This is the dilemma faced by Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandel in ‘Game of Thrones’) in the film The Invitation. Evie is a freelance artist whose dream is to make a living selling her art.

At one of the events she is working at, she gains access to a DNA test and, while taking the test, meets a British cousin named Oliver (Hugh Skinner) who, by pure coincidence, is in town and, on their first date, invites her to go to a wedding at the family mansion.

But is it worth watching?

You know that saying that “when the alms are too much, the saint gets suspicious”? That’s exactly the thought we have while watching this movie.

The main character’s best friend agrees with us, and she advises the girl to take a picture of the license plate of the car that took her to the mansion. However, an accident occurs, hindering her mission.

And it’s at this moment that we meet our second central character.

Played by Thomas Doherty, the character De Ville exudes a Christian Grey vibe mixed with a Lord from a series set in the 19th century. He captivates with his smile and luxurious gifts, as well as a loving chat about the future with our protagonist.

Our host is full of clichés: charming, a rich man who cares about his employees and is attentive to his guests, coveted by the most beautiful women in town, interested only in the stranger.

The script by Blair Butler (2019’s Instant Death) ends up falling into the same old mold as horror films released recently: they promise a lot, but deliver only banal, predictable “scares” that don’t give anything away to the plot.

To prevent spoilers, I’ll hold back when talking about the third act.

If the beginning of the film is slow, here we have a plot twist that fails to turn the plot into something surprising.

We also have a fight sequence that makes us laugh a little and an ending that makes the film a trashy one, the kind that makes you think “Wow, I can’t believe I wasted my time watching this movie”.

In Conclusion

The Invitation is not available on any streaming platform in Brazil. Taking this into account, and the effort required to download the film and the low quality of the story itself, I believe it is not worth it.

If anything, you can put it on while you use your cell phone and don’t pay attention to it.

O post The Invitation | Is There Still Time to Refuse? apareceu primeiro em e-Popcorn.

Smile’s script has a curious focus: the smiles we offer in abundance throughout life turn into a deadly threat, a call from the unknown capable of driving the sanest minds crazy.

Despite presenting a premise that takes itself seriously and tries to be original, the film ends up resting on the genre’s well-known monotony: jump scares are added gratuitously just to make viewers move in their seats.

The emphasis on scares becomes even clearer during the transitions between scenes. Completely black screens that last 3 to 5 seconds are replaced by a loud noise and a dynamic cut of something jumping on the screen. The protagonist, terrified by an evil force, forgets that there are lights and switches 95% of the time, it is always dark and the camera always moves slowly towards the unknown.

When we try to understand what is causing so much terror, the information is presented in a lazy and shallow way, leaving us with an empty perspective to watch.

However, I cannot be a hypocrite and say that the film does not at least try to be something. The analogy between the forced smile and the masks we wear in our daily lives to hide what we feel is clear. A criticism of our act of denying our feelings and not dealing with our traumatic experiences.

It is a shame that all of this ends up being left aside in a poor execution and a script full of promises never fulfilled.

In the third act of the film, things get even worse, the characterization of the villain is caricatured and poorly executed, even bringing humor to what should be scary.

An honorable mention for one of the final scenes that pays homage to (or “copies”, but does not do the same) the classic scene from The Possession of Deborah Logan (2014).

In final considerations, Parker Finn’s script is not very memorable, but it is a fun experience for those who like to be scared.

O post Smile! Or Cry Over The Money You Spent apareceu primeiro em e-Popcorn.