Not All That Glitters Is Gold.

in Movies & TV Shows2 years ago (edited)

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We can't deny the fact that we humans are always attracted to shiny things and in most cases, it always ends in disaster. The Invitation (2022) movie was recommended to me by a friend. Immediately after I saw the teaser, I was eager to watch it, and seeing Nathalie Emmanuel as the lead actor there gave me more urge to watch the movie. This movie is a perfect interpretation of a famous quote, 'Not all that Glitters is Gold.'

I have been waiting to see Nathalie Emmanuel on screen again since her performance in the TV series GOT (Game of Thrones) and I will say, she didn't disappoint. I want to see more of her in more movies and I hope the negative critics of this movie won't deter her career in the movie industry. There were lots of critics about this movie, but this movie is enjoyable and not that bad even though it had the opportunity to be what the viewers expected and more.

Let's Talk About The Movie.

The invitation, is an American horror thriller movie that was inspired by a novel titled Dracula by Bram Stoker, written by Blair Butler, and directed by Jessica M. Thompson. This movie is not only a horror - thriller, but it also has a bit of romance in the aspect of genres. This horror movie was directed by Jessica M. Thompson and produced by Emile Gladstone with Song pictures as its distributor.

The invitation was released on the 26th of August 2022 and it starred some well-known actors like Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, and some other actors that might be familiar to you. This movie revolves around a young lady who just lost her. The movie begins with a short scene of the past of an English woman who looked distressed, and depressed in a white dress, and in a dark room of a big old English castle with a man telling her she needs to feed as everyone was beginning to worry about her. She did not only reject the offer, but she ran out of the room only for her to kill herself and decapitates her head using a sliver-like rope.

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Fast forward to the present time, a young lady, Evie who is an upcoming artist struggling with life but works as a waitress in a catering company to support herself, and who lost her mother recently to cancer. Where she works, she obtained a DNA kit gift bag from her best friend Grace and tries out the kit to know if she is not alone in the aspect of family structure. A week later her test results arrived and she discovers she has a cousin, Oliver Alexander, and an extended family in England. Though she was reluctant to meet Oliver, she finally went to meet him. Oliver invites her to a big family wedding and tells her that her trip will be paid for and that she gets to meet all her extended family.

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Evie finally arrived in England as she agreed to the trip for the big family wedding. She was received by Oliver and taken to Carfax Estate in Whitby, where she was greeted with beautiful old architectural designs of the estate. As she was taking in her environment, she bumps into some of the lady maids handling some breakables when she comes face to face with the handsome Walter DeVille, the lord of the Manor as she and the head butler, Mr. Fields were about to get into a heated argument for his rude behavior to the maids.

Afterward, Evie is welcomed and given a tour of the castle by Mrs. Swift, a long-time maid to the estate. As she settled in late into the night, she contacted Grace, her best friend, to let her arrive safely. Still, on the phone, Walter knocked on her bedroom door to flirt and apologized for Butler's behavior early on and it turns out they both were attracted to each other. So Evie went to bed with butterflies in her tummy but then got a horrific dream about Emmaline, the mistress who occupied the room before.

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After a series of scenes, Evie was invited to the pre-wedding preparations as a guest of honor as she was also introduced to the rest of her extended family. As events unravel, Evie sneaked into Walter's library which was off limits to her and discovered that he was keeping a file. Upset, Evie started packing her belongings to leave the estate when Walter came looking for her only to find her packing her things. Shocked and curious, Walter asked why she was leaving and they both sorted out the misunderstanding between them and then Walter seduced Evie to bed.

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After the love play, Walter tricked Evie into marrying him. Evie said yes blindly not knowing he would take her answer seriously. So he told her to get ready for a masquerade party and there the real trouble began as Evie's life turned around for the worse within minutes. You have to watch the movie to know what happens next.

My Opinion About The Movie And Rating.

With many bad reviews by critics and a Rotten Tomato score of 29%, I find The Invitation to be more enjoyable than what the reviews led me to believe. A lot of people will miss this movie because of the negative reviews and I don't let critics decide for me what movie to watch. Yes, people expect more from this movie because it was based on Bram Stoker’s masterpiece, Dracula. People expect more intense and more gothic scenes. From the teaser, you would realize that even though the movie was based on Bram's book, it was different and unique in its own way. Having read the book a long time ago, I could tell.

I love this movie because it was beautifully filmed with sets that are pleasing to the eyes and historical. All the places they used for movie scenes were perfectly selected and they all fit the arrangement of the scenes. The storyline/plot was okay but there were some flaws within the plot like, at some point in the middle of the movie, one could predict the next scene and the ending. A character, Walter (Dracula) was not portrayed well or can I say it wasn't portrayed to its full potential. I feel Walter should have been portrayed as a strong, lethal vampire since he is Dracula. He was supposed to be filmed as he made his kills, and he should have given Evie a tough time when she tried to escape. Also when Evie fed from his veins to be his bride, he shouldn't have been weak.

Talking about the actors, the two main characters, Evie and Walter had good onscreen chemistry that looks authentic and believable. Evie did a brilliant job with her role. Her performance was very natural, never seemed forced, and she plays Evie effortlessly with ease. Walter is good as the aristocratic Lord of the Carfax Abbey manor but for me, he didn't really fit the role of Dracula, but he did a good job by convincing the viewers he was. He did well, though I am not a fan as his smug smiles, smirks, and lip-biting infuriated me more while I watched the movie.

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The ending part was satisfying, good wins over evil, but it wasn't satisfying for me because it wasn't a tough battle, Dracula went down in ash within seconds, the fighting scenes were not thrilling and one could predict how Dracula would die. It wasn't interesting for me and I felt Dracula was mocked 😅. Like c'mon Dracula shouldn't just be able to climb walls like a spider but he should be formidable and lethal. I didn't see all that. I just saw grandpa Dracula. In my opinion, the ending part should have ended with a scene that is unexpected, intense, and gruesome. That would have probably left viewers wanting more.

Rating this movie, it is 5 out of 10 and 3 stars. Regardless of my rating, it is still enjoyable. I would recommend this movie for horror, Gothic, and thriller lovers. I bet they would enjoy it. The grass wasn't greener for Evie on the side of her extended family.

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I saw the trailer a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to watch the movie.

What I saw in the trailer reminded me of a similar story, the 2019 movie Ready or Not. That one is very good because it has humor and gory scenes. It looks like a similar story based on what you can see in the trailer, but I hope to see the movie soon to have a better opinion.

Ready or Not (2019) I don't think I have see it before, but I will definitely be watching it since you said it has humor. When you watch The Invitation, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for your presence here. I appreciate your comment and your support. Wish you a fantastic day ahead. Much love!
!CTP

I've never been a fan of Dracula, except as he was portrayed in Van Helsing, the rest is not something that catches my attention since that kind of romantic monsters are not my cup of tea. Good post, I send you a greeting and a hug from a distance.

Yeah, Van Helsing was on fantastic movie that I enjoyed. Glad you enjoyed reading my review. Thank you for the visit.