Invitation” is a dinner-party-from-hell scenario best served as unspoiled as possible. After all, a psychological thriller built upon slow-simmering tension is only as good as its surprises. Therefore, I will refrain from any major bean spillage and provide what I think is just enough to get you hooked.

However, there is one element of note that can be revealed and celebrated without peril. Filmmaker Karyn Kusama has at last fulfilled the promise she showed in her knockout feature debut, “ Girlfight ,” a pugilistic coming-of-age drama from 2000 that also launched the career of its scrappy star, Michelle Rodriguez . With “The Invitation,” Kusama appears to have gotten her lean-and-mean vision back into focus, one that went astray with 2005’s female-driven action flop “Aeon Flux” and 2009’s Diablo Cody-ized, flesh-eating cheerleader horror comedy “Jennifer’s Body.”

With backing courtesy of Gamechanger Films, which finances indie movies directed by women, Kusama seems to be freed from much of the commerce-minded constraints placed upon her by regular studios. It also feels refreshing if almost shocking that nearly all of the characters at this reunion of friends, which takes place in a sprawling mid-century-style abode in the Hollywood Hills, are in their 30s. In other words, they are allowed to be adults. No blatant pandering to the youthful demo here. Plus, the cast is casually diverse as it features both multiracial and Asian couples.

The script—written by Kusama’s husband, Phil Hay , and Matt Manfredi —divides the story’s action equally between the genders. While there is a bit of a “Big Chill” feel—grief and loss of a loved one is the film’s emotional engine—“The  Invitation” is primarily an intimate, highly effective chiller in a confined space with an armrest-grabber of a payoff.

The setup immediately provides cause for anxiety. Will ( Logan Marshall-Green , all haunted eyes and exposed nerves) and Kira (nicely low-key Emayatzy Corinealdi of “ Miles Ahead ”) driving along a twisty high-altitude road. Not without trepidation, they are headed to a gathering held in Will’s former home. It is being thrown by his ex-wife, Eden ( Tammy Blanchard , all ruby red lips and clingy white gown), who he hasn’t seen  in two years , and her new husband, David ( Michiel Huisman , whose specialty is scruffy hunks on TV shows like “ Nashville ” and “Treme”).

Foreshadowing comes into play early when Will’s car suddenly hits a coyote. He puts the injured animal out of its misery by whacking it with a tire iron. Once they reach their destination, a shaken Will and Kira are warmly greeted both by their friends in attendance but also by their touchy-feely hosts. Toasting “new beginnings,” David breaks out some triple-digit bottles of fine wine and everyone gets cozy—save for Will, especially after he spies a female stranger down the hall sans pants and panties.

Turns out, there are two unknown quantities joining the festivities. Manic pixie nut Sadie ( Lindsay Burdge ), now wearing a mini dress, and Pruitt, an older balding man (the ever-invaluable John Carroll Lynch ). David and Eden explain that they met them in Mexico where they were visiting a community—a cult as it were, where they learned to deal with trauma.

Soon enough, David hauls out his laptop and shows his guests what amounts to a recruitment video—one that ends with a rather disturbing and unexpected sequence. Will, already suspicious, now has his hackles on high alert.  When he makes the observation that Eden, David and their fellow cult members are weird, a fellow partier replies, “Yeah, they’re a little weird. But this is L.A. They’re harmless.”

Of course, similar statements were probably made about the Manson family, too.

Kusama keeps us guessing for quite a while, maybe for too long. Is Will, prone to unsettling flashbacks of life with his former spouse, just imagining things or should everyone run for their lives? Then again, Lynch has major creepy cred as the prime suspect in 2007’s “ Zodiac ” and Blanchard's Eden, for all her talk of tossing aside her anger, certainly can deliver one a hell of a slap when someone declares her new belief system to be “fucking crazy.” Plus, that dinner—as delicious as it looks—arrives awfully late in the proceedings. I would have been out of there hours ago, if only because of hunger pangs.

Some clues that suggest something might be afoot turn out to be red herrings. But others, not so much.

Taut pacing is, indeed, a virtue in these sorts of intense circumstances and that is one place where Kusama could improve her game. But, to her credit, she has picked her cast wisely—Marshall-Green especially, who acts as the viewer’s guide and keeps the proceedings honest without stooping to overacting. And the film ends on a clever visual note that is open to debate. In other words, this is an “ Invitation” you should RSVP with a “will attend.”

Susan Wloszczyna

Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes.

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Film credits.

The Invitation (2016)

100 minutes

Logan Marshall-Green as Will

Emayatzy Corinealdi as Kira

Michiel Huisman as David

Tammy Blanchard as Eden

Mike Doyle as Tommy

John Carroll Lynch as Pruitt

Karl Yune as Choi

Toby Huss as Dr. Joseph

Michelle Krusiec as Gina

Marieh Delfino as Claire

Lindsay Burdge as Sadie

• Karyn Kusama
• Matt Manfredi

Cinematographer

• Bobby Shore
• Plummy Tucker
• Theodore Shapiro

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‘The Invitation’ Review: Bringing Down the Haunted House

Nathalie Emmanuel stars as the unwitting belle of an English manor in this middling gothic horror movie that leaves her blind to the blood-red flags waving at every turn.

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By Natalia Winkelman

“The Invitation,” a brittle, droning excursion into gothic horror, primarily takes place at a manor in the English countryside. The setting is admissible, if unimaginative: the exterior of the estate appears constructed of Playmobil; coated in cobwebs, its dingy indoors most closely resemble a dungeon.

Outside of the cinema, an invitation to such an abode would ring a cacophony of alarm bells and leave a guest clambering for the door. Not so for Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), a jaded ceramist in New York who unwittingly becomes the belle of the dwelling after a long-lost cousin, Oliver (Hugh Skinner), invites her to a wedding on its grounds. An only child who recently lost her mother, Evie is tickled by the prospect of extended family, even if the stuffy brood are uniformly white and ominously keen for her company.

But soon, Oliver and his vast array of blond brothers and uncles hardly figure into the equation. Once Evie arrives on the property, she takes a shine to the lord of the residence, Walter (Thomas Doherty), a smirking bachelor dripping in wealth and vampiric good looks.

What follows is an escalating sequence of creaky-freaky jump scares interspersed with beats from a budding romance between Walter and Evie. Dressed to the nines, the pair drink champagne and smooch under a flurry of fireworks. At the same time, the estate’s maids are sucked into a menacing string of set pieces that invariably end in shrieks over a black screen.

The juxtaposition of these events might be exciting — or even mischievously funny — if each scene wasn’t so tedious. For a fright-fest as broad as this one, there’s an awful lot of banal dialogue, and the scare patterns are repetitive enough that even the easiest startlers (I count myself among them) grow immune early on.

Directed by Jessica M. Thompson, “The Invitation” makes feeble gestures at issues of class and race, but its efforts are as diffuse as the whooshing specters haunting Walter’s estate. Emmanuel, for her part, admirably endeavors to imbue Evie with smarts and sass, but confined within a story that leaves her blind to the blood-red flags waving at every turn, her scrappy heroine is hard to cheer on. 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.

