The 2015 Horror Film ‘The Invitation’ Modernizes the Philosophies of Memento Mori

Impressions of the Film

I've loved The Invitation (2015) since the first viewing and have gone back to rewatch it at leisure. But I wanted to take today to go over what meaning and discovery I find within this modern cautionary tale of death, grief, and how the desire to live is also how we all live with death at any moment. But to quote the RogerEbert.com 2016 review:

“The Invitation” is a dinner-party-from-hell scenario best served as unspoiled as possible. After all, a psychological thriller built upon slow-simmering tension is only as good as its surprises.

Susan Wloszczyna - April 08, 2016

So if you haven't seen this film yet, I highly recommend streaming wherever available or renting it before reading the rest of this article.

Budget and Monetary Performance

The Invitation (2015) was a low-budget film of roughly $1 Million dollars.

However, while The Invitation (2015) was a massive success at independent film festivals the largest being Spains Sitges winning as the best motion picture, distribution didn't pick up as much steam as hoped.

The film only garnered roughly $355k out of its million-dollar budget. Getting a third back from an investment doesn't feel great. But there are some projects that are a dark horse and deliver on aging into a wide audience with time.

Films like Its a Wonderful Life (1946) were ahead of their audience before they were accepting of the Twilight Zone TV story twists by 15 years. It had been considered a failure of Jimmy Stewarts' career at the time. Fight Club (1999) grossed a little over half of its budget spend at the box office.

In the way of reviews, The Invitation (2015) strikes critics as a successful story, but general audiences are mixed with middle-of-the-road opinions. Rotten Tomatoes has a high score of %89, but Google Reviews is a meager 2.8 stars out of five.

For me, I do love this film. I think its writing allows for general audiences to pick up on nuances within the casual dialogue and body language that was carefully crafted on screen.

Production and Cast

Director: Karyn Kusama

Karyn has been involved and living in LA for 12 years prior to taking on The Invitation as a project. The Invitation was a project created from Karyn, her husband Phil Hay, and his writing partner Matt Manfredi. She mentioned during an interview that the three of them have experienced untimely loss. And this shaped her personality to help her grow.

All of us have talked over the years of what it means to not grow, or to transform in a very distorted way from loss.

Karyn Kusama - 2016

Karyn's Hollywood history has a few blockbuster recognizable names like 2005's Aeon Flux, and 2009's Jennifers Body with Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. Since her directorship of the film The Invitation she's moved the majority of her work into television projects, such as The Outsider (2020), and Yellowjackets (2021). With one other 2018 film Destroyer with Nicole Kidman.

When discussing the origins of wanting to make the film centered in Los Angeles Karyn said:

For me, having moved to LA now, about twelve years ago I’m still really struck by the mystery of this place, the mysteries of any kind of city or place that promises reinvention. And allows for the pilgrimage of people to come to this city to become new people, kind of literally and figuratively. Or become the person they think they need to be.

Karyn Kusama - 2016

See the full interview below:

Top Billed Cast

Logan Marshall-Green

Logan Marshall-Green has gained an impressive resume of projects since he started acting in 2003 with his first role being on an episode of Law and Order: SVU. His first consistent television gig was season four of the hit television show "24" in 2005, and that same year he played a main character in the major drama The O.C. as Trey Atwood. So it was a huge catapult for his career between those two shows.

Just before his role on The Invitation (2015) Logan also landed spots in well-recognized films like Across the Universe (2007), Devil (2010), Prometheus (2012), As I Lay Dying (2013), and The Sound and The Fury (2014).

But moreover, his career has only grown since 2015. The largest being part of the official Disney Marvel Universe as "The Shocker" from Spiderman: Homecoming (2017).

As a fun Easter Egg in The Invitation, he changed the children's blocks on the floor his son's old room before they rolled the cameras. The blocks to the lower right of the mess spell out "Kusama" upside down, which is the last name of the director of the film.

Tammy Blanchard

Tammy Blanchard has had a long career as well starting in 1997. Some of her highlighted projects she's been part of include Tom Hanks' A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019), Netflixs' Tallulah (2016), Disney's Into The Woods (2014), Moneyball (2011), and The Good Shepherd (2006).

Michael Huisman

Before Michael was on The Invitation, he is likely best known for the television series Nashville (2012-2014), and then in 2014 landed a part on the global success Game of Thrones (2014-2016) as the character Daario Naharis. Some of his more recognizable film projects include Reese Witherspoons Wild (2014), and Brad Pitts World War Z (2012).

