Those DNA testing and family tracing sites all go on about looking for lost relatives or identifying health issues early, but what if there's a darker side to the whole affair? Or what if the long-lost/distant/unexpected family you end up meeting turns out to be an upper-class coterie of weirdos who have invited you to carry out some dangerous generational tradition? That's the specific dilemma faced by Nathalie Emmanuel's character in The Invitation, which has its initial trailer online.
After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie (Emmanuel) takes a DNA test... and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, she’s at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host, but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.
There's a definite feeling of a narrative DNA splice between an Agatha Christie story, Ready Or Not and something more supernatural (we hear that "Harker" name dropped near the end).
Jessica M. Thompson directs here, having co-written the script with Blair Butler. Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, Alana Boden, Courtney Taylor, Hugh Skinner, and Sean Pertwee co-star, and The Invitation will be out on 26 August.
There is some small part of us that wishes the team had found another title for the movie – since it might affect people finding Karyn Kusama's excellent 2015 mystery horror drama of the same name...