The Invitation Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. In theaters.

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'The Invitation' Review: A Gothic for the Modern Age — With Bite

'The Invitation' will be released in theaters nationwide on August 26.

It may be difficult to name a work of horror fiction that has so undeniably sunk its teeth into centuries of pop culture than Bram Stoker 's Dracula . The epistolary novel first published in 1897 was initially regarded as a Gothic work, but laid the foundation for many a vampire tale that would follow thereafter. If the titular Transylvanian count had never been created, it's difficult to say whether these fanged creatures of the night would have been as popular as they are today — but the world of Dracula is one that, all these years later, continues to be ripe for drawing stories from. Most adaptations or reimaginings tend to focus on the vampire himself, but more and more are beginning to veer away from that focus in favor of prioritizing other characters at their center. In the conceit of the original novel, Dracula's mysterious and seductive vampire brides only appear briefly, but their impact has continued to live on.

This year's The Invitation , directed by Jessica M. Thompson and written by Blair Butler , draws inspiration from that element of the classic story in following an unsuspecting American woman named Evie ( Nathalie Emmanuel ) who travels to the English countryside after receiving an invite to a wedding from an extended family she's only just discovered she has. Over the course of her stay in the impressive mansion, Evie finds herself trapped between the promise of romance and horror, wrestling over whether to give into the possibility of a relationship with the manor's handsome lord Walter ( Thomas Doherty ) as barely-glimpsed threats lurk around her room each night.

The Invitation roots itself in embracing many of the best and most timeless Gothic tropes — with a modern flair, of course, but bringing a story like this to the present day wouldn't be nearly as successful if it wasn't for the actress grounding the supernatural in more realism. Emmanuel, who fans may already be familiar with for her roles in Game of Thrones and several Fast & Furious movies, plays an endearing heroine in Evie, a part-time caterer and struggling artist still grieving the loss of her mother, which leads her to search for any hint of remaining family she might be able to discover courtesy of a mail-in DNA test. The surprising results, in turn, put her in touch with a long-lost cousin, Oliver ( Hugh Skinner ), who endearingly fumbles his way through inviting her to an upcoming wedding across the pond — and once she accepts, Evie finds herself in a realm she's completely unprepared to navigate.

RELATED: ‘The Invitation’ Trailer Shows Not All Family Can Be Trusted

Emmanuel's character is our entry point into the story, but also the fresh-eyed perspective that comes to the manor house with a clear preference of prioritizing sincerity over propriety. From being too helpful with the maids to insisting on cleaning up after herself, Evie's rejection of the way things are simply just done immediately puts her at odds with the butler, Mr. Fields (a scene-gnawing Sean Pertwee of Gotham fame), and their clashing continues even into the film's most climactic moments. Contrast to that tension, however, is the reassuring presence of Mrs. Swift ( Carol Ann Crawford ), the head housekeeper, whose complicated emotions about the manor's newest guest don't prevent her from becoming a valued ally to Evie when she needs it the most.

While the staff is significantly more conflicted about Evie's presence, there is one person who openly welcomes her with charm practically oozing out of his pores — Walter. With his piercing blue eyes and a jaw well-defined enough to possibly cut through glass itself, Doherty has been perfectly cast as the English gentleman more than capable of wooing Evie from top to bottom, and his chemistry with Emmanuel immediately sells the belief that these characters would develop a connection in the midst of whatever horrors the manor house is hiding. Later on, he proves just as compelling a presence on-screen when the Alexander family's intentions for their newly-discovered relative are ultimately revealed — and in the most horrifying fashion possible. Doherty feels equally at home playing either the romantic lead or the manipulator driven by his own secret motives, and as the latter gradually and unnervingly emerges, it's heartbreaking enough to throw all of Walter's previous actions into question but equally thrilling to get to watch Doherty embrace all the darkest edges of the character's potential.

Rounding out the cast are the so-called maids of honor, the women who have been tapped to serve the unseen bride at her impending nuptials and couldn't be more different from one another in presence but offer Evie a myriad of personalities to bounce off of. The tall, intimidating Viktoria (played by Mr. Robot 's Stephanie Corneliussen ) is at odds with her from the start, pairing thinly-veiled insults with equally disconcerting microaggressions against Evie's background, but by contrast, Lucy ( Uncharted 's Alana Boden ) is a kind, welcoming presence, making consistent attempts to rope Evie in on fun pre-wedding activities. Granted, even something as innocent as a spa day adopts a particularly ominous tone; one of the most tension-filled scenes in the entire movie happens over the course of the three getting manicures in a room deep within the manor, one that comes closest to resembling a tomb in and of itself. The film's primary location, Nádasdy Castle in Budapest, only contributes to the overall sense of history and legacy; none of the movie's scenes would be nearly as effective without the bones of such a place serving as their backdrop.

It's also in this environment where the horror truly begins — slow and foreboding rather than too reliant on jumpscares, offering a creeping sense that something isn't quite right each time the sun sets and everyone has turned in for the night — and while Evie is tormented in her own room, terrified by specters that only disappear once she turns on the light, even darker threats persist elsewhere, with unsuspecting staff finding themselves the victims of a dark and looming figure that pulls them into the shadows and cuts off their resulting screams. Thompson and director of photography Autumn Eakin prove themselves an expert pair when it comes to ratcheting up the suspense, with clever cuts and lighting that do more to make the monsters frightening sight unseen in a majority of the film; even when the reveal happens, the camerawork that results contributes to that sickening feeling of realization, as artifice is stripped away and the real purpose of the wedding is laid bare. The third act, however, is where The Invitation notably struggles, as if attempting to plant itself squarely in the divide between suspense and action movie when it really thrived most as the former. When the film leans into its indisputable strengths, the result is bitingly good horror; any attempts to swerve outside that vein result in a more toothless execution. Ultimately, though, The Invitation offers an inventive reimagining of a literary classic while asserting itself as a fun addition to the modern Gothic canon.

The Invitation will premiere exclusively in theaters nationwide on August 26.

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The Invitation

A young woman is courted and swept off her feet, only to realize a gothic conspiracy is afoot. A young woman is courted and swept off her feet, only to realize a gothic conspiracy is afoot. A young woman is courted and swept off her feet, only to realize a gothic conspiracy is afoot.

• Jessica M. Thompson
• Blair Butler
• Nathalie Emmanuel
• Thomas Doherty
• Sean Pertwee
• 380 User reviews
• 100 Critic reviews
• 45 Metascore
• 1 win & 3 nominations

• Diya (Maid #5)

• Uncle Julius
• Great Uncle Alfred
• Imogen (Maid #2)

• Mina Harker

• Jonathan Harker

• (as Viktória Monhor)

• (as Celina-Betty Diana Schleicher)

• (as Anna Liza Murányi)
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• Trivia As Evie exits the airport, the last picture shown on the airport wall is of Whitby in North Yorkshire. As already mentioned to Evie by Oliver in New York, this was the supposed location of the film, and the place that Dracula was said to have landed in England, by ship called the Demeter, from Varna, Bulgaria.
• Goofs When Evie boards the plane to cross the Atlantic, she takes off in an aircraft with 4 engines and an upper deck. When then plane lands in England, it is a different aircraft with two engines and only a single deck.