In recent years you may best recognize him for his work on Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House (2018) as the skeptic big brother Steven.

Emayatzy Corinealdi

Emayatzys projects prior to The Invitation included films such as Addicted (2014), and Middle of Nowhere (2012). Since her appearance in this film she has landed a steady character on the television show Ballers (2017-2019) with The Rock Johnson.

What Memento Mori Means

Memento Mori is a phrase that means "REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE."

This phrase is believed to have originated in Ancient Roman traditions. After a war victory, Generals are paraded through the streets in a celebration that would often take the whole day. But in the chariot with the victorious general, he would be accompanied by a slave repeating into the Generals ear:

“Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori!”

“Look behind. Remember thou art mortal. Remember you must die!”

This was to remind the victor that even while at the height of his life, he must still be reminded of the humbling fact that he is mortal and death can touch him even here.

Memento Mori Around the World

In fact, Memento Mori and Danse Macabre (The Dance with Death) take a multitude of forms all over in many different cultures.

In Portugal, there is the Capela de Ossos (or Chapel of Bones) where the halls are an unusual spectacle. An estimated 5,000 corpses were exhumed and used to be displayed floor the ceiling down its corridors by the monks who managed this chapel. This is not meant to be morbid, this is an old cultural understanding of honoring the dead, and reminding ourselves to be grateful for the life we have now to enjoy and live well.

In Tibet, a Buddhism practice known as Lojong progresses an elevated mind by thinking on the four contemplations for a revolution of the mind. The second of these four dwells on death. Maranasati is a kind of meditation that means "Death Awareness". In order to have a higher living, one might use this frame of thinking to use the fragile time we have in this world to make the best possible choices.

In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots owned a large watch carved in the form of a silver skull. It had a quote engraved from a Latin poet named Horace. That quote said: “Pale Death knocks with the same tempo upon the huts of the poor and the towers of Kings.”

Themes in The Invitation That Twist the Ideals of Memento Mori

While the film is named "The Invitation", this is also the titular cult that is featured within this film. Their ideals include an embrace of death, an acceptance, an.... invitation to it?...(Ba dum tss). And the film also does a great job at exhibiting traits that Cults utilize to manipulate their followers.

Traits of a cult as commonly exercised/observed:

• The Invitation targets those who have experienced trauma.
• They target people who are higher educated so once bought in hubris will not affect them nor question as things turn badly. (I'm too smart to be hoodwinked self-confidence/belief)
• They isolate them from friends and family, often in a secluded compound.
• They target major financial contributors and separate them from their money.
• They insist that sexual freedom is framed as a loss of social construct inhibition and therefore freedom of one's self. This often leads to sexual abuse from the leadership of organizations.

The Invitation cult as spoken through dialogue hits A LOT of these red flags casually in conversation.

• The hosts of the party who accept "The Invitation" haven't seen any of their really close circle of friends in over 2 years.
• People who they met together in Mexico are at the dinner party. We learn that during their Mexico stay, it was common to just grab a partner and start having sex.
• The people targeted are high-earning socialites in Los Angeles (Record producers, etc). The end of the film shows the vast number of the rich living in the Hills that also have red lanterns lit.
• The persons gathered are all facing extreme life traumas (drug abuse, death of a child, domestic abuse that led to a homicide, etc)

The Invitations belief is that instead of fearing death, or attributing emotional process that it can be decided away with positive thinking. Embracing that death isn't scary.

But really, Memento Mori is not to run toward death, but accept that death (even untimely and traumatic ones) will always be present in life. That the grieving process is VERY important to feel all of it as it leads to acceptance of death.

Where The Invitation Cult and principles of Memento Mori very much diverge is that Memento Mori is a permanence of death, full stop. The Invitation precludes that death is the next phase of life, communion and joining together with lost loved ones in a single existence, it continues on. That they don't want you to be afraid to enter into it.

Conclusion

The Invitaion cults ideals are a perversion of centuries of understanding of death. There are a myriad of ways that people understand and grieve death. We should recognize and accept death (not push it away in emotionally processing it) in order to live our lives to their fullest.

To be grateful for every breath and live humbly as these moments could be our last. But alas, today may also not be our last, and so make it the day you want it to be.