A slow-burning thriller, The Invitation begins with Will and his new girlfriend travelling to a dinner party to reunite with his old friends. The event is hosted by Will's ex-wife Eden and her new husband David and we are given flashback introductions to the several other couples in attendance. Will is haunted by events in his past and he harbours a suspicious attitude towards some of the guests. This causes an uneasy tension at the dinner table as we are left wondering if Will is paranoid or justified with his accusations. His distrust only intensifies when David introduces them to an unsettling recruitment video for a new wave religion. The film is a little light on music, with only a few creepy instrumental pieces at key moments. This oversight causes the middle of the film to flounder a bit however the realistic setting and the final resolution is dark and thoughtful.
7/10
A retrospective addition to the sci-fi franchise, TFA is a sequel to the events of Return of the Jedi. With the empire in disarray, a similarly ominous group known as the First Order has risen in its place. We meet Rey and Finn who are accompanied by a much-older version of Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca as they attempt to piece together a galactic map that leads to Luke Skywalker's hermitage. The soundtrack is largely recycled but works well as the film draws heavily on its predecessors and there's a certain amount of charm in seeing the elder actors return to their original roles. If anything, the film is a little too familiar: there's a bad guy who'll remind you of Vader and an even badder guy who'll remind you of the Emperor. Overall, there's nothing much added to here, but it's derivative slant is still light years ahead of the prequel trilogy.
7.5/10