[last lines]

Mr. Fields : I'll Cut Your Head Off And Feed It To The Wolves

• Connections Featured in Big Brother: Episode #24.9 (2022)
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User reviews 380

• Aug 28, 2022
• How long is The Invitation? Powered by Alexa
• August 26, 2022 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Nádasdy Mansion in Nádasladány, Hungary (exterior of the castle where Evie meets Walter)
• Screen Gems
• Mid Atlantic Films
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• $10,000,000 (estimated)
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• $38,036,130

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• Runtime 1 hour 45 minutes

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The Invitation

Review by brian eggert april 9, 2016.

Have you ever reconnected with an old friend who seems far removed from who they used to be? Something in them has changed. They’ve found some new religious sect or have thoroughly embraced a self-help program. It’s strange and upsetting to witness someone with whom you were once so familiar now show signs of a complete transformation you don’t understand. Now imagine you’re at a dinner party and the hosts are your old friends who’ve changed. Social decorum demands you behave politely, despite signs that something’s not right with the whole situation. That’s the basic setup of The Invitation , director Karyn Kusama’s intensely slow-burning thriller that meticulously and effectively unsettles the audience.

Kusama started out with her indie smash Girlfight in 2000, but quickly descended into the lifeless, Hollywoodized productions Aeon Flux (2005) and Jennifer’s Body (2009). She has now returned to her indie roots with The Invitation , which debuted at SXSW in 2015 and has received limited theatrical distribution, along with a VOD release, a year later. She’s also received some stellar reviews for her fourth feature. Kusama’s restrained, disquieting approach to the script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (also producers) builds subtle backstories for a group of friends who meet for a dinner party after two years of not seeing each other. The gathering is part of something called “The Invitation”, a movement about which a few of the characters know vague details. It’s a pseudo-religion (aka cult) rooted in notions of excising your negative thoughts and, eventually, accepting that death is part of the natural order.

But before any discussion of “The Invitation” and its loose-logic theories, the story follows Will (Logan Marshall-Green, who could be Tom Hardy’s brother) and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi, excellent) through the Hollywood hills to the stylish, gated home of David (Michiel Huisman) and Eden (Tammy Blanchard). We learn Will and Eden were once married and lived in this house together; after the death of their son, they were divorced. During this time, Eden and David ran away together to some kind of self-help spa in Mexico. Now, David and Eden seem almost too gracious and generous to their guests after their two-year absence. David remains tranquil and accepting, while Eden’s eyes have a constant glassiness to them (whether they’re tears of happiness at the reunion of friends or apprehension over what’s to come, we cannot be sure). Many hugs and talk of “this is a safe place” are awkwardly welcomed, and the social discomfort is lubricated by large glasses of wine.

Several other guests, all of whom were friends with Will and Eden when they were together, are also in attendance. Claire (Marieh Delfino) seems uncomfortable with the entire situation; gay couple Tommy and Miguel (Mike Doyle and Jordi Vilasuso) embrace it with a sense of irony; the former party girl Gina (Michelle Krusiec) is more concerned about why her boyfriend hasn’t shown up yet; and the chubby comic relief Ben (Jay Larson) is outspoken about the situation. This otherwise tight-knit group doesn’t quite know what to make of David and Eden’s other guests: like Sadie (Lindsay Burdge), their strung-out-looking houseguest who all but throws herself at the others; or Pruitt (John Carroll Lynch), whose towering calmness is chilling (even more so given Lynch’s role in David Fincher’s Zodiac ).

Through the evening’s moments of weirdness, some are subtle, and some are quite unnerving. Consider when David and Eden begin discussing “The Invitation” and show everyone a video from their Mexico sabbatical. The video shows a woman on her deathbed, and the movement’s leader, played by Toby Huss, ushering her into the afterlife, surrounded by a group of followers who seem overjoyed the dying woman has moved on. Elsewhere, the elusive details of the dinner party create unbearable anxiety, especially for Will: David insists on keeping the front door locked; there’s no cell phone service from within the house; Gwen’s boyfriend still hasn’t shown up; and when Claire wants to leave, the hosts invest a conspicuous amount of effort in keeping her there. Alas, if there’s an ineffective strain in the entire film, it’s the casting of Huss. Seinfeld fans will remember Huss as Elaine’s former boyfriend, The Wiz (“Nobody beats him!”). Taking Huss seriously after that role is a challenge, but that’s my own hang-up.

Cinematographer Bobby Shore keeps the lighting low and eerie, especially during scenes where Will explores the house and remembers moments with his late son. The winding creepiness continues until the third act, when the situation escalates and turns terrifying, and we finally learn whether their cult is more like Erhard Seminars Training (EST) or Jonestown. Although, you’ll have to see the film to learn what happens. But it’s well worth the wait. Kusama brilliantly builds tension from start to finish, to the point where viewers might shout at the screen, “Just get out of there!” The prologue where Will and Kira hit a coyote on the road is particularly jarring, setting the tone for the remainder of the film. Likewise, the last shot leaves viewers feeling haunted. The Invitation is best when it turns the cranks on an already uncomfortable social reunion, but the film doesn’t shirk on the horrifying payoff either. Here’s hoping Kusama resists Hollywood’s calls and keeps making smaller, more intimate films like this one.

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The Invitation Movie Review — Easily one of the best thrillers of the decade

Atmospheric and suspenseful,  the invitation is a blast to watch and easily one of the best movies of the year so far.

If you haven’t watched The Invitation yet, open up Amazon or iTunes and watch it right now. I’ve said it about other movies, but if I had to choose one movie for you to not know a single thing about before watching, it is this movie. You’ve been warned.

I’m going to just come right out and say it. The Invitation is easily one of the best, if not the best movie of the year so far and one of the best thrillers in years. Nearly all the thanks has to be given to Karyn Kusama’s careful and increasingly tightening direction of the material. Starting with the opening. We open completely silent on Will ( Logan Marshall-Greene ) driving up a winding mountain road. As the sound slowly seeps back into the scene, we hear Kira ( Emayatzu Corinealdi ) telling him that they don’t actually have to go the dinner party they were invited to. They admitted to themselves that it was odd that they were invited considering they haven’t seen the hosts in a couple years. In a jump, Will hits a coyote and puts it out of its misery. However, it is shown in this gorgeously composed and claustrophobic shot before Theodore Shapiro’s Hitchcockian score suddenly breaks the silence.

Once the couple reaches their destination, Will is immediately taken aback. The first part of the film really plays on an interesting look at grief and really makes you question what Will, and therefore you, are seeing. Since Kusama presents the film through Will’s lens, when the rest of the party stops seeing what he does you become frustrated like him. You support him, but in the back of your mind nags you that maybe Will is letting his grief get to him.

Kusama is extremely patient. She doesn’t give too much. She isn’t one for theatrics. Instead, she uses strong imagery to make you feel off-centered. We have been wired to expect something explosive from a movie of this premise. We expect a moment where everything goes to shit. That puts you on edge. Whether it is Pruitt ( John Carroll Lynch ) carefully skulking in the background of a shot or a door being locked, nearly every beat that Kusama puts in makes you flinch because you have no idea what is going to happen. She plays her cards extremely close to her chest until she slaps them down on the table and then flips it. That’s how good the third act reveal is.

