Third time’s the charm: Does Wilde still have good directing chops?
Actress Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut in 2019 with the side-splitting buddy-comedy Booksmart. In 2022, she creatively stagnated with her stylish but underwhelming sophomore dystopian thriller Don’t Worry Darling. In 2026, she is back with a vengeance with her Sundance hit dramedy, The Invite. Wilde’s latest effort affirms she is a rare and exciting new voice with a deeply humanist, character-driven, and introspective approach to storytelling.
Based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs, the film presents the hanging-on-by-a-thread married couple Angela (Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen). Angela is a neurotic stay-at-home wife who spends her time decorating, exploring new dinner recipes, and purchasing expensive artwork. Joe is a disgruntled failed musician-turned-jazz-band-teacher who longs to rejuvenate his artistic career. On one fateful evening, Angela arranges a dinner party with her promiscuous, enigmatic neighbors, Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton). As their incongruous personalities clash, secrets, desires, vulnerabilities, and uncomfortable truths are exposed in tense and hilarious ways.
Skillful, fluid direction; A QUARTET of fantastic, layered performances; A sharp, perceptive, and brilliantly comedic script. All of these elements culminate in a soufflé of winning ingredients that result in one of the freshest, most thoughtful, and uproariously entertaining “adult” films in ages. Through thoughtful dialogue, intentional art direction, and rhythmic camera work, we deconstruct the history and relationships of four dynamic characters. As a result, we are encouraged to process our own traumas and insecurities in a cathartic, meaningful way. Wilde deserves all the accolades this film receives. It is easily one of the year’s best.
The Invite is now playing in theaters nationwide.
Watch This Out Of The Theater Mini-Review of The Invite with Caleb Masters
What impact has director Gregg Araki had on indie cinema?
Since the late 80s, auteur indie filmmaker Gregg Araki has ushered in unflinchingly raw queer representation. Best known for his films Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Mysterious Skin (2004), Araki is one of the chief pioneers of the New Queer Cinema movement. Exploring themes of loneliness, sexual liberation, and adolescent angst, his films depict the often harsh realities of the queer experience. Yet, for all the brutal authenticity he showcases, his filmography is eclectic in genre, tone, and style. Even under the bleakest of circumstances, his characters have a zest for life, joy, and freedom. Still, nothing could prepare me for the electric jolt of eroticism, humor, and sharp insight on display in I Want Your Sex. This might be Araki’s first purely pleasurable film, and it still never skimps on his penchant for heavy subject matter, vivid characters, and sensuality.
When Elliot (a fearless Cooper Hoffman) accepts a studio assistant job with contemporary art mogul Erika Tracy (a tenacious Olivia Wilde), he gets more than he bargained for. This technicolor, avant-garde environment starkly contrasts the sexless, monotonous home life he shares with his stoic, bookworm girlfriend Minerva (Charlie XCX). The studio and its colorful cast of employees (Daveed Diggs, Mason Gooding) provide provocative escapism. Erika, with her ever-evolving showcase of skin-tight latex wardrobe, makes Elliot a spicy offer he can’t refuse.
If he promises to be discreet, she will be the BDSM dominatrix of his wildest dreams. Elliot delightfully accepts his newly minted role as Erika’s submissive sex slave. Mixing business with pleasure, Erika unlocks a carnal beast inside Elliot, causing him to confuse casual sex with intimacy and romance. Now, Elliot must confront his burgeoning feelings, establish his self-worth, and discover what a healthy relationship looks like. That is, if Erika’s increasingly unethical, seductive, and dangerous tactics do not ruin him first.
I Want Your Sex opens in theaters on July 31st, 2016.
Are Wilde and Araki an indie dream team?
If Mysterious Skin is Araki’s answer to Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, then I Want Your Sex is his answer to Challengers. Araki intuitively understands the cultural touchstones that color one’s sexuality and perceptions of relationships. His characters are thorny, flawed, and extremely relatable. Even at their lowest points, we root for them to succeed. While Hoffman’s Elliot is sexually fluid and adventurous, he is also a hopeless romantic seeking true human connection.
This is the first film I’ve seen in years that is actually erotic in an authentic rather than performative fashion. It illuminates the nuanced differences between Gen-Z and Millennial attitudes toward sexuality and puritanical values. Not to mention it is just wickedly hilarious, sexy, and gorgeous to look at. Wilde as Erika has never been better, more exciting, or unpredictable. She is a chameleon, able to slip into deliciously layered roles like this with effortless ease. She is a great muse for Araki’s colorful universe. Hoffman proves he will follow in his late father’s creative footsteps by taking on complex, varied, and challenging roles with gleeful abandon and confidence. Thank you, Mr. Araki, for this sinful confection of an adult comedy with more depth and substance than its cheeky title may suggest.
