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Director Jessica M. Thompson has taken on another feature film after her successful debut with The Light of the Moon. Her next endeavor, The Invitation puts a modern twist on a gothic classic, co-written by Thompson and Blair Butler. The horror-thriller features Game of Thrones actress, Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty (Gossip Girl), and Stephanie Corneliussen (Mr. Robot).
Originally titled The Bride before switching to the new title, this movie is produced by Emile Gladstone (The Curse Of La Llorona), and executive produced by Thompson and Michael P. Flannigan (Pitch Perfect). The movie's production companies are Mid Atlantic Films and Screen Gems, with Sony Pictures Entertainment distributing its theatrical release in August 2022. Here's everything you need to know about the movie.
When Does The Invitation Come Out?
The Invitation will have a nationwide theatrical release on August 26, 2022. The movie will be released exclusively to theaters and there is no set date for a digital release at the moment.
What Is The Invitation About?
The Invitation is loosely-inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, so it’s recommended to bring some garlic bread with you when it comes out in theaters. After losing her mother, a young American woman, named Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), decides to take a DNA test to find out if she has any other living relatives. It turns out that she has a long-lost cousin, Oliver (Hugh Skinner), whom she meets at a restaurant. He invites her to travel to England to meet the rest of her family at an upcoming wedding.
Upon her arrival, Evie is dazzled by her aristocratic host, Walter (Thomas Doherty), and his lavish estate. He courts her during her stay, and she is taken with him. As the wedding day draws closer, she asks more about who and where the bride and groom are, only to be given vague and mysterious answers. As she’s putting the pieces of the puzzle together, she learns that this family has a sinister surprise in store for her.
The bride-to-be turns out to be none other than Evie herself, with Walter as her intended. His charm quickly turns to menace as she tries to escape her increasingly violent and dangerous hosts. Evie will have to fight her way out of this nightmare if she wants to live to see another day.
Is There a Trailer For The Invitation?
Absolutely! The trailer was first released as an attachment to the theatrical release of The Black Phone on June 24, 2022. You can watch the trailer below:
As you can see in the trailer, it goes a little more into detail about Evie and her reasons for wanting to take the DNA test and find out if she has more family members. It also shows the level of violence to be expected in the movie, but most importantly, it shows that Walter and the other guests at his mansion are basically vampires. The trailer doesn’t flat out say that they’re vampires, but between the fangs, the blood-drinking, and the stake in the chest… it’s definitely a vampire movie.
Who’s in the Cast of The Invitation?
Nathalie Emmanuel will be playing the lead role of Evie. She’s best known for her role as Missandei in the HBO series Game of Thrones, but she has also worked in the Fast and Furious movies including the upcoming Fast X playing a character named Ramsey. She is an English actress but will be playing an American in The Invitation. The mysterious and charming potential love interest for Evie, Walter, will be played by Thomas Doherty. Doherty played Max Wolfe in Gossip Girl, as well as Harry Hook in Disney’s Descendants 2 and Descendants 3.
Stephanie Corneliussen will play the role of Viktoria, one of the family members that Evie meets at the estate. She can be seen in the trailer during the nail-trimming scene acting oddly when Evie cuts her finger by accident. She has also been on TV shows such as Mr. Robot and Legion. Other cast members include Sean Pertwee, who is best known for his role as Alfred Pennyworth in the television series Gotham, Hugh Skinner (Fleabag), and Alana Boden (I Am Elizabeth Smart).
More Shows and Movies to Watch While You Wait For The Invitation
The release date for The Invitation is still a month away. Fortunately, there are a few things with similar themes that you can check out in the meantime.
The Netflix miniseries Dracula might be a good place to start if you haven’t seen it yet. The series consists of three episodes, each with a runtime of about 90 minutes, similar to the BBC series Sherlock. It stars Danish actor Claes Bang (The Northman) as Dracula, and it covers his origins, his battles with descendants of Van Helsing (played by Dolly Wells), and what his future holds in store. He is immortal, after all.
The trailer for The Invitation does show Walter and other guests outside in the sunlight, so it’s not clear just how close the movie will stick to the traditional vampire folklore regarding strengths or weaknesses. Nonetheless, watching Dracula will at least give you a baseline of what to expect, especially regarding a vampire’s power of seduction.
Ready or Not, which came out in 2019, stars Samara Weaving (Nine Perfect Strangers) as Grace, a new bride meeting her future in-laws for the first time, not unlike Evie meeting her estranged family in The Invitation. After the wedding ceremony, it is revealed to Grace that the ancestors of her new husband’s family made a deal with the devilish “Mr. Le Bail” in exchange for their fortune. To keep up their end of the bargain throughout the generations, every time someone in the family gets married, the new family member must pull a card from Le Bail’s box, indicating which game they must play that night. The card that Grace draws is “Hide-and-Seek,” and it is soon explained to her that she must hide, as the rest of the family will seek her out and kill her. If they are not successful in killing her before sunrise, they will all die themselves. Ready Or Not is available to stream on fuboTV and rent on Amazon.
And remember, The Invitation hits theaters on August 26, so be sure to check with your local cinemas for showtimes and tickets.