Brian and I watched this movie purposely without watching the trailer or reading any plot description more than a sentence. During the movie, it led to a great discussion what we think is the end game. We were both completely thrown.

In this new horror renaissance, it’s been established that you don’t need jump scare after jump scare to make an effective horror movie. Movies like  It Follows,  The Babadook,  and  The Witch  prove that all you need is an atmosphere that unsettles you and makes you feel the anticipation of that big scare or terrifying image. That’s what  The Invitation   does so effectively. It waits and makes you question what kind of movie it is until it finally reveals itself in a beautiful finale. That’s what makes it truly one of the best movies of the year.

★★★★½ out of 5

Karl Delossantos

Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

• Karl Delossantos https://smashcutreviews.com/author/karldelogmail-com/ 12 Years A Slave Movie Review — A Beautiful, Unflinching Film
• Karl Delossantos https://smashcutreviews.com/author/karldelogmail-com/ 2014 Oscar Nominations: Snubs and Surprises
• Karl Delossantos https://smashcutreviews.com/author/karldelogmail-com/ 2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture (Updated 2/16)
• Karl Delossantos https://smashcutreviews.com/author/karldelogmail-com/ 2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Director (Is Alfonso Cuarón a Lock to Win?)

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‘The Invitation’ Opening on Top as August Box Office Ends With a Whimper

By J. Kim Murphy

J. Kim Murphy

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In a summer that’s often seen only one new wide release in a weekend, a whopping three new films hit theaters on Friday: Sony’s horror-thriller “ The Invitation ,” George Miller’s “ Three Thousand Years of Longing ” and bank heist movie “Breaking,” starring John Boyega. However, none of them seem to be making much of an impact, as the total box office projects a sum in the $50 million to $60 million range. That wouldn’t just be the worst weekend of the summer, but also the worst since February.

Popular on Variety

Directed by Jessica M. Thompson and starring Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty, “The Invitation” follows Evie (Emmanuel), an American woman visits her long-lost cousin in the English countryside, only to discover the family’s sinister secrets.

Moving down the chart, “Three Thousand Years of Longing” looks to land outside of the top five after earning $1.16 million from 2,346 locations on Friday. Things have looked glum for the United Artists Releasing film for a few months now, as general sentiment out of the Cannes Film Festival premiere of “Three Thousand Years” was that the film wouldn’t be commercial enough to recoup its hefty $60 million production budget.

Led by Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, “Three Thousand Years of Longing” focuses on a scholar’s encounter with a djinn, who offers to grant her three wishes. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures is handling domestic distribution, in association with FilmNation Entertainment, Elevate Production Finance and Sunac.

Sony’s “Bullet Train” looks to claim silver, projecting a 30% fall from last weekend for a $5.5 million gross. In four weekends of release, the Brad Pitt action vehicle has expanded its domestic gross to $78 million.

Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” is putting up another slim drop, falling only 17% in its 14th weekend of release. It speaks to the longevity of the Tom Cruise sequel — and the dreariness of the current landscape — that the film could claim third place three months after its initial release. “Maverick” should push its North American gross to $691 million this weekend, inching closer to Marvel’s “Black Panther” ($700 million) to break into the all-time domestic box office top five.

Last weekend’s champion “ Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero ” is in a narrow battle for fourth. The Crunchyroll release took a sharp fall on Friday, tumbling 78% from its opening day with a $1.3 million gross. After stunning with a $21 million debut last weekend, it seems that most “Dragon Ball” fans who wanted to see “Super Hero” prioritized going to theaters, leading to a rather front-loaded performance. The anime film should push its domestic gross to $30 million through Sunday.

Universal’s “Beast” isn’t far behind “Super Hero,” projecting a $4.3 million gross in its sophomore outing. That would mark a 63% tumble for the Idris Elba thriller, which carries a $30 million production budget.

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‘The Invitation’ Film Review: Nathalie Emmanuel Can’t Save Cliched Take on Socially Conscious Horror

Beyond one somewhat gory scene, Jessica M. Thompson delivers little to nothing to genuinely shock or awe

If the mostly by-the-numbers plot of “The Invitation,” and its eventual ridiculous twist, is tolerable at all, it’s due to the effortless effervescence that star Nathalie Emmanuel lends to this modern-day horror with gothic embellishments, as a mix-raced woman barely getting by in NYC who gets to live a British royal fantasy until it turns into a literal bloody mess. 

Invoking “Twilight” and “Beauty and the Beast” with watered-down hints of “Crimson Peak,” the new feature from director Jessica M. Thompson (“The Light of the Moon”) opens with a suicide scene that insinuates the timelessness of its story. It’s here that its efforts to misdirect the audience about the type of supernatural entity we are dealing with begin. 

In a more recognizable present, Evie (Emmanuel), a ceramics artist that stays afloat through catering jobs, takes a DNA test that connects her with a (white) cousin in England, Oliver (a weaselly Hugh Skinner), she had never heard about before. Yearning for any semblance of family, after her mother’s recent passing, she eagerly accepts his generous invitation to attend an upcoming family wedding back in the old country all expenses paid. 

From the onset, as Evie serves carpaccio to rude wealthy people, Blair Butler’s screenplay attempts to infuse the nightmarish tale with a notion of class consciousness and generic discussions on race, privilege and colonialism with varying degrees of effectiveness. A few remarks land strongly via Emmanuel, but in general the themes stay just on the surface. 

That Evie shows basic human decency to those working service jobs, having been in their shoes, upon her arrival in England at the lavish state where the festivities will take place, seems to pique the attention of Walter (Thomas Doherty), the charming lord of the residence and host. Later, as evil becomes visible, the lives of houseworkers become disposable, which feels like an on-the-nose statement on how the rich perceive them. 

For a few days, Evie’s fairytale of old-fashioned dances, Walter’s chivalry, and kisses in front of a firework splattered night’s sky tricks her into overlooking some of the disturbing clues of what’s ahead. Several possibilities as to what she is facing cross one’s mind: ghosts, a cult or even human trafficking. But what we discover is far less gripping.  

“The Invitation” joins the ranks of an overdone, currently popular trend in horror films that sees overly trusting characters get lured into grasp of a malevolent group of people, often racist and sexist millionaires, with perverse motives hiding under a veneer of benevolence: “Ready or Not,” “Antebellum,” “Get Out,” and even something as recent as “Fresh.” Often, as is the case here, the protagonist has a friend back home who, via cell phone, becomes a lifeline. 

Thompson mines formulaic jump-scares from the inherent spookiness of a densely decorated old manor where shadowy figures in an old library or a bird crashing against a window put Evie on edge. But beyond one somewhat gory scene of a throat being slit (which is in the trailer), there’s little in the form of shocking or rather terrifying sequences. Still, the efforts of cinematographer Autumn Eakin to manifest moody lighting throughout at least make for an elegant setting for Emmanuel to parade her dazzling gowns in. 

