What is it about vampires? Hollywood cannot get enough of the bloodsuckers and frankly nor can we. The category is brimming with classics, from cult classic 80s horror The Lost Boys to the eternally spicy From Dusk Till Dawn to Only Lovers Left Alive with a spectacularly undead Tilda Swinton and of course, how could we forget Twilight? Well, grab your garlic and find your silver bullets, because you're going to need them to resist Thomas Doherty in new film The Invitation.
If you thought the actor was seductive in the latest Gossip Girl reboot or as Zoë Kravitz's one time lover in High Fidelity, then gird your loins. His pasty, rich and drop-dead handsome character Walter Deville could rival Edward Cullen. It helps that Nathalie Emmanuel from Game of Thrones is equally as captivating. Together, Doherty and Emmanuel lead The Invitation, a vampire film with something to say about race, class and patriarchy.
What is The Invitation about?
Despite receiving scathing reviews from film critics, there's a corner of TikTok that's obsessed with the film. As @jstoobs points out, if you're into fanfiction, vampires in general, campy gothic horrors or loved Bridgerton then you'll eat this one up.
@jstoobs The right crowd needs to find this film because they will love it #theinvitation #movies #film #vampires ♬ Horror, suspense, weirdness, ghost, UFO - Zassh
It follows Evie, a Black, twenty-something New Yorker who begins investigating her family tree and discovers, with the help of a pushy Brit named Oliver, that she's distantly related to an old money family in England – the kind that live in a manor and wear evening gowns to regular dinner. It turns out that Evie was the product of a scandalous affair (the English relatives are violently White).
Oliver offers her an all-expenses-paid trip to visit and attend a wedding in the family. Immediately, as a viewer you know all of this is too good to be true, but Evie is lapping it up. Things get creepier and more suspicious as she hangs out with the coven, and you're just going to have to tune in for the ending.
Cast
As mentioned, Thomas Doherty stars alongside Nathalie Emmanuel, while Stephanie Corneliussen plays Viktoria and Hugh Skinner is the pompous Oliver – a face you might remember from Little Birds or Fleabag.
Premiere date
No waiting is necessary to see The Invitation. The film is currently showing in theatres, and can be streamed on Paramount+.
