Directed by Karyn Kusama. Cinematography by Bobby Shore.
I admired Karyn Kusama's use of character movement to create complicated visuals and
titivate the set pieces. In the hands of less talented directors 'The Invitation' could have become stale quickly. A cinematographer with no vision may have been lulled into a false sense of security and shot the movie as if it were a sit-com. You see this in low budget dramas on Netflix all the time. Or when they try an artistic flourish it falls flat or feels distracting.
Below we can see how Kusama uses the frame to establish Will and Eden's relationship. Also what place they are in their lives. Will is retracted, in the corner of the frame, pushing against the edge. They are separated by almost the whole length of the screen, but her body language is certainly more welcoming.
In the next two shots we have examples of the background movement I mentioned. In the first one we are looking from Will's point of view. It's has a creepy, voyeuristic feeling to the shot. There's more happening underneath which we aren't privy to.
Again in the scene below, characters move in and out of frame as Will is focused on. On negative of this style is Shore makes the characters seem less important, like the comedy relief in a Friday the 13th movie. You expect them to die, so they become meat for the grinder. I admit you can't give everyone the same focus in a movie, I'm just pointing out the consequence of this choice as a director.
The
presentiment patiently builds up to the scene below. Kusama sprinkles in close ups of Will, connecting us to him more than any other character. So we implicitly trust him, even though we've been fed several red herrings such as the missing boyfriend.
We follow his eye-line to the wine and figure out the plan exactly when Will does.
Highly recommended. I thought 'The Invitation' was creepy and anxiety inducing. The build is a slow burn and the payoff is like a sledgehammer to the face. Especially when you realize the meaning of the final shot above. Take note of how small they are in the frame compared to the rest of the valley. Also, it reminds me of the finals shots of 'Fight Club'.
***Warning Animal Violence