On a handful of instances Thompson and editor Tom Elkins seem to intently aim for dynamic set pieces that heighten the tension and removes us momentarily from the romantic utopia Evie believes she is in, as if hinting at the monstrosity under it all. 

One of those occurs just before the main nuptial event. As Eve tries to enjoy a spa day with the other women attending the wedding, she argues with the insufferable Viktoria (Stephanie Corneliussen), one of the maids of honor. Their combative back and forth is intercut by shots and the loudened sounds of nails being filed and clipped for great effect. 

Late in the narrative, a similarly constructed bit unfolds, when a grotesque dinner unfolds as Eve comes to learn why she was summoned to join this clan of mostly white men. Frozen at the realization, everything around her takes on an increasingly sinister form. 

But while the overall substance and originality of the film lacks, Emmanuel utilizes the vehicle at hand to demonstrate her range and evident star quality in every line reading and uncomfortable interaction with the strange guests and Doherty’s run-of-the-mill gallantry. Molding what Butler put on the page to her advantage, Emmanuel creates a compelling heroine that entices us to follow her even as she approaches the story’s bland conclusion. 

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. But, conversely, it’s also insufficiently campy to awaken one’s interest for the truly bizarre, rendering itself an average genre ordeal. 

“The Invitation” opens Friday in U.S. theaters.

The Invitation Review: Whites Only Wedding

• Nathalie Emmanuel makes for a captivating lead
• The movie is terribly paced
• Its score is so boilerplate as to border on parody
• The twist it all hinges on feels too telegraphed to be in any way revelatory

Not to be confused with the 2015 Karyn Kusama picture of the same name, "The Invitation" is also about a worst-case scenario for getting persuaded into attending a social event. But where that film was purposeful, meditative, and properly suspenseful, this one is decidedly not. Director Jessica M. Thompson, the helmer behind the well-received indie drama "The Light of the Moon" puts her all into this, her first studio picture, but no amount of grace or care can elevate the middling script from G4 TV vet Blair Butler. This is a movie that must have seemed novel on paper, but in execution feels too rote to have any real impact.

From the outset, it's a movie blatantly heading in an obvious direction, but somehow, "The Invitation" feels self-satisfied with the rug it pulls from under the viewer as if there could conceivably be anyone in the audience not staring at their feet waiting for the fall. "Game of Thrones" and "Fast" saga veteran Nathalie Emmanuel stars as a grieving young woman whose search for family leads her across the pond to a mysterious gothic wedding that is not what it appears to be. 

That's the tagline, anyway. It's exactly what it appears to be, and the fact that it takes so long to get there feels like a unique brand of torture. 

Kissing cousins

The film begins with Evie (Emmanuel), a woman living in NYC and mourning the recent death of her mother. She already lost her father at a young age, leaving her feeling untethered and longing for a sense of belonging. Lucky then that her job as a server has her working a gala event run by a 23andme stand-in, leading her to use the service to seek out some genetic elucidation. In addition to the easy set-up for the film's main plot, getting a glimpse of Evie at work doubles as an opening salvo for some of the themes at play here. She is a struggling artist who must debase herself for money when surrounded by crusty upper-class maniacs who don't see her as human.

The results come back and Evie turns out to have a long-lost cousin, Oliver (Hugh Skinner), who tells her of her sordid connection to his bloodline. Generations ago, Evie's great-great-grandfather was a Black servant who had an affair with the lady of the house before spiriting away with the baby and raising her on his own. Oliver paints it as a cutesy scandal, underscored by Emmanuel's passing resemblance to Meghan Markle, but offers her an  invitation to a wedding much of their family will be at. She obliges, of course, and we're introduced to a whole host of forgettable, broadly drawn caricatures of English aristocracy, each more cardboard cutout than the last. Evie encounters microaggression after microaggression while beginning a burgeoning flirtation with the lord of the manor, Walter (Thomas Doherty), a man she is reassured she shares no blood relation with.

This "Downton Abbey"-like dalliance continues on for what feels like eons, interspersed with just enough reminders that "there is something afoot" to try to keep viewers promised a horror film from walking towards the exit. The film's prologue, taking place in Walter's manor at some unknown juncture in the past, sets the tone firmly enough that whatever mystery lurking about this enormous castle must be something harrowing. But it doesn't feel as intriguing or engaging as it should.

There are numerous allusions to a particularly famous horror novel in the public domain, one conveniently not credited in a "based on" manner one must assume for shock factor, but otherwise, there's just this ongoing dance between the tense thriller "The Invitation" imagines itself to be and the boring, glacially paced, crummily written waste it actually is. No amount of cutting to the butler (Sean Pertwee) nefariously suggesting the female help go dust empty rooms filled with portent can change that.

Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better once the laborious "twist" is revealed and the band-aid gets ripped off this open wound of a motion picture.  Spoilers in the next slide for "The Invitation"!

Looking for a third

Evie's growing comfort with Walter is matched only by her increasing suspicion that something is amiss with the other guests in town for this wedding. For instance, where is the bride? Why do these two women (Stephanie Corneliussen and Alana Boden) have such antagonistic energy towards her? Once Walter's joking proposal to Evie rapidly turns into a real thing, all is revealed: Walter is not who he says he is. In fact, he's a very famous, very well-known horror fiction figure, the sort to usually have movies about him named after him. 

This instantly recognizable name is never spoken aloud, only broadly gestured to with heavy implication. But that sort of approach to the mythology at the heart of the film, perhaps meant to prolong an inevitable surprise, is part and parcel of why the film doesn't work. It's clear Butler's script wanted to modernize an element of a popular piece of vampire mythology, positioning Evie as the reluctant third bride of He Who Isn't Named, but there's nothing here, not even with the director's rewrites, that elevates this finished product above neat elevator pitch. The same way the film carefully tiptoes around the Count, it artfully dodges making any meaningful or resonant commentary about any of the myriad touchstones it tosses out so carelessly. 

A key change from the original script Thompson brought was the decision to make Evie a woman of color, a change she felt strongly about for the story they were telling. But while Emmanuel's skin tone lends a sort of credence to the film's many instances of implied racism and classism, it feels like it's used like bait, a surface-level stylistic choice designed to imply a thematic depth the filmmakers do not possess, at least not within this otherwise kitschy and on the nose genre effort. 

The narrative is thornier than this, but at times "The Invitation" feels like someone wrote, "what if Prince Harry was a vampire" on a whiteboard and called it a day. Vampire movies deserve more than this. So do ruminations on how gender and race and class intersect with outdated oppressive systems. It's just a shame everyone involved with "The Invitation" seemed so content with whatever the hell this is.

The 22 Best Thrillers on Netflix Right Now (March 2024)

S ometimes you want Netflix to provide comfort food, and other times you want it to give you a jolt to the system. When it's the latter, you'll want a good thriller that may not go heavy on the blood and gore, but still manages to rattle you to your core. The streaming service has a solid selection of picks from the genre, but they've also got a lot of other movies labeled under "thriller" that wouldn't be the best use of your time, so we've got an updated list of the best thriller movies on Netflix to save you some scrolling.

