Sunday email from colleague: “Take this from me…you HAVE to see The Invitation. Email Ryan Fons for a link. It’s incredible. Trust me.” Variety‘s Justin Chang: “Set during a mysterious reunion among old friends where something is quite palpably not right, this well-acted, beautifully modulated exercise represents director Karyn Kusama’s strongest work in years, revealing an assurance of tone, craft and purpose that haven’t been in evidence since her Sundance prize-winning debut, Girlfight.”

I’m aware of the 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating, of course, but honestly? I was dissuaded by that teaser/trailer. It’s too vague. Letting that go. Catching a screener later today.

Hollywood Reporter‘s John DeFore, posted 10.1.15: “A loved one you haven’t seen in years has gathered you and other old friends together. It quickly becomes clear that this reunion is less about good food and fond memories than an effort to introduce you to the new belief system she thinks will wipe away all your earthly woes. At what point is it appropriate to segue from ‘thanks, but it’s not for me’ to ‘I’m getting out of this house right now — who’s with me’?

“That question drives The Invitation, Karyn Kusama‘s itchy single-location drama, her first feature in six years. A play-like film in which some presumably unintended awkward notes contribute to the unsettled mood even when they strain credibility, it’s a welcome human-scale outing for a director who stumbled upon leaping from 2000’s breakout debut Girlfight to the would-be tentpole dud Aeon Flux.”