THE INVITATION Trailer

Oh, there’s plenty to be afraid of in The Invitation, the upcoming psychological pot-boiler from director Karyn Kusama. Any time paranoia works its way into a film the audience immediately loses its bearing, unsure of which character is lying, which is telling the truth, or if everything they’re seeing is just the fever dream of an ill mind. A blow could come from anywhere, and we humans are hard-wired to fear uncertainty.

That’s precisely what makes this set-up such fertile and familiar ground for thrillers. The spine tingle you feel is delectable in its simplicity, and inducing a pure moment of base-level humanity is what filmmakers often mean when they talk about returning to their roots. The Invitation is just such a return for Kusama, who after making the studio products Aeon Flux and Jennifer’s Body scaled back here to work on a project that really jumped out at her.

The movie was primarily financed by Gamechanger Films, a newcomer that supports only narrative features directed by women. The Invitation is just their second film, but they already have an impressive line-up of directors that they’re working with (see the list here). Their two-headed goal, namely financing films by women that will make money, is exactly what must be done to change the business side of the film industry. Without that, any efforts to correct the problem will only be cosmetic, and the systemic problems will persist.

The future looks bright for Gamechanger Films, and their support is a good sign that The Invitation will be worth checking out.

The Invitation is directed by Karyn Kusama and stars Logan Marshall-Green, Michiel Huisman, and Tammy Blanchard. It will be released in the U.S. on April 8th, 2016. International release dates are not currently known.

Do you think a film benefits from such targeted production requirements or do you think this method harms the final product? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!