If you need a bit of guidance on what thrillers you should check out, look at our recommendations below.

'Society of the Snow' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 94% | imdb: 6.5/10, society of the snow.

Release Date December 23, 2023

Director J.A. Bayona

Cast Matas Recalt, Simon Hempe, Esteban Bigliardi, Enzo Vogrincic

Runtime 144 minutes

Genres Biography, Drama, Thriller, History, Adventure

Read Our Review Horror fans will absolutely love X , while those who prefer not to watch an absolute blood bath should probably stay away. Produced by A24, X is written and directed by Ti West ( Pearl ). The film tells the story of a group of friends who rent a cabin outside of town to film their adult movie. The film takes place in 1979, in the days way before Airbnb, so the crew’s hosts, Pearl and Howard, are anything but hospitable. One by one, the friends are picked off by their mysterious hosts, whose background is slowly revealed as the plot unfolds.

X stars Mia Goth ( Suspira ), Jenna Ortega ( Scream ), Brittany Snow ( Pitch Perfect ) , Kid Cudi ( The Harder They Fall ), Martin Henderson ( Smokin’ Aces ), and Owen Campbell ( Super Dark Times ). The film had a sequel come out just months after its release, Pearl , which tells the origin story of X’s villain, Pearl. Reprising the role of Pearl is Goth, whose performance in both films is award-worthy. - Emily Cappello

Watch on Netflix

'Leave the World Behind' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 75% | imdb: 6.6/10, leave the world behind.

Release Date December 8, 2023

Director Sam Esmail

Cast Myha'la, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon

Genres Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Read Our Review

Premiering at AFI Fest in May 2023, Leave the World Behind is an apocalyptic psychological thriller based on the 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam . The film tells the story of Amanda ( Julia Roberts ) as she decides to take her family on an impromptu trip to an Airbnb on Long Island. Her husband, Clay ( Ethan Hawke ), and her kids, Archie ( Charlie Evans ) and Rose ( Farrah Mackenzie ), go along with the sudden plan. But it isn’t long before strange things start happening, from losing Wi-Fi to an oil tanker crashing into the beach to a strange amount of deer showing up in their yard (and if there’s anything Get Out taught us, it’s that deer can be absolutely terrifying in the right context). When the Airbnb homeowner George ( Mahershala Ali ) and his daughter Ruth ( Myha’la ) come home unannounced, things only get stranger.

Written and directed by Sam Esmail (the mind behind Mr. Robot ), Leave the World Behind couldn’t be more timely, diving into themes like technology, privilege, and political tension. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it a “smart, compelling take on the end of the world” and praised the film’s performances and direction. - Emily Cappello

'The Killer' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 85% | imdb: 6.8/10, the killer (2023).

Release Date November 10, 2023

Director David Fincher

Cast Monique Ganderton, Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender, Charles Parnell

Runtime 118 minutes

Genres Action, Crime, Adventure

Directed by David Fincher , The Killer is a thrilling and intense drama based on the French graphic novel series from Alexis "Matz" Nolent . Michael Fassbender absolutely dominates in the titular role, playing an elite assassin forced to clear his name after a job goes wrong, leading to him becoming the subject of an international manhunt. Co-starring Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, and Tilda Swinton , The Killer also features an incredible soundtrack featuring talent composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as English rock band the Smiths.

Highlighted by Fincher’s clever visuals, an undeniably incredible cast, and a killer soundtrack, The Killer is more than its often predictable and purely simple premise. Fassbender has always been leading man material, regardless of genre, and continues his ability to captivate on screen through the stylish cinematography and borderline-absurd plot points.

'Emily the Criminal' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 94% | imdb: 6.7/10, emily the criminal.

Director John Patton Ford

Release Date August 12, 2022

Cast Bernardo Badillo, John Billingsley, Theo Rossi, Aubrey Plaza

Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime

Runtime 97 minutes

Writer and director John Patton Ford makes his feature directorial debut with this award-winning crime thriller starring Aubrey Plaza ( The White Lotus ). Emily the Criminal is an unsettlingly relatable tale about a young woman who’s drowning in student loan debts and can’t find a sustainable job due to a felony conviction that leads to an onslaught of rejection from all but the worst jobs, ultimately forcing her to turn to an underground network of credit card scammers to make money. The film is a scathing indictment of the ways that corporations and predatory lenders exploit the working class and is a realistic showcase of the ways that poverty is a leading cause of crime. – Tauri Miller

'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 92% | imdb: 7.1/10, glass onion: a knives out mystery.

Director Rian Johnson

Writers Rian Johnson

Release Date December 23, 2022

Cast Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn

Genres Mystery, Thriller

Rating PG-13

Runtime 139 minutes

Unlike many of the titles on this list, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) eschews the "dark and gritty" for the "bright and humorous." But make no mistake, Rian Johnson 's follow-up to 2019's Knives Out is an extremely thrilling story with a gripping plot. The comedy of the film arises from the satirical depictions of its cast of suspects, whose lives intertwine in a complicated, multi-layered narrative that's simultaneously obvious and obscure, much like the titular "Glass Onion." World-famous detective Benoit Blanc ( Daniel Craig ) receives an invitation for a weekend at an eccentric billionaire's private island, where the host ( Edward Norton ) has gathered his closest friends for what is to be a fun murder mystery game. But when the threat of a real murder makes itself clear, Blanc must solve the case, which has its roots in the pasts of all the people assembled. The plot is, as mentioned, a brilliantly crafted classic whodunit but what sets this film apart is the sheer style that Johnson brings to his mystery sequel. Everything from the costumes to the set design is top-notch, presenting a well-made, well-crafted film that's enjoyable for every type of audience.- Remus Noronha

'Extraction 2' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 79% | imdb: 7.10/10, extraction 2.

Director Sam Hargrave

Release Date June 16, 2023

Cast Sinead Phelps, Daniel Bernhardt, Golshifteh Farahani, Chris Hemsworth

Genres Thriller, Action

Runtime 122 minutes

Chris Hemsworth ( The Avengers ) returns as the black ops mercenary Tyler Rake, along with writer Joe Russo ( The Gray Man ) and director Sam Hargrave ( Extraction ) in Extraction 2 . The film finds a retired Rake resting in Austria, but his tranquility doesn’t last long once a strange man asks him to break a mother and her two daughters out of a Georgian prison. As expected from a collaboration between Russo and Hargrave, who previously worked together on several MCU films, the film is a thrilling ride filled with intense action and suspenseful chases that get the heart pumping throughout this dangerous escort mission. – Tauri Miller

'It Follows' (2015)

Rotten tomatoes: 95% | imdb: 6.8/10.

Director David Robert Mitchell

Writers David Robert Mitchell

Release Date March 15, 2015

Cast Loren Bass, Carollette Phillips, Bailey Spry, Lili Sepe, Keir Gilchrist, Maika Monroe

Genres Thriller, Horror

Runtime 100 minutes

This 2014 horror thriller is one of those films that take a relatively simple enough premise and elevate it to new heights of tension. The film follows the events that unfold when Jay ( Maika Monroe ) contracts a curse after having sex. Now she is being hunted by a mysterious force, and both Jay and the viewer are taken through a paranoid journey, with every new face being a potential threat. It Follows is a truly tense thriller, and it's a must-watch for horror and thriller fans, especially for Maika Monroe's breakout performance. - Remus Noronha

'The Pale Blue Eye' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 63% | imdb: 6.6./10, the pale blue eye.

