Who Invited Them

It's not a bad film from relatively newb filmmaker Duncan Birmingham, who wrote and directed this drama. I'm not sure why it's listed as a comedy and horror, because there were only a few chuckles, nothing horrific, and only about 10 minutes of any actual thrills or suspense. The rest of the time is mostly dialogue-based scenes that really don't add much to the film. Birmingham's directing was decent, but the screenplay needed more action to fill in all the social awkwardness of the scenes with mostly irrelevant dialogue. Plus the the final act needed more of a punch, instead of just a push on the shoulder.

Who Invited Them sets itself up nicely. An attractive couple shows up uninvited to a party and lingers around long after the other guests have left. The hosts seem to be taken in by them. You place your bets with your friend or spouse quickly. A home invasion thriller or a twisted cat-and -mouse story? One of you wins the bet. Both of you ask "Is that it?".

The film relies entirely on borderline menacing banter and little action of consequence until it is too late. And when the action come, it is underwhelming and unintentionally funny.

The film's final act while understandable in terms of the characters' intent is ultimately pointless and showcases lazy writing.

This could have been exciting, witty and terrifying. Instead, it is just a fluff piece.

A very nonoffensive, middle of the road indi thriller. Not great, not terrible... just kind of there.

The story was a bit lazy with a lackluster ending and a foreseeable twist. The main four actors worked well as an ensable and all had positives and negatives as far as their delivery and performance went, but I have to say as a whole the acting landed at a solid mediocre for me. The dad, while not terrible, was the worst for me with some stilted delivery and over all not super convincing. The sister was the best, i quite liked her performance all around.

While it wasn't the most original thing I've ever seen and it was pretty predictable, it wasn't not entertaining. They had the foundation for a decent concept and the dynamic between the characters was there. I give it a 4.5 rounding up to a 5 and as far as a recommendation goes, I'm indifferent.

Who Invited Them has the same premise as most home invasion thrillers, but where it sets itself apart is in their antagonists' backstory. It takes way too long for the film to get to its foregone conclusion, and by then, any steam for thrills have already vanished. All the characters in the film are grey to the point of not caring for their eventual survival. The characterization of the leads is just bizarre. One moment they're acting right and the very next moment, they're making a series of naïve, pointless decisions. It becomes obvious very early on that the antagonists are gas-lighting them, but these rich protagonists act way over their heads, fueled by alcohol and coke.

There is hardly any humor (even of the dark kind) or horror except for a couple of killing scenes. The performances are pretty good across the board (except for one truly idiotic character who is shown to be driving around the neighborhood all night instead of using Google Maps), and that's probably what keeps the film afloat even when the screenplay has little to offer. Shudder backs some good horror ventures sometimes, but this definitely ain't on that list.

It's strangely creepy how much we seem not to notice or inquire. Who Invited Them present us the modern man who has blurring personal boundaries and a compromised individuality. It's so common these days that what this plot offers seem to be a scary possibility. Strong performances by Ryan and Melissa to portray a couple still settling in a new set-up. Great dialogues and indeed a satisfying story that would have been a little better if there was a third party who would have attended to the friend who visited back for the toy. Tension was not present nore was sound effects. But when all things considered Who Invited Them is a interesting plot that deserves your time.