"I knew four actors were having dinner. I didn’t know what was on the menu…"

More than two months after its UK release, The Invite is still sitting at the dinner table. So, with Cinema Weekend offering tickets for £4, I finally accepted — and I knew that with four incredibly gifted actors, if nothing else, I was going to be entertained for almost two hours.

Going into The Invite, I knew virtually nothing about the film. I knew Olivia Wilde was directing, and I knew it starred Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz and Wilde herself. I didn’t know Rashida Jones had co-written it, but having now seen the film, I’m not remotely surprised.

And I’m not going to tell you what The Invite actually is.

I went in blind, and if you haven’t seen it, I think you should too. All I’ll give you is the official synopsis:

Joe and Angela are on thin ice, and tonight might be when it all falls apart. Unfortunately, their upstairs neighbours are about to arrive for dinner, and everything that can go wrong goes worse.

And that’s all you’re getting.

Instead, I’ll focus on what I can talk about without spoiling the fun.

The Invite is an incredibly sharp-witted chamber piece, set largely in one location as we watch a marriage on the verge of breaking down. Joe (Rogen) and Angela (Wilde) don’t seem capable of communicating with each other in a healthy way anymore, and that inability to actually talk is putting an enormous strain on their relationship.

Then their upstairs neighbours arrive.

Wilde further proves what a good eye she has as a director. I also think it’s important for this particular story to have a woman’s eye in the director’s chair; there are perspectives and dynamics at play here that benefit enormously from it. The fact Wilde is juggling all of that while simultaneously delivering one of the film’s four central performances makes her something of a force to be reckoned with.

Rogen is funny. Hands down. We already know that. But he’s also demonstrated repeatedly that he has a very good grasp of dramatic acting, and The Invite gives him room to play with both sides of his ability.

Norton always brings it, and Cruz does too. With four actors this good occupying essentially the same space for much of the film, the pleasure comes from watching the dynamics between them continually shift. Who has the upper hand, who is uncomfortable, who is hiding something, who understands whom — and, perhaps most importantly, who is actually communicating?

All in all, The Invite is an excellent film that understands exactly what its actors are capable of and gives them the space to do it. This sharp, funny and surprisingly revealing slice-of-life chamber piece is best experienced knowing as little as possible.

And considering The Invite opened in UK cinemas on July 3 and I was still able to sit down and watch it on September 6 — more than nine weeks later — that’s a theatrical run you don’t see nearly enough in this day and age.