Director Scott Cooper

Writers Allan Wylie, Mary MacDonald Rival

Release Date January 6, 2023

Cast Harry Melling, Simon McBurney, Christian Bale, Timothy Spall

Genres Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Crime

Runtime 128 minutes

The mystery and thriller genres would be a whole lot poorer without the contributions of the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe . This, however, is not an adaptation of a Poe story (though it is adapted from the novel of the same name by Louis Bayard ); instead, The Pale Blue Eye presents a fictional detective tale that happens to take place during the unhappy years that Poe spent at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. A period piece that blends horror and mystery elements, the movie's story kicks off when a cadet at the academy is found hanging from a tree. A case of suicide, perhaps? Except that his heart had been carved out of his dead chest. A grizzled old detective (played by Christian Bale ) is called in but he soon discovers that in order to uncover the secrets of the academy, he will need the help of a bright young cadet: Edgar Allan Poe ( Harry Melling ). Bale is as brilliant as ever, delivering what's arguably his best performance of the year, but Harry Melling is the one to watch out for in this dark eerie tale. The film proceeds with all the careful terror of an uncoiling snake, revealing new secrets at every turn, and even when you think you know who the killer is, there's always another surprise waiting around the corner. The Pale Blue Eye is a must-watch for fans of gothic mystery, whether you're a fan of Poe or not. - Remus Noronha

'Spiderhead' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 39% | imdb: 5.5/10.

Director Joseph Kosinski

Release Date June 17, 2022

Cast Mark Paguio, Miles Teller, Chris Hemsworth, Jurnee Smollett

Genres Drama, Action, Crime

Runtime 106 minutes

Director Joseph Kosinski made quite a splash in 2022 with Top Gun: Maverick but his Netflix thriller Spiderhead is just as engaging. Set at a private research facility/prison, the film stars Chris Hemsworth as an enigmatic scientist who's running chemical tests on the prisoners. Miles Teller plays one of the prisoners, who begins to question the purpose of the experiments they are being subjected to. It's a gripping film that escalates slowly but surely toward a rather unexpected twist. Teller and Hemsworth share excellent chemistry and Jurnee Smollett 's performance is both layered and endearing. With great acting and a gripping narrative, Spiderhead is one of the best movies Netflix has released this year. The fact that the film's premise is one that could very well be a reality soon just makes it all the more powerful. - Remus Noronha

'1922' (2017)

Rotten tomatoes: 92% | imdb: 6.2/10.

Director Zak Hilditch

Writers Zak Hilditch, Stephen King

Release Date October 20, 2017

Cast Roan Curtis, Neal McDonough, Thomas Jane, Dylan Schmid, Brian D'Arcy James, Molly Parker

Genres Drama, Horror, Crime

Rating TV-MA

Runtime 102 minutes

This is for when you want a real slow-burner, and we do mean slow. Based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, 1922 moves ever so slowly with a dark inevitability that draws you in. It's not too heavy on the gore and yet manages to instill a terrible sense of fear in the viewer. The story is narrated by (and centers around) a farmer named Wilfred "Wilf" James ( Thomas Jane ), who decides to kill his wife Arlette ( Molly Parker ). Simple enough, right? But what follows is the story of good people consumed by the consequences of greed. It's unsettling, macabre, almost on par with the most intense Edgar Allan Poe stories . This is easily one of the most gripping thrillers that Netflix has to offer. - Remus Noronha

'Operation Mincemeat' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 83% | imdb: 6.6/10, operation mincemeat.

Director John Madden

Release Date May 11, 2022

Cast Rufus Wright, Kelly Macdonald, Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen

Genres Drama, War

Based on real-life events, Operation Mincemeat is a tense historical war drama about one of the most daring deceptions that won World War II. The movie stars Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen as two intelligence operatives who concoct a scheme to use a dead body to divert attention from the Allies' attack on Sicily. While perhaps not as gripping as some of the other entries on this list, Operation Mincemeat does involve a lot of twists and turns. Numerous obstacles, both foreseen and otherwise, continuously pop up throughout the planning and execution of the operation. But the spy drama elements are balanced with character moments and some interesting exploration of the relationships that form between the people involved in the scheme. - Remus Noronha

'I Care A Lot' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 78% | imdb: 6.4/10, i care a lot.

A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.

Director J Blakeson

Release Date February 19, 2021

Cast Eiza Gonzalez, Peter Dinklage, Dianne Wiest, Rosamund Pike

Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime

This 2020 black comedy movie earned Rosamund Pike a Golden Globe for her role as a ruthless con artist who preys on the elderly. I Care a Lot follows the story of Marla Grayson (Pike), a court-appointed guardian who uses her legal hold over her victims to take control of their assets. Her sordid scam hits a snag when her latest mark, a woman who calls herself Jennifer Peterson ( Dianne Wiest ) turns out to be connected to a dangerous gangster, played by the iconic Peter Dinklage . With dark humor, biting satire, and a wild story, I Care a Lot should definitely be on every thriller fan's watchlist. - Remus Noronha

'The Platform' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 80% | imdb: 7.0/10, the platform.

Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Release Date March 20, 2020

Cast Emilio Buale, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor, Ivan Massagu

Genres Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror

Runtime 94 minutes

A fabulous high-concept thriller that toes the line between genres , The Platform is set within the confines of an impossibly tall building where residents either feast or famine depending on which floor they're on. Every day, a massive table is stuffed with a banquet of food and slowly dropped through the building, one floor to the next, with the folks on top thriving in gluttony while those far below them starve to death - but there's a catch, every once in a while, the inhabitants are gassed, reshuffled, and they never know which floor they're going to wake up on next. It's a bit of a long set-up, but a tremendously effective vehicle, both for the social themes it explores and the non-stop suspense of investigating the beak world between these cramped walls. - Haleigh Foutch

'Oxygen' (2021)

Rotten tomatoes: 89% | imdb: 6.5/10.

Director Alexandre Aja

Writers Christie LeBlanc

Release Date May 12, 2021

Cast Cathy Cerda, Eric Herson-Macarel, Malik Zidi, Marc Saez, Mlanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Rating TV-14

From High Tension to The Hills Have Eyes to Crawl , Alexandre Aja is responsible for some of the most pulse-pounding, skin-crawling, relentlessly intense movies of the 21st Century. With his 2021 Netflix original Oxygen , the filmmaker steps (slightly) back from the horror and leans all the way in on the thrills, following a woman ( Mélanie Laurent ) who wakes up in a cryogenic pod with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or - her biggest problem - what to do about her rapidly dwindling supply of oxygen. Aja doesn't fully leave behind his horror touch and the flourishes of body horror only serve to further ramp up your adrenaline. Oxygen doesn't always land its twists before you figure them out, but when a filmmaker is as attuned to dialing up the tension as Aja is, your stomach's gonna wind up in your throat whether you see the next drop in the track coming or not. - Haleigh Foutch

'Gerald's Game' (2017)

Rotten tomatoes: 91% | imdb: 6.5/10, gerald's game.

