The Invite is a 2026 American comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. It is an English-language remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs (Sp. Sentimental) by Cesc Gay, which in turn was an adaptation of his own stage play Los Vecinos de Arriba. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was released in the UK on 3 July.

In San Francisco, Joe (Seth Rogan) cycles home from work – not his idea but that of his wife Angela (Olivia Wilde), presumably in a vain attempt to try to improve his health and fitness. Once he arrives home, we never leave – the whole film takes place within their apartment. Joe and Angela are a couple struggling to keep their marriage alive: they bicker constantly, most recently over the loud sex sounds they hear coming from the flat above. Angela has invited their upstairs neighbours, the source of these noises, for dinner. Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) duly arrive and, whilst Joe is sarcastic and unfriendly, Angela does her best to make her guests feel welcome. Despite Angela’s protestations, Joe has decided to tackle Pina and Hawk over the nightly noises, but they get in there first, apologising for the loud sex but saying sometimes a woman just cannot be quiet during such mind-blowing orgasms. Whilst agreeing, it is clear that Angela has no personal experience upon which to base her agreement. Then Pina and Hawk explain that it is not just the two of them anyway: they are into sharing their bed with others and often host sex parties in their flat. Then comes the invite referred to in the film’s title.

I may seem to have given quite a lot of plot here, but actually I haven’t really – all of this was pretty clear from the trailer. In any case, this is not really about the plot. It is the sharpness of the dialogue and how well-drawn the characters are. And let me say right now, it is an absolute delight! Rogan is hilariously funny right up until the moment when he isn’t. Wilde understands the desperate longing within her character, as well as the terrible insecurity which holds her back. As for Cruz and Norton, they are both excellent – they clearly love the roles they are inhabiting and get the most out of every line.

However, there is a serious side to this film. Whilst it is genuinely laugh-out-loud for much of its running time, there is a brief period when Pína, who is a ‘psychologist and sexologist’, dissects the problems of tired marriages (basically: ‘first you stop having sex, then you stop talking, then you start hating’, or something like that).

The direction is spot on throughout and the claustrophobic atmosphere generated by the single location serves the story well. There are a lot of shades of Woody Allen here – it could be retitled A Midsummer Night’s (Group) Sex Comedy! I know, I should have resisted that, but I just couldn’t.

The Invite is great fun but may hit a little too close to home if your marriage is a bit shaky. Even so, go and see it anyway – it may provide you with the impetus to make more effort and, regardless, you will definitely find plenty to laugh at.