Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like The Invitation:
Speak No Evil
While I appreciate many of James Watkins’ directorial choices and the strong performances from James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, Scoot McNairy, and Mackenzie Davis—who all have great chemistry—I can’t shake the feeling that Speak No Evil missed an opportunity. It could have delivered a real shock to the studio horror system but instead falls into the same familiar patterns. The film ends up being a watered-down, more subdued version of the original, which felt fresh and unsettling just a few years ago. It’s not a complete failure, but it misses the mark.
Midsommar
Midsommar is one of the more daring movies of the last 20 years. Ari Aster’s sophomore film is a follow up to his audacious breakout horror hit Hereditary, which features similar, gory visual motifs to Midsommar. Florence Pugh stars in a movie that’s equal parts sadistic and hectic, upsetting and unnerving. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it grows in my estimation upon each rewatch (for which there have been many).
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was an instant cultural and cinematic phenomenon—one of those rare films that completely redefines its genre while achieving both critical and commercial success. It was a movie that not only announced Peele as one of the most exciting new filmmakers of the decade but also proved that horror could be both socially charged and immensely entertaining. While Us confirmed that Get Out was no fluke, and Nope showcased Peele’s ability to handle blockbuster-scale storytelling, it all started with this razor-sharp psychological thriller that remains just as effective years later.
Woman of the Hour
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour is a taut genre piece with a few thrilling plot threads that pull you along. It’s one of the better releases in 2024 under the Netflix brand. And although I prefer my serial killer movies to have a lot less style and window dressing than this, the 1970s aesthetic doesn’t entirely suffocate the story that the movie is trying to tell. Kendrick stars with a worthy leading performance, while Daniel Zovatto is eerily effective as the big bad opposite her.
Don’t Worry Darling
While it’s easy to point fingers and blame the film’s issues on just a few individuals, Don’t Worry Darling, at its core, is flawed. A meandering story can’t be saved by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.
Barbarian
Zach Cregger‘s Barbarian is still refreshing and thrilling, and it’s easily one of my favorite theater experiences of 2022. Films try over and over again to use the schlocky marketing bit of audiences screaming in theaters only to be disappointing in actual terror when places in front of you – but Barbarian is genuinely jaw-dropping.
Blink Twice
Blink Twice wears its influences on its sleeve, but for a directorial debut like this for Zoë Kravitz, I thought it was pretty commendable. The industry is begging for a few more genre filmmakers capable of projects that are equally fun and thought-provoking, and Kravitz is able to switch between one and another on a dime. The performances help elevate the material, too, which inevitably pushes Blink Twice over the finish line.
Weapons
Weapons opens with one of the most chilling hooks you’ll hear in any movie this year: at exactly 2:17 a.m., every child from Mrs. Gandy’s class woke up, walked downstairs, opened the front door, stepped into the dark… and never came back. It’s the kind of premise that immediately grabs you, the kind of logline that sells itself in a trailer and sticks in your head for days. Writer-director Zach Cregger, who burst onto the horror scene with 2022’s Barbarian, proves once again that he knows how to start a story with an irresistible, terrifying question.
Knock at the Cabin
The concept behind Knock at the Cabin is fairly simple, as many of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are. A couple and their daughter are at a remote cabin when a set of strangers sets upon their location. It’s made known to them that they must choose a sacrifice from their own family to prevent the apocalypse. Despite the well-mannered and caring demeanors of the intruders, they insist that this sacrifice must be made in order to save the world.
Together
Together takes a clever premise about romantic codependence and pushes it into body horror, pairing real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as partners who cannot let go even when their bodies tell them otherwise. Tim (Franco) leans hard on Millie (Brie) for everything from money to basic life skills, and their move from the city to the countryside exposes every fault line. He is an underemployed musician. She is an elementary school teacher trying to prove herself in a new job. The stress and isolation sharpen Tim’s anxieties and bring on disorienting visions of his mother and his father’s decaying corpse, which plants the film’s queasy tone long before the grotesque turn.
READ MORE: The Invitation (2015)