Director Mike Flanagan

Release Date September 29, 2017

Cast Carel Struycken, Chiara Aurelia, Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino

Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror

Runtime 103 minutes

In novella form, Gerald’s Game makes for one of Stephen‌ King ’ s queasiest, most relentlessly gripping works. It’s the very definition of a page-turner, keeping you glued to the next word, following one woman’s seemingly impossible fight to survive a very slow, silent death while tending to the trauma she’s buried deep inside herself. It’s also entirely first-person, taking place inside the mind of a woman left handcuffed to the bed in a remote cabin after her husband dies of a heart attack in the middle of a tryst. Understandably, it was long thought unfilmable, but Mike Flanagan’ s tender, terrifying 2017 adaptation proved the naysayers wrong with a heartfelt but oh-so-horrifying film that’s faithful to King’s work in all the right ways. Gore-phobes be warned though! At its core, Gerald’s Game is a lovely film about surviving trauma, but it is also a brutal survival film and one climactic scene (which was infamously hard to read, let alone watch) wins the gold star for the most vocal audience freak-out I’ve ever heard in a movie theater. – Haleigh Foutch

'Velvet Buzzsaw' (2019)

Rotten tomatoes: 61% | imdb: 5.7/10, velvet buzzsaw.

Director Dan Gilroy

Writers Dan Gilroy

Release Date February 1, 2019

Cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Zawe Ashton, Natalia Dyer, Tom Sturridge, Toni Collette, Rene Russo

Genres Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Runtime 113 minutes

If you liked Nightcrawler , you should check out writer/director Dan Gilroy ’s kind of insane Netflix movie Velvet Buzzsaw . One part thriller and one part slasher, the movie is set in the art world and revolves around a cache of art that is found to have been created by a mysterious and deceased artist. Once it's put on display, people begin dying in grisly ways. The film has a lot of dark humor to it, and Jake Gyllenhaal gives a really colorful performance as Gilroy goes for the jugular as far as the art world is concerned. - Adam Chitwood

'Bird Box' (2018)

Rotten tomatoes: 64% | imdb: 6.6/10.

Director Susanne Bier

Writers Josh Malerman, Eric Heisserer

Release Date December 21, 2018

Cast David Dastmalchian, John Malkovich, B.D. Wong, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar

Genres Sci-Fi, Thriller

Runtime 124 minutes

Netflix squeezed in one last streaming sensation before the end of 2018 with Bird Box , the star-studded and meme-friendly new thriller starring Sandra Bullock as a mother trying to protect her children in an apocalyptic world Set across two timelines, Bird Box follows a group of survivors through the end of the world after a mysterious force starts causing people to kill themselves on sight. Naturally, that sets up director Susanne Bier for plenty of thrills and gags based on the anxiety of trying to survive without sight (some more believable than others) and she uses the opportunity for all its worth, staging some pulse-pounding set-pieces in the fight for survival. Bullock carries Bird Box with a commanding performance that reminds you why she’s an old-school movie star and she’s matched by Trevante Rodes , who sets his charm level to “dangerously high” and John Malkovich , who leans into his gift for playing smart men of a nasty disposition that you just can’t help but love/hate. — Haleigh Foutch

Watch on Netflix​​​​​​​

'Apostle' (2018)

Rotten tomatoes: 78% | imdb: 6.3/10.

In 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.

Director Gareth Evans

Writers Gareth Evans

Release Date October 12, 2018

Cast Kristine Froseth, Dan Stevens, Michael Sheen, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Lucy Boynton

Genres Drama, Horror, Fantasy

Runtime 130 minutes

Brace yourself for some bloody, brutal thrills with Apostle , the horror-thriller from The Raid director Gareth Evans, who turns his attentions from breathless action to stomach-churning tension. Legion star Dan Stevens delivers another swing-for-the-fences performance as a man who infiltrates a rural cult that’s taken his sister hostage and discovers some deeply disturbing truths behind the utopian facade. Evans’ slow-burn pays off with a mighty explosion of viscera, and a strong stomach is required for the blood-soaked finale, which veers from suspense to full-on carnage. — Haleigh Foutch

​​​​​​​Watch on Netflix​​​​​​​

'Cam' (2018)

Rotten tomatoes: 93% | imdb: 5.9/10.

Director Daniel Goldhaber

Writers Isabelle Link-Levy, Daniel Goldhaber, Isa Mazzei

Release Date November 16, 2018

Cast Imani Hakim, Michael Dempsey, Patch Darragh, Devin Druid, Madeline Brewer, Melora Walters

Genres Drama, Mystery, Horror

A tense thriller about ambition, identity, and survival in the internet age, Cam stars Madeline Brewer as Alice, a successful cam girl intent on climbing to the top of the ranks — an ambition that’s going rather well until she logs on one day to find she’s been replaced by a cheerful doppelganger who’s taken her face and her career. From there, Cam follows Alice down a surreal rabbit hole as she tries to discover who’s behind her new web clone and how to reclaim her life, building a growing sense of unease and sick helplessness as Alice’s reality drops out from under her. Screenwriter Isa Mazzei and director Daniel Goldhaber are a dynamite creative team, who bring a refreshing sex-positive , non-exploitative approach to the often untouched subject matter while staging a dazzling and disorienting plummet through the pitfalls of internet identity and the intensity of ambitious careerism. — Haleigh Foutch

'Berlin Syndrome' (2017)

Rotten tomatoes: 75% | imdb: 6.3/10, berlin syndrome.

Director Cate Shortland

Writers Melanie Joosten, Shaun Grant

Release Date May 16, 2017

Cast Lucie Aron, Peter Young, Kristina Kostiv, Matthias Habich, Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt

Runtime 116 minutes

Clare Havel ( Teresa Palmer ) is a young Australian photojournalist on vacation in Berlin. She's living the dream. Taking in the sights, falling in love with a new city, and just maybe falling in love with a handsome local man, Andi ( Max Riemelt ), who strikes up a passionate romance with her. But after she goes back to his place for a romantic night, she wakes up to the next morning to realize he's locked her in his apartment on his way to work, and with a slow dawning terror, she understands that he never intends to let her out. This is how we enter Berlin Syndrome , Cate Shortland 's taut thriller, which takes us through every step of their courtship and Clare's subsequent imprisonment in a slow-burn portrait of psychological terror and the human capacity for survival.

Palmer is excellent in the role of a smart woman in captivity, who discovers new depths of strength with each passing day, and Shaun Grant 's script gives her great material to work with, never treating Clare like a fool. She makes clever, assertive choices the whole way through, a fact that incites you to root for her and drastically notches up the tension at the same time. Her instinct for survival is met by Andi's capacity for cruelty, unfolding a bit each day as Clare realizes how dire her predicament truly is. Consummately tense and emotionally challenging, Berlin Syndrome kicks up a slow boil battle of the wits that constantly notches up the dread and pays off in a breathless finale. -- Haleigh Foutch